Rear Guard (video game)
Rear Guard is a horizontally scrolling shooter written for the Atari 8-bit family and released in December 1981 by Adventure International. Neil Larimer created the game with assistance from Sparky Starks. It was ported to the Apple II, TRS-80, and TRS-80 Color Computer.
| Rear Guard | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publisher(s) | Adventure International |
| Designer(s) | Neil Larimer |
| Programmer(s) | Atari 8-bit Neil Larimer Sparky Starks Color Computer Wayne Westmoreland Terry Gilman |
| Platform(s) | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, TRS-80, TRS-80 Color Computer |
| Release | December 1981[2] |
| Genre(s) | Scrolling shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Gameplay
Reception
The game sold 3,400 copies by June 1982, appearing on Computer Gaming World's list of top sellers.[2] David H. Ahl of Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games said in 1983 that "to maintain your sanity, a joystick is necessary" for the Apple version of Rear Guard. He concluded that it was "a fast-moving colorful game that brings Defender home to the Apple".[3]
In March 1983 Rear Guard won Softline's Dog of the Year award "for badness in computer games", Atari division, based on reader submissions. The magazine reported that although the Apple version was "just fine", "According to the ballots, Rear Guard [for the Atari] was bad beyond belief.".[4]
References
- Boyle, L. Curtis. "Rear Guard". Tandy Color Computers Game List.
- "Inside the Industry" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. September–October 1982. p. 2. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
- Ahl, David H.; Brill, Andrew; Lubar, David; Coffey, Michael; Archibald, Dale (Spring 1983). "Apple Computer Games". Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games. Vol. 1, no. 1. p. 86.
- "Everybody Doesn't Like Something". Softline. March 1983. pp. 22–23. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
External links
- Rear Guard at Atari Mania
- Rear Guard can be played for free in the browser at the Internet Archive