Rear Guard (video game)

Rear Guard is a horizontally scrolling shooter written for Atari 8-bit computers and published 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
Jim Hurd [2]

TRS-80
Wayne Westmoreland
Terry Gilman
Platform(s)Apple II, Atari 8-bit, TRS-80, TRS-80 Color Computer
ReleaseDecember 1981[1]
Genre(s)Scrolling shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

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Apple II screenshot

Reception

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The game sold 3,400 copies by June 1982, appearing on Computer Gaming World's list of top sellers.[1] 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

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  1. ^ a b "Inside the Industry" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. September–October 1982. p. 2. Retrieved 2016-03-28.
  2. ^ Boyle, L. Curtis. "Rear Guard". Tandy Color Computers Game List.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Everybody Doesn't Like Something". Softline. March 1983. pp. 22–23. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
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