Rear Guard (video game)
| Rear Guard | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Neil Larimer |
| Publisher(s) | Adventure International |
| Platform(s) | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, TRS-80, TRS-80 CoCo |
| Release | Dec 1981[1] |
| Genre(s) | Combat |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Rear Guard is a game originally written for the 8-bit Atari computer and released in 1981 by Adventure International. Neil Larimer created the game with assistance from Sparky Starks; it was subsequently ported by other programmers to the Apple II, TRS-80, and TRS-80 Color Computer computer platforms.
Ports
- The Apple II version was created by John Anderson
- The TRS-80 Color Computer version was created by Jim Hurd of Coniah Software
- The TRS-80 port was created by Wayne Westmoreland and Terry Gilman
Reception
Debuting in December 1981, 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".[2] 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" and that it had not published a review because the game "was so 'interesting' ... just remember what your last blind date looked like when the person who set you up said, 'Well, she's got an interesting personality'".[3]
References
- ^ a b "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.