Zzap


Renegade III: The Final Chapter
By The Hit Squad
Commodore 64/128

 
Published in Zzap #77

Renegade III: The Final Chapter

Taito's Renegade coin-op made for such a good game - and massive sales - that when Taito neglected to do a sequel, Ocean stepped in with Target: Renegade and finally, The Final Chapter.

In many ways this was the most imaginative of the bunch, set over four multi-loaded levels, each set in a different time: Prehistoric, Ancient Egypt, Medieval Times and The Future. The basic format is fairly consistent, fight through the baddies (i.e. dinosaurs, knights on hobby horses and mummies), jump over obstacles (e.g. lava flows and moats) or avoid them by climbing between ground and walkway levels.

Such an imaginative concept has certainly been done justice graphically, the sprites are nicely detailed with good overlays, while backdrops aren't bad. There's even a Captain Cavemen-like sprite which leaps into the air to bash you on the head! You also have flying pigs, eggs with instantly hatching homing dinosaurs and men throwing boulders. There's no end-level monsters though, just a sweat-inducing screen where wave after wave of baddies attack.

Combat includes moves such as ducking, punching, kicking and so on, but it can be a bit tricky to get more complex moves. In Issue 49 Gordo praised the games humour and graphics - "tons of very cute characters" - while Kati thought it "the best and most original of the series". In retrospect, this was probably a bit generous, the levels aren't that big and to compensate difficulty is set rather high. There's a good soundtrack though, and the graphic imagination gives a strong incentive for persisting.