Rat Attack!
RODENTS BEWARE! THE SCRATCH CATS ARE IN TOWN!
Mindscape Ships Rat Attack!’ For the Sony PlayStation® Game Console to Retailers
NOVATO, CA - (September 28, 1999) Mindscape today announced that Rat Attack!’, a 3D arcade action platformer for the Sony PlayStation® game console, ships to retailers nationwide at an estimated street price of $39.95. Rat Attack! carries an "E" rating by the ESRB.
After 40 years in orbit as part of an early space experiment, the lab rats Washington and Jefferson have returned to take over Earth. With the help of some weapons and gadgets of unknown alien design, they plan to lead a revolt of epic proportions, systematically destroying houses, gardens, museums and factories with an army of mutated rats. The last line of defense is an elite band of feline commandos known as the Scratch Cats. Led by the respected and enigmatic Professor Rex Julius, the fate of a world lies in their paws!
This cat and mouse chaos takes place in 50 3D action-packed levels, with plenty of items for rats to gnaw on and destroy. Your Scratch Cat character can dispose of pesky rodents by catching them in their "Eraticator" containment field and placing them on a Destructor pad, sending their fiendish little souls to rat heaven. Some levels include interactive devices, such as blenders, flame-spitting ovens and fans to eliminate rats in a less than humane fashion. To maintain an advantage over their foes, Scratch Cats can pick up special power-ups increasing speed, health and defense, in addition to cheese to lure rats into traps. Besides single-player action, Rat Attack! features 15 levels of multiplayer mayhem for up to 4 players, featuring "Rat Chase", "Beat the Clock", "Score Chase" and "Handicap" modes.
Players can choose from six different Scratch Cats to use on their mission: · Hai Jinx- A martial arts powerhouse, and the keeper of the Twin Swords of Katarashi. · Sparky - A supernatural sorcerer cat. · Manx - A hotheaded loose cannon that's a whirlwind of claws and teeth. · Muffy DuPont - A stylish and seductive femme fatale. · Smokey - A high tech hot shot with an Atom Scrambler to handle the toughest rodents. · Bob Cat - A hard-nosed street brawler who's every rat's worst nightmare.
For more information on Rat Attack!, visit the website at www.ratattack.com. To learn more about the Scratch Cats and their history, visit the Sony PlayStation Europe website, click on "Game Sites" and click on the Scratch Cats logo. About Mindscape Entertainment
Source:
Press Release - PlayStation
A venerable publisher makes its N64 debut with a hypercaffeinated blend of puzzle and action elements.
Best known for publishing Chessmaster on multiple platforms, including Game Boy, Mindscape veers unexpectedly into Cartoon Network territory with Rat Attack!
Cat-scratch fever begins when two mutant space-rats, Washington and Jefferson, hatch a nefarious plot to conquer earth by breeding hordes of deadly rats. Earth's sole hope rests with the Scratch Cats, an obstreperous octet quite like your typical team of superheroes, except they have long whiskers.
Your basic task in this overhead-view game is to hold down the A Button, then use the Control Stick to draw a "containment field" around as many rats as possible. Release the button, then skedaddle to a specially marked circle, cleverly called the Destructor, to liquidate your prey. You can capture multiple rats but if you bump into another rat before reaching the Destructor, you'll loose your rodent booty.
To clear a level, eliminate a specific number of rats before they can destroy objects that fall into place at level's start. Points are awarded for carrying multiple rats to a Destructor, offing extra rats after meeting your quota, and other tasks.
High scores and your progress are saved to a Controller Pak. Each cat, naturally, has nine lives.
Despite the elaborate backstory, the 50-plus solo player levels differ mainly in decor and power-ups. These include speed boosts, invincibility shields, one-ups and coins that allow you to perform special moves.
There are also many different kinds of rats, but these are so small that it is often hard to tell one from the other. More noteworthy, if only for his penchant for snoozing, is Bennett, a menacing bulldog clearly inspired by the nemesis in old Tom and Jerry cartoons.
In some levels, figuring out how to defeat a boss or reach and activate the Destructor pad poses a moderate challenge. Despite developer Pure Entertainment's valiant efforts to spice things up, though, a strong whiff of similiarity hangs over the many levels, ultimately limiting the game's replayability.
The three multiplayer modes include Beat the Clock and Score Chase, in which the winner is the first to reach a specified point total. In Rat Chase, you try to eliminate rats in your assigned color (red, green, blue or brown), while keeping your rivals from exterminating theirs.
In each of the 15-plus multiplayer levels, it's often difficult to distinguish cats from rats when the camera pulls back.
With its lurid color schemes, delightfully Muzaky soundtrack and obvious Tom and Jerry influence, Rat Attack! has an instant-retro feel worthy of the Cartoon Network's primetime lineup. However, the extremely frantic action, even in the early stages, is bound to frustrate some players. Even on the easiest of the three difficulty levels, expect to lose lots of your allotted nine lives while learning this game.
Source:
www.nintendo.com – Nintendo 64