Rubicon

The Good
Before I get down to business, just a quick intro, this little gem of a game began life on the Commodore 64, and subsequently found its way onto its 16-bit big brother Micro, in the form of this conversion. While both versions are completely fab, this is the one I fondly remember playing into the wee hours, so, um, er, . . . I’ll get on with it now.

Firstly, I have to mention the beautiful revamped artwork which appears before the title screen, and it is completely and utterly gob-smacking. The scene is of a huge alien insect-like creature with arms protruding from its enormous head, a mouth layered with pointed teeth dripping blood, with a skeleton hanging out, and one giant bug eye that is reflecting the surroundings, which includes the games protagonist being grasped by the hideous beast. The level of detail is phenomenal, and the 3D stylistic rendering has a raw solidity that makes the image really come to life. Fantastic.

Secondly, my hat goes off to ‘Maniacs of noise’ for the absolutely cracking title tune. The composition begins slow, haunting and foreboding and then seamlessly mutates into more upbeat, but distinctively sci-fi tunes, with various synths, including drum beats, xylophone-like inclusions and some very interesting mechanical overtones. I just listened to it for ages, truly great stuff.

Moving right along to some game-play elements, I’ll start with controls. You guide the hero around the play-field in the usual manner, and the responsiveness is spot-on. Your ability to manipulate movement and direction while jumping is exceptionally well implemented, and is so important in a game of this nature, where timing is second to none.

Something interesting, and worth noting here, is the way power-ups are handled. Your weapons have the usual unlimited standard fire, but also has five other built in optional modes including, scatter, (three way shot) seeker, (homing missiles) napalm, (short range flame) rocket, a laser, oh, and lest I forget the jet-pack. You select out of these alternate options by using the function keys. Whichever one you have selected before collecting a power-up, will fill the gauge of the selected item, which then can be used immediately, or be reserved for later deployment. This adds some strategic value to the proceedings.

The status bar displayed on the top of the display works well, and is easy to read. Your ammunition reserve, current weapon, health units and also the enemies’ health statuses are prominently displayed for your convenience.

Purists might be a little dismayed by some re-mixing in the level designs, but I think the extra thematic cohesion that has been added to the levels and the nasties that appear within them is a good thing. It essentially still retains the same overall feel of the original.

The contrasting level designs here are brilliant, and there is so much to grab your attention. Starting proceedings is a deep red Mars-like planet scape, with richly detailed mountains displayed prominently in the background, using a very effective dual plane layering technique, that goes to lengths in adding depth to the visuals. The theme here also combines mythical and prehistoric types of nasties, including three headed beasts, dragons, swooping flying creatures, snapping skulls, giant beasts that blow fire balls, among other wonderfully realised diabolical monstrosities.

By far my absolute favourite level is the next one, which takes place a top a castle. This one has no less than three huge guardians; the first is a fat giant geezer, whom pounds the ground to make tiles wobble and fall off the ceiling, I suppose he’s agitated by the draft blowing through the castle ‘ ) Following not long after is an executioner with a whip, which strikes the floor to make rubble flails down from above, which you must again traverse. Last but not least is a hopping-mad skeleton with a sword. There are also some persistent knights in shining armour and a fire breathing gargoyle in the mix. It all makes for some great hectic fun. Simply superb design.

Another great level takes place under water, where you swim about with a snorkel and flippers. The visual design here is very fetching, and has lovely subtle variances in soft colour tones, and the creatures that dwell below, like jelly fish, clams, squid, etc. are meticulously animated, and the overall harmony of the articulation is quite a sight to behold.

Like many other games released in the late eighties and early nineties, there is one level with HR Giger inspired art abounds. The design is undeniably brilliant, and this is why it is so often imitated.

In terms of sound, there are a lot of great meaty sound effects, and they compliment the rest of the action perfectly. The main character’s speech samples are the icing on the cake, with his course, deep, throaty voice, when he proclaims “God damn” upon death, and “No!” when injured, it really assists in bringing to life the characterization.

Other incidental music, is again consistently of a high standard. The loading screen tune is fast and cool, really infectious.

The Bad
I’d only be nit-picking, but I suppose it’s a shame the ride-on creature from the C-64 original is sadly missing here, as it was a great idea. Other than that, I guess there could have been a little animation added to some backgrounds, such as the lanterns on the castle stage, which is static. There is no in-game music in this version, which is a bit of a bummer. I’m not sure, but there is a one meg edition of this game, that perhaps rectifies this. That’s about it.

The Bottom Line
What separates Rubicon from your run of the mill shoot-em’ up when it comes right down to it, boils down to exceptional design, and overall polish. There are so many fantastic outlandish ideas thrown in, and the sheer variety throughout the game means it doesn’t get dull and boring, each of the seven levels has something completely different to offer. The game has some great lasting appeal, because there are some really tough moments, and it takes ages to crack, but is undeniably great fun, and has that “just one more go” quotient.

This is most certainly champagne software at its finest, and no mistake. A classic in every sense of the word.