Released for arcades in 1990 by Atari, Rampart is part puzzle, part strategy game.
Plot-wise, the game is minimalistic: taking command of one of several castles, you defend it against an enemy navy fleet (or the other players in Multiplayer). By surrounding more castles with walls, you can claim territory, which is where you can place cannons.
Each map is divided into multiple rounds: Preparation lets you claim a castle, or if at the start of a new round, place cannons (number based on castles claimed) within your territory. Battle has you fire at the enemy to destroy ships / castle walls. Repair gives you random wall segments with which to fix holes in your walls and surround other castles or make enclosed spaces for territory. You must have at least one castle claimed to avert Game Over.
After destroying enough of the enemy fleet, the player progresses to a new stage.
The game received multiple ports: NES, SNES, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Atari Lynx, PC, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Commodore 64, Amiga, and Macintosh. It's also bundled with Gauntlet on the Game Boy Advance, and is part of the Midway Arcade Treasures compilation for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, alongside being part of Midway Arcade Origins for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
The Famicom port is unique. It doesn't rely on the original arcade data. But instead, it has four stages that has increasing difficulty. It starts in a boot camp where the player fights soldiers and tanks, followed by a Red Riding Hood stage where the Big Bad Wolf needs to be fought. The next is a medieval stage where a knight and mage fight dragons/tornados. The last stage is a pre-Meiji era Japan where you control samurais.
Tropes within Rampart:
- Competitive Multiplayer: Up to 3 people can duke it out amongst each other.
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Nintendo Hard: Is it ever. You only get 3 continues before Game Over, and the enemy fleet is relentless. Later red-colored ships can fire shots that leave craters that must be built around, and ships with double-sails can deploy grunts that will burrow through walls to wreck other castles. - Off with His Head!: Implied to be the fate of whomever loses a Multiplayer match, as their commander is seen being put to the Guillotine.
- Power-Up: Two of them, exclusive to the SNES and PC ports: A cannon can be converted into a Balloon, which takes control of the strongest ship / enemy cannon for a round, or a Super cannon, which can sink any ship in one shot and also leaves a permanent fire on land.
- Scoring Points: Fairly standard for arcade games, but player score is used as a tiebreaker in Multiplayer.
- Tower Defense: Pretty much made the genre a good 10 years before it became codified.
