Rampart

"A simple but original blend of real time strategy and Tetris"

Rampart could be described as a mix of real time strategy and Tetris.

Each level has a fixed screen (i.e. not scrolling) with a top down view of both land and sea.

When beginning a level, you get to choose location for your castle (out of around 2 or 3 positions). A wall surrounds your castle (and some land) and you can then place some cannons within that wall on the land. While playing a level, the game play alternates between three phases; combat, construction and cannon placement. Each phase lasts for a limited amount of time.

During the combat phase you can move your cursor and make cannons fire at the cursor's target. You need to defend your castle from the attacking ships and the soldiers those ships deploy. There are several different kinds of enemy ships, including one type that leaves permanent damage to anything it shoots at i.e. it leaves a patch on the ground where nothing can be built upon. When a ship gets to the shoreline, it will deploy some soldiers. The soldiers will burn down any castles they get to.

During the construction phase you can place one block at a time. The blocks have the same shapes as Tetris blocks. The shape of the next block is chosen randomly. As soon as you place a block, you will automatically take control of the next block. If you don't surround at least one castle with blocks, it is game over. If a cannon doesn't get surrounded, it won't fire during the next combat phase. The larger the enclosed area made with the blocks, the more points you get.

During the cannon phase, you get to place several cannons within the areas of land enclosed by blocks. The more castles that have been surrounded in the construction phase, the more cannons you can place.

The Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) and Sega Master System versions of Rampart aren't much different from each other. The only difference I noticed was that the Genesis version had slightly more detailed graphics.

There is very little music in this game; only something that sounds a bit like drumming for the title screen. The sound affects aren't spectacular.

Rampart is fairly challenging and can get quite frustrating in the later levels. There are several difficulty settings to choose from and a couple of other game play options.

I would recommend this game mostly for its originality.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/21/06