Rescue on Fractalus scares me!

[SoulBlazer]

Okay, so I recently checked out Rescue on Fractalus on a emulator, and saw why so many people have enjoyed the game. It's unique and fun, and a challenge as well.

 

But there's one part I wasn't expecting.

 

For those of you who have not played the game, let me borrow from Tempest's wonderfull proto site:

 

"After a few seconds you will hear footsteps approach, this is the moment of truth. For you see not everything is as it seems. Those insidious Jaggi's have sent their own "rescue teams" to go kill the downed pilots, steal their flight suits, and pose as stranded pilots. Since all your computer sees is a homing beacon signal, there's no way of knowing who is approaching your ship. If you've landed near a Jaggi pilot a hideous alien will jump up and start banging on your windshield attempting to break in and wring your neck (I told you they hate you). To protect yourself, quickly press the '2' key to turn on your shields and fry the little bugger (if you haven't suffered a heart attack from the shock)."

 

Heart atatck indeed!

 

The first time it happened I jumped about six feet up into the air and cried out like a little girl.

 

Now I find I can't even play the game cause those damn aliens scare the *&$! out of me when they apraoch the ship to attack me. It just wrecks my nerves.

 

Does anyone have this problem or am I just messed up?

[edweird13]

The first time I played it way back when on my C-64 it scared the crap out of me. When I played it on my 5200 with my 32 inch LCD in the dark it did the same. My kids love this game.

[zylon]

Okay, so I recently checked out Rescue on Fractalus on a emulator, and saw why so many people have enjoyed the game. It's unique and fun, and a challenge as well.

 

But there's one part I wasn't expecting.

 

For those of you who have not played the game, let me borrow from Tempest's wonderfull proto site:

 

"After a few seconds you will hear footsteps approach, this is the moment of truth. For you see not everything is as it seems. Those insidious Jaggi's have sent their own "rescue teams" to go kill the downed pilots, steal their flight suits, and pose as stranded pilots. Since all your computer sees is a homing beacon signal, there's no way of knowing who is approaching your ship. If you've landed near a Jaggi pilot a hideous alien will jump up and start banging on your windshield attempting to break in and wring your neck (I told you they hate you). To protect yourself, quickly press the '2' key to turn on your shields and fry the little bugger (if you haven't suffered a heart attack from the shock)."

 

Heart atatck indeed!

 

The first time it happened I jumped about six feet up into the air and cried out like a little girl.

 

Now I find I can't even play the game cause those damn aliens scare the *&$! out of me when they apraoch the ship to attack me. It just wrecks my nerves.

 

Does anyone have this problem or am I just messed up?

[+LS650]

Back in the day, I literally jumped out of my chair the first tome that happened!

[ubersaurus]

I didn't realize that the Jaggi were among the pilots the first time I played it. So imagine my surprise when the computer started freaking that there was an alien in the ship. I started panicking, and immediately hit the boosters hoping the vacuum of space would kill it (which thankfully, it did!).

 

I think I'll have to be a little more careful now

[bfollett]

I've never played the 5200 version but if I recall from the 8-bit version, you can see green in the space helmets of aliens posing as pilots as they approach the ship. You can zap em before they ever come a knocking on your window... But yes it scared the crap out of me the first time as well.

 

Bob

[Big_Mo]

I've never played the 5200 version but if I recall from the 8-bit version, you can see green in the space helmets of aliens posing as pilots as they approach the ship. You can zap em before they ever come a knocking on your window... But yes it scared the crap out of me the first time as well.

 

Bob

But that only works for a while. I believe eventually you can't tell on sight, and sometimes the wrecked ships are where a good line-of-sight isn;t possible, anyway.

 

Since it startled me so much, I took to positioning my finger over the POWER ON button and would look away from the screen. If I heard the alien sound, ZAP. If I heard a knock, I'd look back and open the hatch.

[backin89]

That's funny. I thought i was the only one startled by this game. First time i played it was on the 5200 and i was like oh sh&$.

[Cebus Capucinis]

LOL! It still scares the jeepers out of me! I always hover my finger over the POWER ON key on the A8 as well....

[Godzilla]

heh Yea, it definitely startled the crap out of me as well when it happened for the first time way back, I remember having to be mentally 'prepped,' so I could fry them asap if need be. sort of un-related, atari jaguar alien vs predator did this to me also (but I couldn't prep for it,) game has actually made me drop my controller before lol.

[+remowilliams]

First time I played RoF was in a darkened room at night. I nearly had a goddamn heart attack when that alien popped up!!

[ZylonBane]

That's funny. I thought i was the only one startled by this game.

You thought you were the only person on the entire planet to be startled by a game where a hideous alien pops up and punches his fist through your screen? Seriously?

[backin89]

That's funny. I thought i was the only one startled by this game.

You thought you were the only person on the entire planet to be startled by a game where a hideous alien pops up and punches his fist through your screen? Seriously?

 

Well i hardly figured a n atari game was anywhere near scary. Oh well, someone always has to comment. If you want scary, play Resident Evil in the dark for the first time. At least it's realistic. As for the comment, I never said i was the only one scared by ANY game. I meant i figured i was the only one by this game. Whatever.

[ZylonBane]

As for the comment, I never said i was the only one scared by ANY game.

And I never said you said that.

[+LS650]

:-|

[Godzilla]

I kinda have to side with the evil zylon on this one, ESPECIALLY back in the day. This was something that games just didn't do much back then.

[kamakazi]

I have never played this game...let alone find it. During its heyday, the 5200 selection in my area boiled down to arcade hits and a few exclusives. Out of the 21 games Mom got me for my 5200, only two were original titles. Star Raiders and Countermeasure. I don't even remember seeing this game on the shelves. And if it is doing this much I have to find it and obtain one now. I have to see it for myself. How many pairs of underwear should I bring??

[Gabriel]

Back in the day, I wanted this game soooo bad. I never saw it anywhere for sale, but I remember seeing advertisements for it and thinking it looked so damn cool.

 

Oddly, even though I loaded it onto my flashcart, I had never played it. This thread encouraged me to finally try it out.

 

I would have absolutely LOVED this game back when I was 13-14. You probably would not have been able to pull me away from it. I don't think I would have played on the default difficulty, though.

 

What level does the game pick up some threat?

[Godzilla]

i remember when this was behind jaggi lines

[Metal Ghost]

I am seriously tickled pink upon reading this thread. I had this game for my Color Computer 3 (on disk, I think). I always hated the thought that the flier coming towards my ship my be an alien!

 

I think you could tell whether it was an alien or not on the early levels because as someone already pointed out you could see green in their helmets if they were, but as noted that's if your ship was facing them as they walked towards you. And if I remember correctly (it's been well over 20 years since I've played this game!) on later levels you were flying night missions, so you could see well enough until the guy was right on top of your ship!

 

Still gives me a shudder!

[Charlie_]

I am seriously tickled pink upon reading this thread. I had this game for my Color Computer 3 (on disk, I think). I always hated the thought that the flier coming towards my ship my be an alien!

 

I think you could tell whether it was an alien or not on the early levels because as someone already pointed out you could see green in their helmets if they were, but as noted that's if your ship was facing them as they walked towards you. And if I remember correctly (it's been well over 20 years since I've played this game!) on later levels you were flying night missions, so you could see well enough until the guy was right on top of your ship!

 

Still gives me a shudder!

 

Coco3 version is the same one I used to play. And Yes, it was a OS-9 disk. Remember typing DOS?

[Godzilla]

One thing I like to do with games I really like is track down the ultimate version. So what is the ultimate version of fractalus?

 

so far, I think it's the coco 3 version...

 

http://nitros9.lcurtisboyle.com/rescueonfractalus.html

 

any of them have a more detailed ship control panel?

 

Like, for example, sentinel/sentry is my fave game of all time and I saw pictures of a BBC acorn version out there that look better than any others I've seen... wonder if I will find it one day... (I got an Acorn 5000 just so I have something to run it on )