HERO

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HERO
HERO Cartridge for Atari 2600.jpg
Studio John van Ryzin
Publisher Activision
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 1984
platform Sinclair ZX Spectrum , Apple II , Atari 2600 , Atari 800 , Commodore 64 , ColecoVision , Atari 5200 , SG-1000 , MSX
genre Platformer, action, shooter
Game mode Single player
control joystick
system advantages
preconditions		 16 kB RAM
medium Diskette , cassette , cartridge
language English

HERO is a computer game by the game company Activision and was released in 1984 . The game was conceived by John van Ryzin and programmed by him for the Atari 2600.

The aim of the game is to fly the character who has a helicopter backpack into the depths of an underground cave in order to rescue miners who have gone missing. On the way there she has to fight off spiders, snakes and other enemies.

The abbreviation HERO stands for Helicopter Emergency Rescue Operation .

action

The player takes on the role of Roderick Hero (sometimes also "R. Hero", a reference to "our hero" in English), a one-man rescue team. The assignment: miners are trapped in a mountain and Roderick now has to save them.

The player has a backpack with which he can fly like a helicopter. Roderick also has a helmet laser and a limited amount of dynamite with him. Each level in the mine consists of a labyrinth of shafts, through which Roderick must navigate safely to reach the miners at the end of the respective labyrinth. The backpack has a limited amount of energy, so the player must reach the miner before the power runs out.

A number of obstacles stand between Roderick and the miners. Some shafts are blocked by collapses. Roderick needs the dynamite to blow up the obstacles. But Roderick must not stand too close to the explosives so that he does not explode himself. The helmet laser can also blast away collapses, but it takes much longer to destroy with the laser than with dynamite. Some sections are lit by lanterns. If the lantern is destroyed or touched, the light goes out and one cannot see the area around the cave. Exploding dynamite lights the mine for a very short time. The shafts are populated by spiders, bats, and other unknown creatures that are fatal to touch. The creatures can be destroyed with the help of the laser or they are destroyed when standing near the exploding dynamite. In later levels the player has to overcome magma flows and underground rivers.

The player collects points for every level he can successfully complete and for every creature he destroys. When the player reaches the miner, points are awarded to the rescue, along with the amount of residual cargo that is left in the backpack. He also receives points for the remaining sticks of dynamite. The player receives extra lives every 20,000 points.

Ports

Shortly after the game was released on the Atari 2600, Activision ported HERO to a number of other game consoles that were dominating the market at the time. This also included the Atari 5200 and ColecoVision consoles. HERO has also been ported to home computers: Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, MSX and ZX Spectrum. Sega reproduced the game for the SG-1000 console in Japan in 1985.

More recently, HERO was also re-released in the Activision Anthology for newer game consoles. In June 2010, the Atari 2600 version of HERO was re-released in Microsoft's Game Room Service for the Xbox 360 .

Web links