''Rambo III'' is a series of video games based on the film ''

Rambo III ''Rambo III'' is a 1988 American action film directed by Peter MacDonald and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, who also reprises his role as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. A sequel to '' Rambo: First Blood Part II'' (1985), it is the third in ...

'' (1988). Like in the film, their main plots center on former Vietnam-era Green Beret

John Rambo John James Rambo (born July 6, 1947) is a fictional character in the ''Rambo'' franchise. He first appeared in the 1972 novel '' First Blood'' by David Morrell, but later became more famous as the protagonist of the film series, in which he was ...

being recalled up to duty one last time to rescue his former

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

, Colonel Sam Trautman, who was captured during a

covert operation A covert operation is a military operation intended to conceal the identity of (or allow plausible deniability by) the party that instigated the operation. Covert operations should not be confused with clandestine operations, which are performe ...

mission in Soviet-controlled Afghanistan. Taito released an arcade video game based on the film. The console versions were developed and published by Sega, the IBM PC compatible version was developed by Ocean and published by Taito, and Ocean developed and published the other home computer versions: Atari ST, Amiga, Spectrum, C64, Amstrad CPC.

Ports

The

Master System The is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 and ...

version, released in 1988, is a light gun shooter along the lines of ''

Operation Wolf is a light gun shooter arcade game developed by Taito and released in 1987. It was ported to many home systems. The game was critically and commercially successful, becoming one of the highest-grossing arcade games of 1988 and winning the Go ...

''. The Light Phaser is supported. The Mega Drive version, released in 1989, follows Rambo in six missions, in each one with various objectives. Besides finding the exit of the level, in some missions, prisoners must be freed or enemy

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

supplies destroyed. Rambo is controlled from an overhead perspective and has several weapons at his disposal. Besides a machine gun that never runs out of ammo, he can use a knife for close range kills, set off timed bombs and use his famous longbow with explosive arrows. Ammunition for the bow and the bombs is limited and can be collected from dead enemies. Rambo himself, on the other hand, is vulnerable and can be killed after one hit. After some of the missions, the perspective switches to a view behind Rambo and additional boss fights take place. Soviet tanks or helicopters must be destroyed using the bow. While aiming the bow, Rambo cannot move, but otherwise he can hide behind rocks or other obstacles from enemy fire. This is reminiscent of the Taito arcade game of the same name, which also had the player firing into the screen at helicopters and jeeps, but instead of just a single segment after each stage, the whole game is played out in this perspective. The ZX Spectrum,

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

, and Amstrad CPC versions have three missions, and vary drastically from the console versions.

Reception

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...

'' reviewed the Sega Master System version, stating this "Operation Wolf clone is definitely the best Light Phaser game available on the Sega." UK magazine '' Mean Machines'' rated the game at 86% and described it as "All the fun and frolics of an abattoir, with plenty of exciting and addictive action."

References

External links

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''Rambo III''
on the Amiga a
The Hall of Light (HOL)
{{Rambo 1989 video games Action video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Arcade video games Arcade-only video games Atari ST games Cold War video games DOS games Soviet–Afghan War video games Commodore 64 games Light gun games MSX games Ocean Software games Rambo (franchise) video games Romstar games Master System games Master System-only games Sega Genesis games Sega Genesis-only games Video games based on films Video games based on adaptations Video games scored by Masahiko Takaki Video games set in Afghanistan ZX Spectrum games Taito arcade games Cabal shooters Video games developed in Japan Video games developed in the United Kingdom