Rogue Trooper, Atari ST

The Atari ST version of Krisalis Software‘s 1990 adaptation of 2000AD comic anti-hero, Rogue Trooper, is the same as the Amiga version, except with a more standardised display area and without the smooth scrolling.

The scrolling is pretty jerky to be honest although it doesn’t ruin the game. Control responsiveness isn’t as good as the Amiga version either, but it’s good enough.

In this game you play as Rogue Trooper, the blue-skinned super soldier of the future who has infiltrated an enemy ‘Nort’ based and is looking for his Bio Chip buddies, Helm, Gunnar and Bagman (his talking helmet, gun, and backpack respectively) so that he can escape and get back into the war on Nu Earth. Rogue‘s basic controls are duck, jump and search, but when he finds other weapons he can use them by pressing fire and a combination of joystick directions. Using a knife, for example, requires that you press upwards, diagonally, while pressing fire. When you finally get a gun you can then shoot Norts from a distance.

The basic aim of the game is to keep moving forward, though the levels, by finding keycards and throwing switches. Eventually you’ll reach a third-person shoot ’em up section where you pilot a spaceship into the screen, shooting hostile enemy craft and avoiding their bullets. This part of the game is a rather weak Space Harrier rip off and isn’t very good to be honest.

Like the Amiga version, Rogue Trooper is a competent platform shooter, but isn’t anything special. It isn’t particularly representative of the Rogue Trooper comics, nor is it a great a game either. It’s just okay.