Game Review: Anarchy (Commodore 64, Rack-It)

Anarchy was one of the first releases on the Rack-It label along with Tunnel Vision, which clearly showed distribution by Mastertronic (although they added a S to their name.) and with its distinct diagonal cassette inlay packaging (later copied by Telecomsoft for their Silverbird label, incidentally) I can remember this game standing out in the racks in the shop. The fact it mentioned Hewson, who particularly on the Commodore 64 were a big draw due to a number of quality game releases, was also an incentive to see what they could release at a budget price.

The plot of Anarchy revolves around the planet Sentinel 4, and how the world is in chaos due to the rebels.  You effectively break into the security complex with your ACE Mark 2 Interceptor unit to destroy all the weapons containers, whilst avoiding the security guard droids who are deadly to the touch.  Once you have destroyed the containers, the exit will open and you can get deeper into the complex, with each mission having a time limit to complete.  The planet name is a play on words with the game’s programmer, Michael Sentinella, and with the pretty loading screen and title screen with sprites whizzing around and the A of anarchy being well, very anarchic, all does look promising.

Don’t Know What I Want, But I Know How To Get It

The game has a number of different little ditties by Nigel Grieve, and each one plays as the title screen loops around between showing that, the high score table, and also a quick demonstration of some of the levels, showing you the aim in more detail.  For many years I did not realise that a significant number of the game elements are in fact based on the obscure arcade game Raider 5, which is well worth a go if you want a starting point to compare with.  Initially, you may think that this game is a maze-based shoot-em-up with some scrolling from side to side and droids to avoid, but if you delve deeper, there is more to it.

One important gameplay mechanic shared with Raider 5 is that you cannot fire at a container that you are adjacent to.  If you think of the game’s squares as part of a grid, you have to be at least one square away from the container you are attempting to hit in order to destroy it.  Whilst that may sound simple, the level layouts are clever enough to make you think as to which order you need to destroy the weapons containers, which come in different guises.  There are straight forward squares with bas relief style graphics, and ones marked with four triangular sections that make a different noise when you hit.  Later on, there are also yellow containers that when you hit them materialise elsewhere on the grid, but often can unlock the path to destroying the container.

I Wanna Destroy Passers By

When you do press fire to start the game, you are given an option as to how fast you wish to accelerate, from low being easy to high being hard.  This can mean you can move around the level quicker with acceleration but also means you need more accuracy.  What you may find is one of the three works best for you, but it is good to have that option nonetheless.  If you have played the game before and reached a certain point of the game, you can also start from that level should you wish, which does alleviate having to play the whole way through to get to where you were – quite handy too for practicing later levels.

You start each level in a predetermined spot, and the aim seems relatively simple enough.  You must destroy all the containers, and then find the exit.  The droids on most levels do walk around the squares and although they do move towards you on occasion, they have patterns which you will learn and you can avoid.  If you shoot a droid, they temporarily turn into a block which you can then shoot repeatedly to move it in the direction you fired at it.  This can often prove useful to ensure you have a clean path through to the containers that you need.

I Use The Enemy

For the most part, the normal container squares play a musical note when hit, so you get various notes all at once in a sequence when you hit a few.  If you hit the containers with the triangular sections, that’s a whole different effect, and the later yellow containers which makes a satisfying morphing sound effect too.  One final thing to note: once the containers are destroyed, and the exit shows, you no longer have any firepower, so you need to take avoiding action. Tactically of course this means ensuring the final container destroyed is close to the exit

On the fifth level, and every fifth level thereafter, things change tack somewhat. The complex has nuclear weapons in, but these are guarded by the presence of a special droid, which tracks down any intruder – think of it more like the droid that homes in on you.  You will soon learn that speed is of the essence, initially to get away and destroy the first batch of containers, but then learning how to get past the droid in a tight spot and then speed on to the next set.  It does take some practice, but once you are able to learn the pattern, you can complete that and move on to the next level.

Your Future Dream is a Shopping Scheme

There are sixteen levels in all, and the difficulty is nicely graded so that you do get further each time.  It can be a little galling if you do run into a droid when you are close to completing a level, whereby the level resets and you have to do the whole thing.  However, as the time limits are not that long to complete a level, and can get tight, this does mean that they are also not too complex either, and completing them feels like an achievement once you do.  If the levels were very large and they were reset after losing a life, it may have fared differently, but that balance is just about on the right side.

The controls are smooth and precise, and having the different levels of acceleration can prove to work to your advantage when in a tight spot.  I found medium was a good balance for me, and meant I could move speedily as I needed to, but you will find your own balance and the fact you have that shows thought was placed into the gameplay.  The game scrolls horizontally smoothly to show you the remainder of the level, and is one screen high by a few wide, so you soon get the hang of where you need to go.  Everything is well laid out and once you have found the elusive spot to hit something two squares away that you could not see at first, it really does feel like a special moment to get that little bit further.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Anarchy are well laid out and have given thought to the gameplay.  The grid arrangement with its bas relief squares and floor backdrops which look nice but do not obscure the view work well, and there is a good use of different colours on each level to keep it interesting.  The scrolling is smooth and fluid, and the animation on all the droids is also nicely done.  It all is very polished and together with the loading screen really maintains an excellent aesthetic about the whole game.  Whilst the small title ditties and indeed high score entry tunes are very nice, the sound effects when firing and when destroying the containers makes this game special – hitting multiple containers to make your own little tune when you destroy them works superbly, with the other sound effects really adding to the atmosphere and placing you inside an amusement arcade.  Playing this with the lights low and the volume loud is just a treat for the senses.  Immense fun.

Final Thoughts

Anarchy proves to be an excellent game, even if inspired heavily from the Raider 5 arcade game, and has the right level of smoothness of both controls, graphics, sound and playability to make it an absolute winner.  The fact you can both tweak the controls and indeed be able to start from a later level once you get there eases the slight frustration of having to destroy all the containers on one life.  Once you have practiced the levels a few times you get the hang of it and are soon managing to destroy the containers, craftily getting the last one very close to the exit, and making for a speedy escape.  It has plenty of addictive qualities and the one more go factor is very strong with this one.  Play this with the lights off and the sound effects will just pop out at you especially if you manage to destroy plenty of containers in a row and get those musical notes sounding smooth.  It set a very high standard for the Rack-It label, and it was a shame that it was Michael Sentinella’s only game.

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