Rescue on Fractalus

Rescue on Fractalus intro screen Rescue on Fractalus game screen
Rescue on Fractalus intro and game screens.

Rescue on Fractalus is an original arcade game put out for various platforms by Lucasfilm games (a division of the company that made the Star Wars movies). The name 'Fractalus' comes from the fact that all of the mountainous terrain that one flies over in the game is based on Fractal geometry algorithms... a technique that Lucasfilm also used in Koronis Rift.

The game itself is a 3-D shoot-em-up, where one has to fly over mountainous terrain without hitting mountains, or getting shot by either flying saucers or missile silos on the ground. One also has to land near ships from your own world to rescue pilots that were stranded in battle. There are three different pilot types that I know of; the one pictured in the above screenshot is a normal pilot. There is also 'Ace' Pilots that are worth more points, and green helmeted pilots that you should kill before they board your ship... they are disguised aliens. The game was also unique in being realtime... the longer you lasted, the more of day/night you could go through. The screen would gradually dim in the evening, and then completey black out (except for your instruments) during the night...unless you or an alien shot something (including the side of a mountain), which would give you a brief flash of light to eliminate your surroundings.

Title: Rescue on Fractalus

Author: Ken Rogoway (Lucasfilm Ltd., for Epyx)

Publisher: Epyx, sold through Tandy/Radio Shack

Released: 1987

Requires: Color Computer 1,2,3, 128K RAM, disk only, OS-9 Level II or NitrOS9 joystick.

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