River Rescue

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River Rescue is an action game that first came out in 1982 for the VIC-20, published by Thorn EMI Computer Software. It was designed by Jeremy Smith and programmed by Will Kemp. The game later appeared on the Atari 8-bit family and ZX Spectrum in 1983, and on the Commodore 64 in 1984. A TI-99/4A version was planned but never released.

In the game you steer a boat along a river that scrolls from right to left in a top-down view. You must avoid hazards like small islands, crocodiles, and logs while rescuing explorers lost in the jungle. There are two docks on opposite sides of the river. If you reach the upper dock, an explorer hops onto your boat. If you reach the lower dock, any explorers on the boat are dropped off safely. Because the river keeps scrolling, you can’t land at both docks in one pass—you pick up an explorer and keep going until the dock reappears.

Depending on the version and level, you must rescue three to five explorers to complete a round. After finishing a round, the game starts again at a faster speed.

In 1987 Alternative Software acquired the rights after Creative Sparks Distribution went into receivership. Their budget release of River Rescue reached number 4 in the Gallup Atari 8-bit chart in 1988.