Vindicators - Commodore 64 - last level & ending
6Many many many many thanks to minotaurus for recording this video, using his real Commodore 64!
Here are some notes, always & kindly provided by him:
The game was released in both cartridge and cassette versions (and I think also a floppy edition exists).
We are into this futuristic SR-88 tank model, on an enemy space station surface, controlled by the Tangent empire (translated as "Tangente" in Italian manuals).
You can move and shoot in all directions.
There are obstacles that cannot be crossed, especially walls or holes in the floor, in addition to those tall and asymmetric shaped structures that mark route limits. On the other hand you can find also narrow passages where it is possible to squeeze through.
SR-88s have a limited reserve of fuel which also is his life energy, so enemy hits have the effect of depleting the fuel much faster. If the fuel runs out, the SR-88 is destroyed.
In home conversions you have more lives and fuel refills can be collected along the way.
You also collect many stars to be spent later, purchasing upgrades.
Other power-ups that can be found are a protective shield, which reduces the damage taken with each shot, and two secondary weapons: a smart bomb (effective against the satellite spaceship that haunts you) and the cannon shot (which becomes useless once we properly upgrade our SR-88).
Enemies consist mainly of various types of tanks, fixed turrets, flying saucers that can only be reached with tracking shots/smart bombs, electric barriers and mines.
There are 14 stations in total, each divided into 3-4 levels. You can choose the difficulty level by starting from one of the first three stations and receiving free stars for the more advanced ones.
In each level you have to collect a key that opens the exit door at the top of the game area. Between one level and another you can access some sort of shop menu, where you can purchase upgrades mentioned above.
These upgades are speed or shooting range increasing, stronger armour, secondary weapons recharge and a shield.
At the end of each station you enter a control center, which is a relatively small room with many bonuses to collect, but with a 10 second limit to exit, otherwise you'll lose half your fuel.
Certain objects cannot be taken, especially in the lower part of the screen.
When you upgrade yourself it is not always possible to have maximum shields or special shots since you need to reach a round number.
example: each shield power up gives 10 units, the maximum that can be carried is 40, if you have 33 units it won't let you buy the remaining 7, you must have exaxtly 30 units.
Warps allows you to skip an entire level and are quite useful to complete the game without becoming mad :D.
You can have a maximum of 40 stars, so it is best to spend as soon as possible.
You can switch beetween smart bombs and cannon shot using the run-stop button.
There's a curious bug on level 13 , if you select to warp the nex level, but if you want to read more info check here: coming soon
This video is part of the videogame endings database, whose goal is to catalogue and create the world's largest archive of videogame endings! (what an humble and not ambitious project :D)
If you want to contribute please let me know!
#retrogaming