Repton (1983 computer game)

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For the Superior Software computer game, see Repton.

Repton was a popular arcade-style game for the Apple II and Commodore 64 (C64 version shown).

Repton is a Defender-inspired game written by Dan Thomson and Andy Kaluzniacki and published by Sirius Software in 1983. [1]

While The Commodore 64 computer had many different and popular games, this particular one was rather underappreciated. Several other versions of this game were programed but the Commodore one is more well known.

This game was one that lasted a long time during gameplay and had a specific plot. It involved many on-screen enemies and complex terrain. This game was made possible by fully utilizing raw machine code instead of BASIC (which was what the Commodore 64 used as a programing language). This allowed for faster running software. The way that Repton was able to accomplish such a feat was that it utilized the bitmap mode that could paint the entire screen at once. The commodore 64 had 2 spots in memory to store bitmaps. It's mode was in 2 bit color which meant it could display 3 different colors at once (one being the background) I know this is far inferior by todays standards but in those days, this was the best of the best. The entire game only had black, purple, green, and yellow as the colors.

The main objective was to keep the enemy from stealing your city, piece by piece to build a base. For every piece that was formed into the base, a missile would shoot from it if you flew overhead. Your craft actually looked like an up-side-down key for a lock and it could do many things with only a one button joystick. Your power grid is also being taped into by another kind of enemy. You must pass through the energy beam with your ship and drop off the energy you collect at the energy reserve tube.

All in all, a very addictive game. Far more than any version of defender. For further details, visit: http://www.jeffbots.com/c64/repton.html