Here is a game that was most definitely ahead of its time. I never played this game back when it was released, only discovering it while at a friends house. He told me it was a game I would probably like which was what made me give this game a chance. I was not disappointed, for a game made so long ago, this game still holds up to the test of time.

   You take the role of King and thus commanding your Kingdom. You must oversee important tasks like your Kingdoms expansion, maintenance, protection, and equipping your Kingdom with as much firepower as you can. In single player enemy ships will attack your Kingdom while in multiplayer you can actually fight a friends Kingdom.

The games controls are fairly simple being a NES game. The Directional Pad will control your cursor, while the A button is used to place walls and cannons and also Fire your cannons. The B button can be used to speed up the movement of your cursor when held down.

Ramparts game play is divided into different phases. You begin by selecting the area of combat. Then the first phase is choosing your beginning castle. It is probably wisest to pick one of the castles in the middle or with the closest surrounding castles because this allows for quicker and more efficient expansion of your Kingdom. The next phase you will be allowed to place cannons within your Kingdoms walls. You will notice each cannon requires a decent amount of space within your walls meaning the larger your Kingdom the more firepower you will be able to sustain. Next is the combat phase! If you are playing single player there will be enemy ships shooting at you that you may sink using your cannons. In multiplayer your opponent controls a neighboring Kingdom that you must destroy. A tip to effectively shoot down enemy ships is to be conscious of the ships movement path. If the ship is moving, you will want to shoot slightly ahead of the ship to get a lead on it, so by the time your cannon ball reaches its destination you land a direct hit.  After the combat phase time has expired you will enter the building phase. This is probably the most crucial phase of the game because it is when you will not only rebuild your Kingdom but also expand to other castles. The building phase is reminiscent of Tetris as you will only be allowed certain shaped and sized wall-pieces to build with. How you use these pieces to rebuild and also expand will hugely determine your success in Rampart. After the build phase, if your original castle is still intact, then you will go back to the cannon placing phase then the combat phase and then back again to building until you either lose or complete that area map.

Do you have what it takes to rule a mighty Empire or will your small Kingdom fall to your enemy's!?

GRAPHICS: 6
   Here is a category where the game really could have done better. The games graphics are about as basic as they can get. I really wish more detail were put into the games graphics because it is something that holds this game  back from being much much better.

SOUND: 10
   The games music is magnificent and really sets the pace for the game. I can actually feel the intensity and my heart rate rise while playing this game and the music goes right along with it. The thing that really sets the bar for the sound of the game though is that this game actually contains talking. Until playing this game I thought that the NES and 8bit systems were unable to reproduce human speech but this game clearly has a speaking Narrator.

ADDICTIVENESS: 10
   This is a game I constantly go back to. This game is extremely addicting because of its ability to start playing and get right into the action. The game has a score system which adds huge amounts of replay value, allowing you to compete for highscore on vizzed.com! The multiplayer in this game is also incredibly fun and offers endless more hours of fun with a friend.

STORY: N/A
   Their really is not any story or plot to this game. You command your kingdom and try to stop any besieging enemy's and that is it. I cannot really take away from this game because it doesn't have a story because it is one of those NES games where its not really meant to have a story. This is a game you play for the games game play strictly and if you expect a good story you might want to check out an RPG.

DEPTH: 8
   I'm not sure if there is even an end to this game or if it just gets harder and harder until you lose. I personally can say I have never reached any sort of ending for this game so it is most definitely long. Besides the seemingly limitless length of the game you also have the score system and multiplayer to add even more depth.

DIFFICULTY: 10
   This is a hard game and like I said, I'm unsure if it even has an ending. I have tryed single player at least 50 or more try's and I always end up at the Game Over screen. Pretty much all of the games phases are timed which causes you to move quickly or you will lose. Between the fact that the game gets increasingly difficult the further you get and the constant break neck speed of the game this is one tough game.

OVERALL: 9
   Overall I rank Rampart an impressive 9/10 because of it's unique and extremely fun and addicting game play. For fans of strategy games this one is a must because it's one of the few early incarnations of the genre. If you're looking for a game you can start playing and get right into the action and start having fun, then look no further than Rampart.