Rip Off (video game)
1982 video game
Rip Off is a multidirectional shooter with black and white vector graphics, written by Tim Skelly and released as an arcade video game by Cinematronics in 1980. It was the first shooter with cooperative gameplay and an early game to exhibit flocking behavior. A port for the Vectrex was published in 1982.
The objective of Rip Off is to prevent computer-controlled enemies from stealing eight canisters at the center of the screen. One or two players control tank-like vehicles while game-controlled "pirate" tanks rush onto the field and attempt to drag the canisters off the edge of the screen. Enemies can be defeated by shooting or colliding with them. The game speed and difficulty increase with each successive wave until all the canisters have been taken ("ripped off").
Gameplay
One or two players attempt to protect fuel canisters from groups of invading pirate tanks that appear from the edges of the screen. There are six styles of pirate tanks in the game worth 10 to 60 points each. The value of each style is determined by its speed and strategy.
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