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Use the D-pad to guide the cursor in both modes. In mode one launch fire balls at your enemy. In phase two, repair the holes in your castle.

Titus-Fox-Fairbrother was the most celebrated archaeologist in academia as a result of his many discoveries of relics of the Dark Ages. His status as an authority on mediaeval privvies was unquestioned.

To escape from the rigours of fame, he retired to his personal island of Plemisjugal, somewhere in the North Atlantic. On one of his jaunts there he made a remarkable discovery - the Plemisjugal Chronicles. These revealing texts followed the collapse of two rival settlements on the small island - their quarrel originating from the most trivial of circumstances. Many chapters spoke of the endless cannon bombardments, and constant rebuilding work necessary. Eventually, the people of both castles wore themselves out and abandoned the island, evidently deciding that slaughtering each other over an albino pig and the rights to the island's sole public convenience just wasn't worth the hassle!

Rampart sustains both one and two-player games. Single players battle an invasion force from sea. Two-player games pit players against each other, separated by a river, each with a castle to themselves.

Rampart plays in two distinct phases. The first is Battle Mode. You control a cursor, and have a shot for each cannon you possess within castle walls. In one-player mode, place your cursor over enemy ships; in two-player mode place it over your opponent's walls. When your cannonball has struck you may fire again until the round ends.

Mode two's Build and Repair. You have a set time-limit to repair all the gaps in the wall surrounding your castle. To fill the gaps, the computer provides you with a selection of random-shaped wall pieces.

Use the D-pad to move and the buttons to rotate and place the pieces. If the castle's successfully repaired, its floor becomes chequered. You may use any spare time to incorporate surrounding castles into your empire.

Increasing your destructive hardware is a top priority. After each repair round you place bonus castles anywhere within your chequered kingdom. Each castle needs a clear space of four square units. You're given two bonus cannons for your home cannon, and one for every other castle. Should you fail to repair one of your castles, you lose control of the cannons inside.

Modified rapture. Rampart is a personal all-time fave of mine in the arcades. I'd loiter suspiciously for hours waiting for a fix of three-player action!

I can report to the troops that this is the best conversion to date, as close as you could wish on the Megadrive. The game's very basic, but totally addictive in two-player mode.

To be honest, it's not a contender as a single-player game at all, but hopefully we all have friends to play with. The graphics are exact copies of the arcade, i.e. functional, and the sound (apart from the ridiculous new repair music) is as authentic and atmospheric as before.

This game doesn't have any of the fancy additions like the Bitmaster' 'Super' Rampart, or the Super NES' 3D option, but it triumphs over them all by doing what a conversion should primarily do - recreate the original.

Megadrive Rampart does, and despite its limitations I recommend it as one of the best head-to-head console games ever!

Coo-er! Tetris-type strategy combined with mindless blasting - am I in heaven or what?! This game is mind-boggling in its simplicity but so much fun in two-player mode it really must be highly recommended.

If you're the epitome of sadness without a friend to battle with you might as well forget it because in one-player mode it ain't worth the effort - or the money.

It truly is an excellent conversion from the arcade with photocopied graphics (still basic but effective) and rousing sound effects as before. The gameplay's fast and furious and just sooo addictive, bashing the fire button to waste the enemy's fortress and then frantically trying to rebuild and expand your empire before the next skirmish begins is a real hoot. Definitely worth a bash.

Presentation 86%
P. Plenty of options to handicap yourself in battle, or alter battle parameters.
N. The continue option in two-player mode's annoying. There's no system of counting victories as part of a tournament.

Graphics 74%
P. Almost arcade perfect - little castles and arcing cannonballs make a pleasant vista of carnage.
N. A bit basic and a bit samey is the main problem.

Sound 82%
P. Humorous speech samples and screams and a fabulous whooshing noise of falling projectiles.
N. Changing the repair music to the inane, rhythmless psycho-billy beat is an act of vandalism.

Playability 82%
P. The controls are simple to learn, and the objective is clear. For two players the action is a compulsive struggle to wreak massive damage. Winning is really satisfying.

Lastability 72%
P. As a two-player game, it will remain a classic and well-used part of your collection.
N. As a one-player game it doesn't have a long-lasting interest, despite being harder than the arcade.

Overall 81%
To be considered as a two-player cannon frenzy only because in one-player mode it just won't stand the test of time. All in all though, it's definitely one of the best combat games for the Megadrive around.