The last mission

Events in The Last Mission take place hundreds of years after the Earth became a victim of automation . Humanity created robots that gradually became smarter and more powerful, and people became victims of their own progress . The most intelligent machines started the revolution, known as the "Rise of the Machines", rebelling against humanity and other means of automation. To do this, they captured the whole Earth and destroyed all life, erasing the traces of the whole environment and culture. Further, the planet was robotic, and turned into a giant underground base ^{[2] [3]} .

The remaining surviving people after a long search found the inhabited planet NOVA, suitable for the restoration of civilization. This colony sent a ship to the Earth with a specially programmed robot OR-CABE-3, which is the last hope of mankind in its struggle. The mission begins in the very center of the underground base, where the robot was able to sneak in and get information about how its defense works. The creators of the robot managed to solve the problem of searching and obtaining information, but in order to get out of the complex, human help is needed. The task of the player, as an experienced machine operator, is to raise the robot to the surface, level by level, and at the same time it is necessary to overcome the resistance of enemies. Local automated systems may not be aware that the person controls the OR-CABE-3, and this factor combined with suddenness is important. A spaceship is waiting on the surface, which will take what it received to NOVA and allow humanity to recover and destroy the tyranny of artificial intelligence on Earth ^{[2] [3]} .

The Last Mission is an adventure arcade game in which a player controls a two-part OR-CABE-3 robot. The first is a movable tracked base, which is the energy base of the robot. The second is a moving tower that can change horizontal direction and shoot with a laser. The peculiarity is that the tower can be separated from the base, and so the OR-CABE-3 can work in two modes: when the base and tower are together, and when they are separated. In the first case, the entire robot moves only horizontally, and in the second case, the base remains in the place of separation, but the tower can fly in an arbitrary direction of the screen plane ^{[3] [4]} .

To complete The Last Mission, the player needs to take the entire robot to the highest level, breaking floor after floor of the underground base (one floor - one level). There are ten underground levels and one on the surface of the planet. In order to climb one floor, the OR-CABE-3 must drive horizontally the entire level, where the elevator lifts it at the end. However, this movement is fraught with difficulties: in some cases, the robot cannot drive the whole thing, since obstacles interfere with it. To eliminate them and move on, it is necessary to separate the tower from the base and fly around an obstacle in order to clear it from the other side with a laser ^{[3] [4]} .

The player is hindered by flying enemies, dangerous discharges in a limited space, etc. To destroy enemies, you can use the laser gun of the robot, which is installed in its tower and can shoot horizontally left or right, depending on the current direction. The laser always shoots horizontally, it destroys enemies (except invulnerable) and allows you to clear obstacles in the way. The laser gun can overheat from intense shooting, in which case the player will lose his life. If the tower OR-CABE-3 collides with a dangerous object, the player loses his life. The caterpillar base is destroyed when it is in contact with the enemy, or if a robot laser gets into it. At the same time, it disappears on the current screen, but can be obtained again at the beginning of the level ^[3] .

Initially given 10 lives. If a player goes one floor, he is given one life. Another characteristic of the OR-CABE-3 is its energy reserve, which decreases if the robot tower is separated from the crawler base. This stock does not depend on the loss of life and is not replenished. The game ends if the player loses all his life or because of a complete expenditure of energy ^[3] .

The Last Mission is part of one of three games that Opera Soft developed in 1986 for its debut. The Last Mission was developed under the leadership of Pedro Ruiz ( Spanish: Pedro Ruiz ), who is the director and one of the founders of the company. In this project, Pedro Ruiz performed the tasks of game design and programming, and Carlos Alberto Diaz de Castro ( Spanish Carlos A. Díaz de Castro ) worked on graphics ^{[1] [5] [6]} . The game was originally developed for Amstrad CPC and released in March 1987. During 1987, The Last Mission was ported and released on a number of platforms: ZX Spectrum, MSX, MSX 2, DOS, Amstrad PCW, Atari ST ^{[1] [7]} . The first released version had an interface in Spanish, but subsequent localization was carried out and the game was published in English and French. Distribution in Europe was handled by several publishers: Opera Soft in Spain, Infogrames in Germany, Loriciel in France ^{[4] [7]} .

The Last Mission was released as part of several collections of games: 2 Por 1: Goody + The Last Mission as a joint release with the game Goody ^[8] ; Opera Storys 1 , released in 1989 as a collection of the publisher Opera Soft ^[9] ; Pack Opera 25 (from the Spanish - “Opera Soft 25 Company Pack”), consisting of 26 games and released by Digital Dreams Multimedia in 1994 ^[10] .

In general, the gaming press welcomed The Last Mission positively, noting detailed graphics combined with a successful combination of high-speed gameplay and diversity ^{[3] [7]} . Of the shortcomings, acceleration of the game on computers with a higher microprocessor frequency was noted, and the plot received mixed reviews ^{[3] [4]} .

In the review of the MicroHobby version for the ZX Spectrum, it is said that the graphics are well done at the level of characters, and the situation on some screens is sobering. The most noticeable and feature of The Last Mission , which impressed the editors of the magazine, is the combination of speed and shooting of the events. Positive feedback was also left on how the levels of the game were built - moving around the screens and climbing elevators. As a result, journalists wished Opera Soft developers to maintain the achieved level of graphics and fun and thus create good products in the future ^[3]

The authors of the Micromania and Amstrad Sinclair Ocio surveys for the Amstrad CPC and Amstrad PCW platforms respectively noted that Opera Soft has become known in recent months for its work Livingstone Supongo and Cosa Nostra , and now its release The Last Mission is a continuation of the line of good games. Reviewers considered the graphics to be good with a high level of detail and animation, which allowed the game mechanics to be implemented to ensure the accuracy of the player’s movement and shooting. It was reported from Micromania that the idea of ​​the game is excellent, but it was also indicated that The Last Mission is essentially a maze game. At Amstrad Sinclair Ocio, it was decided that the game perfectly combines speed and detail of elements, as well as a variety of enemies. According to critics of the magazine, The Last Mission is of high quality, and this has become the standard of Opera Soft ^[7] .

The description of the DOS version was published in Power Play , where it was said that the game works too fast for computers with 8 MHz, and this requires a high reaction of the players. The plot of The Last Mission in the publication was called "idiotic", but, nevertheless, the review said that the game will give its owners a few "hot hours" ^[4] .

In retrospect, The Last Mission is seen as a “curious space arcade game” that has some important features ^[11] .

• The Last Mission on Computer Emuzone (Spanish) .
•   The Last Mission // game walkthrough for ZX Spectrum, RZX Archive portal.
• The DOS version of The Last Mission is available for a free game online in the Internet Archive .