H.E.R.O.

This article is about the video game. There is also a superhero comic titled H.E.R.O. (comics).

H.E.R.O. is a computer and video game published by Activision in 1984. It was developed for the Atari 2600 and later ported to the Apple II, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit family, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, MSX, SEGA SG-1000 and ZX Spectrum.

H.E.R.O., supposedly meaning "Helicopter Equipped Rescue Operation" (or "Human Extraction and Rescue Operation"), is a platform-style action game, set in a system of underground mines.

The player's character (known as Roderick Hero according to the game inlay) in H.E.R.O. is a rescue worker with a small helicopter-type backpack, enabling him to fly around the underground mine shafts and caverns. For defense, the character is equipped with a laser beam and a finite supply of sticks of dynamite.

The object of each level is to rescue a trapped mine worker at the extreme end of the mine shaft within a time limit. Dangers along the way include various cave-dwelling animals (such as bats, snakes, spiders and even butterflies) and on later levels, some kind of red ore (magma, on the 8-bit systems) which is lethal to the touch, and water at the bottom of the shaft (where appears a tentacle from an unknown animal) .

The game graphics and mechanics are substantially the same in all versions, with graphic improvements in the subsequent ports made after the 2600 version. The Atari 5200 version offers a different gameplay, given the lack of self-centering on the system joystick. The SG-1000 version is different from all others, because the game was reprogrammed by SEGA. Although the level mapping is the same, Roderick uses a Jetpack instead of the helicopter-type backpack. The game graphics were also all redrawn.

External links

• H.E.R.O. remake for Windows
• H.E.R.O. at Lemon64
• H.E.R.O. QBasic-version
• H.E.R.O. Maps for Atari 8-bit family