Rescue: The Beagles

Rescue: The Beagles is a relict from a time were indie games were a philosophy, a scene, and a promise: Games done by people who did games, because they regarded them as an artistic expression and attempted to perfect them. Rescue: The Beagles was - if I'm not mistaken - created for a contest about procedural generation in the TIG-Boards, the central community to indie gaming back then. Times have changed, and indie gaming is by now a marketing term used by the corpos to sell their AA- and B-Stock. Small, hobbyist productions are drowned in low effort moneyshots, unfinished betas, tutorial implementations, jam-entries that are not more than a proof of concept, and so on. Rescue: The Beagles remained in the underground, a secret treasure from the glorious past, and mainly known to a handful of conoisseurs. I played it ocasionally for the last...15 years? The developer gave it a huge update, and released it for a few bucks here on Steam. The game not only got new graphics (that are, overall, an upgrade), but also controller support, a 2P-Mode, and - especially - vast gameplay changes. You can't really compare this to the original that was much simpler, straighforward, but also felt - at some point - limited: You'd meet a glassceiling somewhere in the game - you could only try to maximice the score before you would walk into the - somewhat flexible - dead end. New items, level creation algorithms, and an upgrade system make old strategies obsolote, but offer new attempts to extend the game and allow you to go further - probably not even the developer can tell how far, yet. Only the great soundtrack (halfly produced by the now famous DisasterPeace) stayed untouched. While the original will keep a place in my heart, it is undoubtly an upgrade, and will enlighten those who appreciate the quality and the worth of transcendence motivated video game development. play underground games. search the arcane cache.

Simple arcade-y gameplay where you collect points while rescuing puppies. The game only has one mode, in which you have to get as far as you can. You will progress through numerous stages, and each stage can be completed by saving puppies that show up. The rule is that you must grab every puppy. If you miss, you will lose one of three lives. Because the screen scrolls ahead and continually urges you to move, this can be difficult because you don't want to miss a single puppy. Stages are chosen at random. Besides a more difficult layout and more dangers the further you go, there’s also a different color and environment. A stage has three plains that can be walked on. Your character can leap, but it is really weak, thus it must climb a hill to reach the upper level. Although you can leap down, falling from a height will kill you. Both issues can be resolved with two items. The rope allows you to climb to higher ground, while the parachute protects you from a high fall. However, this does not occur automatically since you must press a two-key combination. Since height is the most common reason for dying, the parachute should open automatically. By the way, the fall deaths are so annoying you will stop playing the game after several rounds. Some enemies and hazards will attempt to stop you. Most may be defeated by throwing owls at them that can be acquired like any other valuable item. These items appear randomly on various plains, therefore it's a good idea to collect them. Once a stage is completed, you can improve one of the six traits. Some examples include aerobics, which improves running speed, and owl recruitment, which increases regeneration rate. They’re not that useful, and there’s nothing to help you with fall damage. Improvements are temporary because you start each game with nothing. There are also no bonuses or extras; the last game is the same as the first.

"Rescue: The Beagles" is a challenging mix of a platformer and a runner arcade game. You are trying to save beagles from evil doctors. To do so, you have to run, jump, climb or fall down, all while avoiding (or pushing away) the evil doctors. Sounds easy enough, right? Let me assure you, it isn't! While the screen is moving, you have limited time to save all the beagles or you will game over from the screen catching up with you, a deep fall or a lost beagle. The scrolling parallax is unique and refreshing. You can have more than 1 life and it all depends on fast planning and reflexes! You have to pick up the dogs, along with supplies to save them. It's very fast but, not so much as to cause a headache, and it's really entertaining for both short and long bursts! Pass through the levels in arcade style, pick your upgrade and save as many beagles as possible! Don't let them become victims to a vile empire! Choose your playable character and go! The game has convenient and responsive controls. It also offers a help book that you'll want to check prior to playing. It's more complex than your typical runner/platformer. Furthermore, it's equally more fun and challenging! The soundtrack and the color palettes variation of the procedurally generated levels, make it exciting on every run; it nevers feels the same. I have only played the single player but, the game offers Co-Op and PvP modes with configurable conditions. How many beagles can you save?... For more reviews, follow my curator https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44864435-Mewesome-Reviews/

Rescue: The Beagles is like a cup of hot, tasty coffee brewed by the virtuoso barista! It will wake you up, it will make your eyes open wide; it will keep you on the edge of your seat and then it will kill you in most glorious ways possible, all because you did not manage your parachutes and owls well. But don't worry, that is the part of its charm. Once you get in the zone with the game's flow, your skills and decision-making will be tested. Endless waves of beagles to rescue, evil executives to blast and mountain ranges to explore awaits you. Gameplay is super-dynamic, and that retro look is working its magic in the best ways possible. There are a lot of subtle mechanics built in the game's deceivingly simple premise. Oh, and the colour palettes of the levels are gorgeous. Rescue: The Beagles has that 'Tetris' effect, where it keeps on playing in front of your eyes long after you turned off your computer. It will haunt your dreams! :)) Highly recommended!

This game is extremely addictive. I was part of the playtest which I thoroughly enjoyed - it's just hard not to come back to it when taking a break from work. It's well worth your time, I fully recommend it.

I haven't played the original in many years, and I was pleasantly surprised by the sheer amount of visual upgrades and gameplay improvements in this version. It may look like a simple platformer, but once you start playing it you'll realize that it quickly gets pretty challenging. "Rescue: the Beagles" is addictive, fun, and looks gorgeous. I think I love the rain and snow levels the best, the atmosphere on those is just sublime 🌟 [i]Disclaimer: Nenad is a dear friend of mine. I composed half the music for the game, voiced the characters, and created most of the sound effects.[/i]

Fantastic remaster of a classic arcade game from the early days of indie games! I sunk countless hours into the original and this version just builds on that solid foundation by adding some fun new twists and remastered art. Honestly one of my all-time fav arcade games. If you enjoy score attack "coffee break" games at all, this is one of the best. The fact this doesn't have hundreds or thousands of reviews is just a sign of how bad discovery has gotten on Steam. The core mechanic of Rescue the Beagles is identifying where you can safely switch between the three constantly moving parallax layers. You do this by either by climbing up or dropping down when the vertical distance between the hills and valleys is small enough (a little taller than your player). Your goal is to ensure that all beagles are rescued and none wander off the left side of the screen, presumably lost, never to be found again. To help you out there are collectable ropes and parachutes giving you an out for when you need to quickly ascend or descend large distances, owls can be collected and tossed at oncoming enemies, goji berries provide brief invincibility etc. Because of it's unique mechanics early on you'll misjudge heights and fall to your doom or fail to spot a beagle. Keep with it! Soon you'll instinctively know when it's safe to jump or climb, and become a beagle spotting master. Eventually you hit the point where you can read the entire screen at a glance and know that a closed pathway will open up by the time you reach that side of the screen. You'll start pulling off daring diagonal leaps to catch tiny openings and weave between enemies. There's a real sense of flow to high level play. There are also several different level end bonus multipliers you can aim for to improve your score that require either expert play or aiming for a specific play style, such as collecting all the owls or clearing levels without killing enemies. There's a lot of depth and a high skill ceiling to aim for. FOR FANS OF THE ORIGINAL: Good news! The fantastic original soundtrack and sound design are still here! The two major gameplay additions I've noticed are water layers on some levels and a meta mechanic where you can upgrade various stats: [list] [*]Water is a great addition, you can safely fall into it from any height but your horizontal movement is significantly reduced while swimming. It completely switches up your instincts around the optimal path to take. [*]The meta layer is thankfully just impactful enough to be noticeable and vary your playstyle a bit without becoming intrusive. This is still a game about player skill, not what upgrades you've picked. [/list] NOTE: at the time I wrote this there appears to be a bug where you can't view the online leaderboards in game. The scores are posted though, and you can view them here: https://steamcommunity.com/stats/2763000/leaderboards/12729713/

this is a fun modern arcade game with neat gameplay and adorable visuals. definitely worth its asking price.

Cool update to one of the all-time great indie games. Cute, funny, and very cleverly-designed arcade game. Took me a while to adjust to some of the changes because I put so many hours into the original, but I came around on most of them. Could use online leaderboards, but not a dealbreaker.

♥♥♥♥ yeah, Rescue the Beagles. Forever the best ALF simulator, lost none of its charm. Thanks for bringing this back. <3