'''''Rescue Raiders''''' was a 1984 Platform/AppleII game from Creator/SirTech that combined the [[SideView side-scrolling]] helicopter action of ''VideoGame/{{Choplifter}}'' with one of the first implementations of RealTimeStrategy.

Two sides with identical capabilities vie to [[InstantWinCondition destroy each other's headquarters]] by [[EscortMission escorting a demolition team]] to the opposite end of the battlefield. In addition to dispatching these teams and other ground units, players directly pilot a [[HeroUnit heavily-armed helicopter]].

The game's creators later [[VideoGameRemake remade it]] for [[Platform/IBMPersonalComputer DOS]] and [[Platform/AppleMacintosh Mac OS]] as '''''Armor Alley'''''. This version added a multiplayer mode, with up to two pilots per team.

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!! Tropes found in ''Rescue Raiders'':

%% * AntiAir: Copters are the target of anti-aircraft gun emplacements, and of the missile carrier (a unit which [[TakingYouWithMe self-destructs upon launching its single missile]]).
%% * AttractMode: The computer plays itself while displaying credits and high scores.
* EnemyDetectingRadar: Displays everything on the entire length of the battlefield.
%% * GarrisonableStructures: Bunkers.
%% * GunshipRescue: The player can effect these.
* IdiosyncraticWipes: The intro uses a wipe suggestive of helicopter blades.
* MakeWrongWhatOnceWentRight: The game's ExcusePlot--omitted from the remake--has [[StupidJetpackHitler terrorists going back in time to aid Hitler]], while your forces [[TerminatorTwosome use another time machine to track and stop them]].
* MyRulesAreNotYourRules: You lose if you run out of copters. The AI player has unlimited copters.
* ScoringPoints: The point system is loosely based [[KarmaMeter on morality]], penalizing protracted and costly battles.
* ShowsDamage: Your copter emits smoke until repaired.
%% * TankGoodness: Tanks are the most powerful mobile ground unit...
* VulnerableConvoy: Tanks are powerful, but are as powerless against a bomb-dropping helicopter as the demolition vans they protect.
* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: It's actually [[spoiler: ZIPPY. Among other things, it enables the player to get extra and invulnerable helicopters and instantaneously move the helicopter to wherever the player wants on the battlefield]].


!! Tropes specific to ''Armor Alley'':

* CaptainObvious: One of the "Battle Hints" is "Low fuel means low fuel."
* TheComputerIsALyingBastard: Another Battle Hint is "Never believe everything you read."
* MotionParallax: The scenic background is layered by parallax scrolling, although it's an optional feature that can be disabled if found distracting. You can also disable the scenic background altogether.
* WarIsHell: The snippets of story in the game and the manual have this theme.
--> I don't recognize any of the guys I'm with here, and I don't know if it's because they're green troops and all my friends are dead, or [[TraumaInducedAmnesia because I'm losing my mind]].

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