Mechanic · structure & scoring · shoot 'em up
Rescue
Points or progress for saving characters that the enemies are taking or threatening.
On this page
A rescue rewards the player for saving someone. In Defender, a humanoid dropped by a shot lander falls; the ship can catch it and set it down for points, and a fall too fast kills it1.
Games
| Game | Year | How | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defender | 1981 | Catch and return | 500 for catching a falling humanoid and 500 for setting it down; landers that carry one off become mutants |
Every claim about this mechanic, by game (3)
References
- ^ abA dropped humanoid falls faster each step, up to a limit. Touching it with the ship scores 500 and carries it under the ship, and setting it down on the ground scores 500 more. Left alone, it lands for 250 if its fall speed is $E0 or less, and dies if faster. At the end of each wave, each humanoid left scores 100 times the wave number, at most 500 (computed from the score calls).Codemwenge/defender
How we know
925*ASTRONAUT FALL ⋮ 927AFALL LDX PD,U 928 LDD #8 ;ACCEL DOWNWARD 929 ADDD OYV,X 930 CMPD #$300 ⋮ 934 CMPA OY16,X ;HIT GROUND? 935 BHI AFALL1 ;NO 936 LDD OYV,X 937 CMPD #$E0 ;FATAL? 938 BLS ALAND ;NO ⋮ 942 JSR ASTK1 ⋮ 945AFALL2 LDX PD,U ⋮
src/defb6.src lines 925–962 at e740063 · upstream ↗ 398AKIL1 LDU OBJID,X 399 BEQ ASTKIL ;NOT FALLING 400 LDA PCFLG 401 BEQ AKIL10 ;SHOT 402 LDD PADDR,U ;1ST TIME 403 CMPD #AFALL2 ⋮ 408 NEWP P500,STYPE ⋮ 412AKIL2 LDD #AFALL2
src/defb6.src lines 398–415 at e740063 · upstream ↗ 499P250 OBI C25P1,NOKILL,$0000 500 LDD #$0125 ⋮ 503*500 POINT PROCESS ⋮ 507 LDD #$0150 508P5000 JSR SCORE
src/defb6.src lines 499–508 at e740063 · upstream ↗ 1826 LDA #$01 1827 LDY PLRX 1828 LDB PWAV,Y ;MULTIPLIER 1829 CMPB #5 1830 BLO BCLPA 1831 LDB #5 1832BCLPA ASLB 1833 ASLB 1834 ASLB 1835 ASLB 1836 JSR SCORE
src/defa7.src lines 1822–1836 at e740063 · upstream ↗ Checked against the evidence by its author, an AI model, 2026-10-22.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-22.
- ^A Defender lander picks a humanoid from the target list and heads for it. Over it, the lander descends, grabs it, and climbs with it; at the top of the play area it pulls the humanoid inside, which kills the humanoid, and the lander becomes a mutant ("SCHITZO" in the source). Shooting a lander that carries a humanoid starts the humanoid falling.Codemwenge/defender
How we know
688*LANDER KIDNAP ⋮ 693 LDD [PD4,U] ;TARGET ALIVE? ⋮ 703 CMPA XTEMP ;CLOSE? 704 BEQ LANDG0 ;GET IM ⋮ 709 JSR GTARG ;RE:TARGET 710 LBEQ SCZ00 ;NO, FREAK
src/defb6.src lines 688–710 at e740063 · upstream ↗ 737*LETS GET HIM ⋮ 741 STD OYV,X ⋮ 743 STD OPICT,X ⋮ 777*ARE WE ON HIM? ⋮ 788 STD OYV,X ;SPLIT ⋮ 794*FLEE ⋮ 798 CMPA #YMIN+8 799 BLS LANDFX ;ALL DONE ⋮ 802*PULL HIM INSIDE ⋮ 810 DEC LNDCNT ⋮ 814 STD OYV,X ⋮ 823LNDFX1 LEAX ,Y ;KILL ASTRO ⋮
src/defb6.src lines 737–841 at e740063 · upstream ↗ 903*KILL KIDNAPPING LANDER ⋮ 905LKIL1 LDU OBJID,X ;GOT A PASSENGER? ⋮ 911 NEWP AFALL,STYPE ;START HIM FALLING
src/defb6.src lines 903–911 at e740063 · upstream ↗ 1145 FDB LANDV 1146 FDB MUTV ⋮ 1161PICTS FDB LNDP1 1162 FDB SCZP1
src/amode1.src lines 1144–1166 at e740063 · upstream ↗ Checked against the evidence by its author, an AI model, 2026-10-22.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-22.
- ^When the last humanoid dies, Defender blows up the planet's terrain. With no humanoids left, a lander that looks for a new target becomes a mutant, and new landers start as mutants. By the operator default, every fifth wave restores the humanoids to 10, the number each player starts with.Codemwenge/defender
How we know
421ASTCLR LEAY ,X ⋮ 432 DEC ASTCNT 433 BNE ASTCX 434 NEWP TERBLO,STYPE ;BLOW UP TERRAIN
src/defb6.src lines 421–434 at e740063 · upstream ↗ 628*GET TARGET FROM LIST 629*RET EQ IF NONE,D=TRG OBJECT ⋮ 632 LDA ASTCNT 633 BEQ GTX ;NOBODY LEFT ⋮ 654LNDST0 TST ASTCNT ;NO MORE TARGETS 655 BNE LNDST1 656 JMP SCZS0
src/defb6.src lines 626–656 at e740063 · upstream ↗ 709 JSR GTARG ;RE:TARGET 710 LBEQ SCZ00 ;NO, FREAK
src/defb6.src lines 706–710 at e740063 · upstream ↗ 1851 LDX #GA1+6 ;GET GA4=RESTORE WAVE ⋮ 1859GTWV00 SUBA XTEMP ;NEW GUYS EVERY NTH WAVE 1860 BLO GTWV01 1861 BNE GTWV00 1862 LDA #10 1863 STA PTARG,X
src/defa7.src lines 1849–1863 at e740063 · upstream ↗ 814 FCB $05 ;GA4 RESTORE WAVE #src/romc8.src line 814 at e740063 · upstream ↗ 1146 LDB #10 1147 STD P1SBC ;10-->P1TRG ALSO PATCH 2
src/defa7.src lines 1146–1147 at e740063 · upstream ↗ Checked against the evidence by its author, an AI model, 2026-10-22.
Checked by a second AI model, 2026-10-22.
Sources
Code
- Jarvis, Eugene, Sam Dicker, and Robert Hargreaves. 2023. “Defender (1981) by Eugene Jarvis and Sam Dicker: the 6809 source.” Commit e740063. mwenge/defender @ e740063 · licence, all uses