The Rings of the Empire

The Rings of the Empire is an arcade game for the Atari 8-bit computer.

The Empire has developed a series of robot-controlled battle stations called Rings. Each station is protected by one or more rings of energy, and they have been placed at strategic points throughout the galaxy to monitor and destroy all unauthorized movement. If they are not destroyed soon, they will doom the Rebellion.

You will attack the stations in your Y-wing fighter, which is armed with zydon torpedoes. The rings are a series of counterclockwise rotating shields which can be destroyed by a direct torpedo hit. The player must blow away layers of the shield to ultimately aim a shot at the well-protected station within. One hit, and the station is destroyed. You must combat a series of stations with progressively more rings up to 4 rings in total.

Each station is armed with a negi laser, which tracks the player, and drains a small amount of energy with each hit. The player's total energy is displayed on the side of the screen. Whenever a shield segment is destroyed, a powerful segfire missile is released, which will obliterate the player's ship if it connects. After 6 - 10 ring segments are destroyed, segfire missiles will begin to track the player. The player can shoot down these missiles, but also 4 times per game can warp off one side of the screen and appear on the other. If the player's ship is destroyed, it's game over.