Benji - Space Rescue

Benji - Space Rescue
Title screen of the game
Game No.	520
Voting	5.20 points, 5 votes
Company	ISA Software
Publisher	HES
HVSC-File	/GAMES/A-F/Benji_Space_Rescue.sid
Release	1983
Platform	C64
Genre	Simulation, Space
Gamemode	Single player
Operation
Media
Language

Description[edit | edit source]

In the game "Benji — Space Rescue", the player controls a spaceship, traveling to various planets in the solar system. The goal of their mission is to evacuate a group of scientists who are being held captive by invaders from another galaxy. Specifically, the player's tasks include not only route planning and piloting the spaceship, but also refueling, munitions, and supplies for the crew, defending against enemy drones and asteroids, and collecting the scientists and transporting them back to Earth. The player is assisted in their tasks by the space pilot dog Benji, who — depending on the game level — takes on a greater or lesser degree of control.

Backstory[edit | edit source]

Invaders from another galaxy are attacking Earth! As a first step, they have kidnapped a group of scientists, imprisoned them on other planets in the solar system, and shielded them with artificial asteroid belts. They now intend to extract data from the researchers' brains and use the acquired knowledge for their sinister plans. But first, they must repair damage to their own intergalactic cargo ship — and the loyal space pilot dog Benji wants to use this reprieve to free the scientists and bring them back to Earth in his spaceship, the "Star Woof". However, he needs assistance for some of the necessary steps. Therefore, the player is chosen to stand by his side as co-pilot.

Background[edit | edit source]

At the time of the game's release, the dog "Benji" was likely familiar to a large part of the target audience as the title character of the film "Benji". In this 1974 family film, a mixed-breed dog rescues his teenage friends, who are being held captive by kidnappers in an abandoned house, by alerting the police and leading them to the teenagers' prison. While further episodes of the film were produced, the program "Space Rescue", originally conceived as the first installment of a series, remained the only computer game featuring the heroic dog Benji.

Design[edit | edit source]

During the game, the player switches between several screens depending on the current situation. These screens, each set against a black background, display information about the spaceship, its cargo, and its route, as well as the spacecraft and its immediate surroundings. Most of the data is presented in textual form; only the star charts also offer a graphical representation of the individual planets.

The starting point for each round is the console (left animation in the gallery below). From here, the player can access the engine room, the cargo hold, and the armory; star charts can also be displayed.

Approaching a planet, however, requires a display showing the spaceship and its immediate surroundings. This applies both to traversing the asteroid belt installed by the invaders (center animation) and to fighting enemy drones and rescuing the kidnapped scientists (right).

The spaceship is loaded and the next flight is planned from the console.

On approach to a planet, Benji fights his way through an asteroid belt.

Enemy drones attempt to thwart the scientists' rescue.

The authors took great care with the accurate representation of the planets on the star chart. However, this information is partially ignored in the game — for example, the right animation in the gallery above shows the rescue of a scientist from the surface of Jupiter, which, according to the star chart, consists of liquid hydrogen:

Graphics[edit | edit source]

The console and statistics from the storage room, engine room, and armory are displayed in monochrome text mode (screen memory at address $4400, character set at $5000). For larger, high-resolution graphics (such as Benji's head in the title screen or the planets on the star charts), the program switches to multicolor bitmap display in the middle of the screen via a raster line interrupt (bitmap at address $6000, screen memory at $4400).

Benji's spaceship, all enemies, asteroids and missiles, as well as the scientists' prison, are sprites; the enlarged view of the spaceship on the console even consists of four sprites. The beam used to beam the scientists up into the rescue spaceship, however, is part of the text display.

Sound[edit | edit source]

A short, two-part musical piece plays continuously during the intro (see section Theme). During gameplay, the sound output is limited to noises and short sound sequences to underscore the action.

Flight through a planet's atmosphere

Hints[edit | edit source]

Each game begins with the player pressing the fire button to move from the title screen to the selection screen for their desired military rank. The lower the rank, the more tasks the space pilot dog Benji performs and the fewer actions are expected of the player. To select a rank, the player must move the blinking cursor up and down on the joystick to the desired rank and then confirm their selection by pressing the fire button.

Alternatively, moving the joystick to the right or pressing the D key during the title screen starts a demo round, which provides a brief introduction to the gameplay. The key combination RUN/STOP RESTORE cancels the demo round or the current game and returns to the title screen.

Screen Layout[edit | edit source]

Controls[edit | edit source]

The game is usually controlled primarily with the joystick; however, some special functions can only be activated with the keyboard. If a joystick is not available, all its functions can be replaced by pressing keys. In this case, the F7 key corresponds to the fire button, while deflecting the joystick in different directions is represented by the following keys:

 = Q   = W   = E 
 = A               = D 
 = Z   = C   = X

For the sake of clarity, the following sections always present the joystick movements required in a given situation and refrain from listing the equivalent keystrokes on the keyboard.

Console view

: Moves the blinking cursor over the left 4×2 buttons in the bottom two rows of the console.
: Activates the currently selected button.
The four light blue buttons represent the individual compartments of the spaceship: "T" = Cargo (Transport), "E" = Engine, "W" = Weapons, and M = Maps. After selecting a light blue button, you can then enter the corresponding compartment using "C" or view its status using "S".
The green button navigates to the destination set in the Engine, and the red "R" button switches from the console view to the flight view in a planet's atmosphere.

Storage space

: Switches between the different cargo types: FUEL, RATIONS, TORPS, SCIENTISTS, and REPAIRS.
: Loads or unloads the corresponding cargo. Fuel, provisions, and torpedoes can be loaded and unloaded at any supply planet; scientists can only be beamed down in Earth's atmosphere, and repairs can be requested as needed.
: Returns to the console view

Engine room

: Switches between the individual categories "DEST" (Destination), "WARP" (Speed), and "JUMP SETTINGS" (Jump Distance; decimal digits can be individually adjusted).
: Changes the target planet set under "DEST", or increases or decreases the speed or the currently active decimal digit of the jump distance.
: Returns to the console view.

Armory

: Switches between defensive devices (DEFENSE) and offensive weapons (OFFENSE).
: Selects or disables the defensive device "SHIELDS" or "DISRUPTOR", and selects or disables the offensive weapon "TORPEDOES" or "PHASOR". The selection can be changed later using the F1 and F5 keys.
: Returns to the console view

Space maps

: Selects the planet about which information is to be gathered. While the name of a planet is displayed below Benji's spaceship, the yellow-highlighted status bar shows the number of captured scientists and the supplies on the corresponding celestial body.
: Displays detailed information about the selected planet. According to the manual, the data reflects the scientific knowledge available at the time of publication and gives the game its special educational value. Pressing the fire button again returns to the console view.

Atmosphere of a planet

: Moves the spaceship in the corresponding direction
: Fires a projectile from the currently active weapon
F1 : Activates or deactivates the shield and the disruptor
F5 : Activates or deactivates the phaser and the torpedoes
SPACE : Beams scientists from the ground station up to the spaceship
0 ... 7 : Sets the current speed (impulse 0 ... 7)

Enemies[edit | edit source]

Yellow asteroids
Minor damage to Benji's spaceship in collisions

Red and blue radioactive asteroids
They cause severe damage to Benji's spaceship in collisions — but are fortunately very rare and can be detected early due to their striking coloration

Phaser drone
If Benji's spaceship is attacked with the phaser, it can be destroyed with both the phaser and torpedoes

Torpedo drone
If Benji's spaceship is attacked with torpedoes, it can only be temporarily paralyzed with the phaser and can only be shot down with torpedoes

Bomb drone
It crashes into Benji's spaceship and explodes on contact; it can be destroyed with both phasers and torpedoes

Spaceship[edit | edit source]

Paradoxically, the capacities of Benji's spaceship decrease as the player's rank increases, and the time available for the rescue mission also decreases with increasing levels. The following table lists the requirements for rescuing the scientists and the corresponding spacecraft characteristics for each rank.

Rank	Scientists to be rescued	Time (star days)	Maximum charge	Maximum fuel	Maximum torpedoes	Maximum food rations	Maximum passengers
PILOT OFFICER	6	60	262.100	131.000	64	128	16
SENIOR PILOT OFFICER	9	60	262.100	131.000	64	128	16
FLIGHT LIEUTENANT	10	48	170.000	131.000	64	128	16
SQUADRON LEADER	12	48	170.000	131.000	64	128	16
WING LEADER	24	32	170.000	131.000	64	128	10
GROUP CAPTAIN	27	24	150.000	131.000	64	128	10
COMMODORE	47	16	150.000	131.000	64	128	8
FLEET MARSHAL	63	10	150.000	131.000	64	128	8

Supply planets typically contain 65,000 fuel units, 128 food rations, and 64 torpedoes. However, at higher levels, one or more of these resources may be missing on some planets.

Tips[edit | edit source]

According to the manual, the four highest ranks require the jump distance (i.e., the distance to be traveled) to be correctly set before each mission to avoid wasting fuel or entering an asteroid belt. However, the manual does not specify a procedure for this calculation, and even grossly incorrect jump distances apparently have no negative consequences — possibly because the authors eventually realized that it is impossible to determine the distances between planets solely from their orbital radii: For example, the distance between Earth and Venus varies between 38.2 and 261 million km, a difference of more than a factor of 6.
If a repair on a supply planet is not possible, even though it is necessary, it helps to briefly leave the storage area, then return and make another attempt (by pressing the fire button twice, see the following animation). The user manual describes this procedure as repeated docking.

Repairs are sometimes only possible after repeated docking.

Solution[edit | edit source]

The game's objective, to free all the scientists held captive by the invaders and return them to Earth, can be achieved using the same steps: First, the player must use the map of celestial bodies (button "M") to determine on which planet the scientists are being held (left animation in the gallery below). Next, the player plans the journey there in the engine room (button "E") — possibly via stopovers where supplies can be replenished. Finally, the player loads the spaceship with the appropriate amount of fuel and provisions via the cargo hold and starts the flight by pressing the green "G" button.

The player then navigates to the selected planet and penetrates any asteroid belt and the planet's atmosphere to reach the scientists' prison. While fending off various attackers, you beam all or some of the scientists up to the spaceship and bring them back to Earth — possibly via intermediate stops. Once all the scientists have arrived on Earth, the game is successfully completed; as a reward, you are offered a new mission.

If, however, the time limit for the rescue expires or fuel or provisions run out prematurely, this means the mission fails and the game ends prematurely. Fortunately, in this case, a rescue team sets off to bring Benji home — so there won't be any tears at the end if the cuddly dog remains lost in space.

A total of 10 prisoners await rescue on Jupiter, Uranus, and Mercury; the other planets offer varying amounts of supplies.

Beaming the scientists down to Earth successfully completes the mission...

...but even after failure, there's still a happy ending for Benji.

Cheats[edit | edit source]

None of the versions of "Benji — Space Rescue" available on the Internet offer a trainer or any other form of cheat.

However, the game can be modified to create trainer functions by using POKE commands immediately after loading, before starting with "RUN. For example, the necessary commands for the Anti-ROM crack [1] are:

POKE  4509,209 : REM UNLIMITED FUEL
POKE  4383,209 : REM UNLIMITED FOOD RATIONS
POKE 12696,201 : REM UNLIMITED TORPEDOES
POKE 18332,0   : REM UNLIMITED TIME

Internal Data Structures[edit | edit source]

Knowledge of memory allocation and internal workings is helpful for developing custom trainer functions and for analyzing or manipulating the data used by the game. The following table therefore compiles a range of information about "Benji - Space Rescue".

Address	Content	Comments
$0815−$0816	Number of rations	Packed BCD format, low-order byte at $0815, high-order byte at $0816
$0812	Number of torpedoes	Packed BCD format
$080F — $0811	Fuel quantity	Packed BCD format, lowest-order byte at $080F, highest-order byte at $0811
$08B9 — $08BB	Time remaining	Packed BCD format, days at $08B9, hours at $08BA, minutes at $08BB

Votes[edit | edit source]

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
5.20 points at 5 votes (rank 1054). You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
C64 Games	5	November 29, 2025 - "gut" - 19731 downs
Lemon 64	5,11	29 November - 9 votes
Rombach	10	September 1984 - "Verdict 1"

Critics[edit | edit source]

Stephan64: "The only positive thing about the game 'Benji' is the cute dog on the title screen. However, that doesn't make up for the ridiculous backstory, the tedious gameplay with its consistent disregard for the laws of physics, the annoying controls, the abysmal sound, and the unimaginative graphics. Considering its early release year, I'd give it 3 points... and of course, because of the cute-looking dog."

Rombachs C64-Spieleführer: "Excellent in terms of concept and gameplay motivation, but the design isn't so outstanding (Verdict 1)." ^[1]

Miscellaneous[edit | edit source]

Cover[edit | edit source]

The game's cover is visible for a few seconds starting at 4:55 in the video embedded below.

Video Recording[edit | edit source]

Longplay with an introductory sequence about the backstory

Bugs[edit | edit source]

Whether the food supplies are sufficient for the entire crew is only checked at the destination of each voyage. In the following animation, Benji and his co-pilot take six scientists, but no provisions whatsoever, on an almost 50-day journey to Neptune — and one shudders to think what condition the scientists will be in when they arrive:

Benji lets his fellow scientists starve during an almost 50-day flight — and doesn't even notice.

Disc[edit | edit source]

Accesories[edit | edit source]

The disc containing "Benji — Space Rescue" includes a manual that describes the game in great detail, not to say tediously. Of course, it also includes an introduction for parents and educators, praising the educational value of the program, and a backstory that introduces the dog Benji as a space pilot and the player's trainer.

Theme[edit | edit source]

The following illustration shows the melody played in the intro and at the end of the game, in standard musical notation. For creative use, the sheet music is also available as a PDF document (File:Benji Theme PDF.pdf) and in ABC musical notation (File:Benji Theme.abc.txt).

Highscore[edit | edit source]

Anyone who has actually completed the game to its conclusion, however it may be, may immortalize themselves in the following list with their highest score. The ranking is determined solely by the score; however, the military rank may also be included as a level.