Another platform game wends its way to the Commodore,
courtesy of the Spectrum. Dynamite Dan is the
name of the game and also (not surprisingly) that of
the main character.
Dan
is having some problems with his love life. You see,
the evil and wicked Professor has captured his girlfriend
and has locked her away inside the safe in his mansion
-- the despicable cad! Our hero, being no mug and a
brave and honourable gentleman at heart, decides to
set about freeing his unfortunate lady friend. So, without
further ado, he hoards his airship and zooms off as
fast as he can to the Professor's mansion, where he
lands on the roof.
It
is here that you take over Dan's actions. Starting from
the rooftop base, Dan has to penetrate the mansion,
find the dynamite scattered around and blow open the
safe. However, the Professor's little abode is far from
empty -- in fact it's filled with 'orrible minions roaming
freely about the place. As they're not exactly out for
Dan's blood, they follow a preset patrol pattern that
needs to be learnt if they are to be avoided. If Dan
does make the mistake of actually touching them, he
loses one of his ten lives. Falling from a high ledge
doesn't do him much good either. Dan can survive quite
a reasonable drop, but if he falls too far then the
'Whee Splat Gently' principle comes into effect.
The
mansion is presented Jet Set Willy style: ie
the screens connect realistically and logically to form
rooms. These rooms are full of platforms, hazards, stairs
and all sorts of unpleasant little traps to catch out
an unwary Dan. As evil professors' abodes go, this one
is a cut above the average residence and contains some
interesting features. Firstly, there are trampolines
on which Dan can bounce. They work in a similar manner
to the real thing and bouncing on them long enough will
practically send Dan through the roof. Tele-transporters
whisk Dan off to another part of the mansion if he stands
underneath a flashing one. A lift travels up and down
a shaft in the centre of the mansion and proves a handy
means of travel, as it stops on all floors. Also it
is devoid of nasties, offering the opportunity to look
at a few of the rooms to either side.
Deep
beneath the mansion floor there runs a subterranean
river and on this floats a raft, going round and round
on the circular current (all the screens wrap round
into a cylinder). By simply hopping on at the right
moment, Dan can get a free ride to wherever the raft
is bound.
Dan
is hyperactive and consumes a fair amount of energy
walking and leaping about the mansion. This energy is
shown on screen as a bar that slowly diminishes throughout
the game. If it reaches zero then a life is lost and
the bar is replenished. In order to keep energy up,
Dan has to eat. Luckily, there are some tasty snacks
lying around for the taking -- all Dan has to do is
run into them. Other pieces of booty scattered throughout
the place give bonus points if taken. Some weapons and
objects give temporary immunity -- as long as the border
flashes Dan can run into anything without fear of losing
a life. This is useful for some of the more difficult
screens. Extra lives can be obtained by picking up one
of the few test tubes occasionally found.
If
Dan manages to pick up all of the dynamite and eventually
blow open the safe, he flies off into the sunset with
his loved one in true Cecil B. de Mills and Boon style.
Ah!
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