Previous Next

Ooh excitement! The Earth's being invaded (again), but this time the bug-eyed space creatures have moved into the lost city of Atlantis from where they're planning to launch their final devastating attack on humankind. Luckily for us, there's one man who knows *no fear*(!) and that man is ace aquanaut, Ric Flair.

In the first section Ric plunges into the murky, sideways-scrolling ocean depths. Swimming right, Ric has to dodge or rocket numerous hazards, including homing swordfish, tentacled jellyfish, barrels of nuclear waste and depth charges. A kindly quartermaster has dropped off some equipment pods, containing the tools you need to complete the game.

Graphically, this section is great - loads of big, well-animated sprites - and it's a pretty good blast too. My one complaint is that once a swordfish or a shark gets on your flippers you can have real problems getting rid of it because by the time Ric's turned around to shoot, he's been skewered.

The next section is a hunt through submarine caverns for the entrance to Atlantis. Useful items are scattered hither and thither, and it's up to you to work out what to use where.

The final load is set in the corridors of Atlantis, which are positively swarming with Ramanishi aliens. As well as torching the Ramanishi spaceship, Ric has to find and release the four remaining Atlanteans. Again, it's a case of finding objects and using them in the right places, but this time he has Ramanishi guards to deal with. Unless he finds a better weapon, this means chucking knives at them before they can touch him. Again, this section is made tougher by the fact that Ric can't turn and fire instantaneously, so aliens simultaneously approaching from both sides can be extremely tricky to deal with. The puzzles are fairly logical, but some of the objects are so alien that it's anyone's guess what purpose they could possibly serve. Still, I suppose it all adds to the mystery.

Although it's not without its faults, Aquanaut is an entertaining sort of game. Each section has enough to keep you immersed ("immersed" - geddit?) for a good few months, and there's even a handy game save to save you from swimming over old ground. If you're after something out of the ordinary, check it out.

An enjoyable combination of exploring and blasting games, made a bit over-difficult by one or two flaws.