Previous Next

Remember Eagle, that "Boys Own" comic which featured the fantastic, wonderful and heroic hero Dan Dare. You do... Good!

Now he's in a game, which I have to say is one of the hottest new releases yet! A bold statement maybe, but I believe it's true, and it all starts with a message from the Mekon... over to you Dan...

I was just relaxing in my penthouse apartment when I heard a message on the vid-box.

Quickly I turned the volume up so that I could hear what he was saying... "Earthlings, listen and listen good (He's obviously been watching some of those old movies), I have an ultimatum. People of Earth will surrender to me, and I will spare your planet. Yes, Earthlings, I have set an asteroid on course for your Earth, and when worlds collide... (He definitely has been watching old movies.)

I quickly rushed off with Digby, my faithful sidekick and chief dishwasher. Grabbing my laser gun, I leapt into the intergalactic star cruising rocket ship which just happened to be parked outside, and we were off to find the asteroid and destroy it.

We landed on a small crater just beyond the mountains, and I instructed Digby to wait for me while I set about going various heoic deeds. First of all, I discovered a lift and on going in it, I went down to a rather mega-complex looking city.

I figured, as heroes do, that I must stop this asteroid by placing five pieces of a self-destruct mechanism into a small room where they would go Boom! and stop the terrible threat on earth. Now to work...

As I reached the corner, a Treen spotted me and fired his laser at me, quickly dodging the blast with all the acrobatics I had learned at the Hero Training Academy, and I blasted him with pinpoint accuracy.

Now knowing full well that I had only got a certain time limit, I set upon my quest with great speed, which was not that much of a good thing to do. Because as I ran, I bumped into another Treen who knocked me out cold and placed me in a nasty-looking cell. As luck would have it, I found that the door was faulty and quickly started searching again.

I continued to search until I found what I was looking for - the first piece of the detonator. Picking it up caused the video screens around me to buzz and then the Mekon shouted "Put that down, Dare. You will not succeed." Taking no notice, I ran to where I believed the reactor room to be and, of course, I was right. I placed the piece into its hole in the control panel and got the message that the door to sector two was now open, so off I dashed.

Hundreds of Treens appeared at the door so it was out with the old laser and fire away! Blam! Two down. Zap! Another two and then the final one started running and I mashed his hide just as he thought he had got away. I must move quickly, the second piece awaits...

OK, I've stopped being Dan Dare, and am now taking on the role of the reviewer. Dan runs about very well, with his laser gun tucked up under his arm.

The rest of the graphics are really stunning, they move about just like sprites on the C64, and the backgrounds are very well coloured indeed.

The sound is just about average for the old Spectrum, with beeps and bips all around the game and maybe the occasional squark. There are also some very nice touches included in this game; for instance, as you fall you see Dan into a Hero's fall position; legs slightly bent, arms up with his face contorted into an evil grid.

The title page was amazing for a Speccy - a picture of the Mekon and our hero in full cartoon style. This has to be the best Spectrum game I have ever seen. It's graphically wonderful, addictive and very, very playable. In fact, I would almost consider buying a Spectrum just to play it!

A brilliant game.