Dynamite Dan

Despite having an extremely naff title Dynamite Dan is one of the most enjoyable platform games that I've played in some time.

It's not at all original. The plot requires you to guide Dan around the castle of Dr. Blitzen, searching for sticks of dynamite needed to blow open a safe containing some stolen plans.

But what makes this game stand out from so many other JSW clones is the sheer business of the games. All the screens are incredibly eventful, with ladders and lifts, various routes into and out of each room, teleport beams, and an enormous variety of deadly sprites barring your way.

The graphics aren't in the Knight Lore league, but they are very professional - all the graphics are nice and large, and smoothly animated. One little design feature that I liked was that when you collide with a sprite and lose a life, that sprite is destroyed, leaving your path clear to the next obstacle. This means that you don't keep on losing all your lives on the same obstacle, and stops you getting too frustrated by a particularly difficult task.

As well as the dynamite, there are a variety of other objects that you can collect - food to boost your energy level, and test tubes which contain serums that add to your number of lives - and of course, all are tucked away in tricky little corners.

My only doubt about the game, is that at £6.95 it is a little expensive, though not outrageously so. C.J.

C.J.

Dynamite Dan