Crash


Frankenstein

Categories: Review: Software
Author:
Publisher: Icon
Machine: Spectrum 48K

 
Published in Crash #18

Frankenstein 2000

The theme of this game is very similar to Fantastic Voyage in that you control a sprite making its way through the inner workings of a human body. This time the sprite is in the form of a little space craft (as in the film 'Fantastic Voyage') and the body is that of some humanoid monster.

Your task, as Freddy Frankenstein descendant of Victor Frankenstein, is to guide the craft through the ten main regions of the body to find and activate the bionic implants within it. But before he can be allowed to get up and hobble about you must also find and destroy the neurons responsible for the monster's wicked behaviour in the past, otherwise he will get up to his old tricks of chasing young maidens and killing off cobblers.

Your journey begins in the Trachea where you have to dodge left and right to get past the ranks of oncoming frogs (you may well wonder, but trachea means throat, geddit) I When you collide with a frog, or indeed with any other moving object within the body, the damage bar shown at the base of the screen increases. Another bar shows the amount of oxygen remaining and when it reaches zero or the damage bar reaches maximum then the game is over.

Frankenstein 2000

Your next stop after the throat is the right lung. Here you must get past the bouncing cigarette packets to activate the implant and then make your way out again. Each part of the body is explored in order, after the lungs you move onto the stomach, the liver, kidneys, intestine, heart and finally the brain. The graphics for each of the organs vary widely but essentially the task is the same those areas that do not contain a transplant may simply require you to work your way to the other side collecting bits and pieces as you go.

In the stomach, for example, you must collect the six pieces of bacon while avoiding the eggs. After every second organ you find yourself in a blood vessel where you can restore your oxygen level by shooting the air bubbles, but colliding with them will increase your damage and that can only be reduced by finding, and absorbing the odd spanner left about the place.

After each screen has been completed you are returned to the main screen which shows those parts of the body that can be reached and the next area about to be negotiated. On this screen you are given your current score and the highest score achieved.

Comments

Control keys: Q/A up/down, O/P left/right, space to fire
Joystick: Kempston
Keyboard play: good response
Use of colour: very good
Graphics: fast and smooth
Sound: pretty poor
Skill levels: 1
Lives: depends on damage and oxygen level
Screens: 10

Comment 1

'Frankenstein 2000 has rather nice colourful and smooth graphics. The program also has a neat sense of humour with frogs in the throat, cigs in the lungs and fried eggs in the stomach. This is a game to work out, damage is easily accumulated and not so quickly repaired, oxygen is also a precious commodity. To do well you must move quickly and accurately, so expect the first few games to end in death pretty quickly. Icon have come up with a good game here, I enjoyed it'

Comment 2

'What a strange game this is, a multi-platform arcade adventure (touch of) all taking place with a human body. There are lots of different ideas within the game like dodging frogs in the throat and shooting oxygen bubbles for more air. The sound could have been improved but it's aright. The graphics themselves are very smooth with a lot of detail. Keyboard play is very responsive which is just as well. This game is worth a look as it represents pretty good value.'

Comment 3

'I thought the route round the body was a little strange, you start in the throat down to the lungs, stomach, intestines and then you go back up the heart and finish up in the brain. While the graphics worked well I was a little disappointed with the sound simply because there was so little of it, when you collide with a nasty all you hear is a minute ticking noise which is easily lost. Sound aside this game does require skilful play, mostly because of the limits imposed by the oxygen and damage levels, also it has quite a lot of variation from screen to screen.'

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