Previous Next

Jonny Quest? Sounds like a trip down to the chemist (how rude!). But no, it's the name of our hero in the latest budget blast. This Hanna Barbera cartoon star is a disgustingly cute little blonde-haired, blue-eyed do-gooder.

Being the son of the fantastically clever and important Dr. Benton Quest (a top boffin in the US government), little Jonny is constantly getting involved in galactically important matters, saving the world and so forth (as one does).

Jonny's dad is such a blinkin' big wig that evil conspirators are forever out to kidnap the little blighter to use as a pawn in their games of global domination. In fact, Jonny is so nabbable the government have given him a full-time rock-'ard bodyguard - a hunk known as Race Bannon.

In this particular episode, it's not our Jonny in trouble but Dr Quest himself! Captured by the evil Dr Zin (you'd never guess he was a baddy with a name like that, would you?), he's being forced to design a deadly laser to serve Zin's cunning plans to rule the world.

Unsurprisingly, our hero sets off on a mission to rescue his dad, along with his henchman, his mystical Indian pal Hadji, and his pet dog Bandit (ash!). But oh no... wouldn't you know it, his pals all get captured too, leaving Jonny to do heroic deeds single-handed (selfish swines).

And that's where you come in as you guide the little fella across platforms, over lakes, down rabbit warrens and so on. There are robots to punch, blue lobsters to jump (oo-orl) and all sorts of other nasties hindering him, but there's the odd useful item lying around - keys, dynamite, torch, etc - which aid progress.

Possibly the most striking feature of Jonny himself is the incredible bowlcut hairstyle Hi-Tec have given the poor boy. Admittedly the little chap in the cartoon has got a bit of a basin but his graphic depiction here is unflattering in the extreme. Other than this small gripe, it's quite a pretty game, with the odd bouncing bunny and other cutesy snippets of animation (mmm... lovely).

The baddies, on the other hand, are more menacing. Apart from Dr Zin's evil faceless robots, there's a whole host of small, brown, dog turdlike creatures (which you certainly want to avoid landing upon) plus abnormally aggressive fish and other bizarre nasties.

Can't say much about accompanying sound FX - there aren't any.

At the end of the day, it's a jolly little game for a cheapy. Bouncing Jonny around the screens gets more addictive as you play (Don't let the dog turds put you off!) and there's plenty to keep the old grey matter functioning... yes, that's a good point, you lazy lot! I just hope he eventually gets his jonny [Shut up, Alan! - Ed].

Hands up if you've ever heard of Jonny Quest? No-one in Crash Towers has a clue who this mysterious cartoon character is. All we know is he's a Hanna-Barbera cartoon and software heroes Hi-Tec [Praise indeed, bloody creep - Ed] have produced this game about him!

This is your usual arcade adventure with detailed and colourful graphics everywhere. What I can never understand about such games is why they always have a black background! All the Dizzy games are the same. What's wrong with a nice light blue sky for a change?

Apparently, the Jonny Quest cartoon had a strange drawing style; the game's the same. The villains have no detail in the top hall of their bodies, for example - strange!

Collecting objects like keys and torches and using them in the correct places is what's needed, as well as bopping the nasty blokes to keep them out of the way. The way they fall to the ground is great. One second they're standing up, the next they're on the ground - how's that for a power-punch?!

Jonny Quest is a reasonable budget arcade game but nothing to go over the top about.

Overall 73%
A nice little platform game with more depth than many.