Previous Next

A galactic courier riding across the desert, shooting the enemy to save the planet. This is the scenario of Dune Rider, a recent release from Micro Power. Right from the loading sequence this game shows more class than most on the market. The instructions scroll steadily up the screen whilst the cassette keeps running, setting the scene and listing the control keys. These can be changed to whatever the player fancies, or joysticks can be used. Having tried both, I found joysticks easier.

The game starts with a little figure running towards a four wheel buggy, the dune rider. As he disappears on-board the ground scrolls horizontally from right to left, giving the impression of movement in the opposite direction. The dune rider can be moved horizontally in either direction or made to jump off the desert surface. The aim of the game is to shoot alien ships in the sky whilst avoiding obstacles on the ground. There are seven different alien ships altogether, although only two types appear initially. The others appear later in the game as the score progresses. There are two different obstacles on the ground, lava pits and radioactive rocks. Lava pits have to be jumped over, the rocks have to be shot first to make them safe to jump over. At least that is what the instructions said. I found that shooting at them made no difference, jumping over them was sufficient.

The alien ships move about the sky in two ways. Some stay in the same place horizontally and merely move up and down, whilst the others also move horizontally giving an overall diagonal movement. Whatever the movement, the ships still spend their time dropping bombs at you. When an alien tanker is hit it drops a fuel cannister which has to be caught to top up the ever decreasing fuel supply on the dune rider.

The program gave no trouble loading, and the initial displays are very good. The horizontally scrolling graphics are excellent, and response to the controls is good. When using joysticks the fire button fires bullets both horizontally and vertically, but as yet I have found no use for the horizontal firing. The explosion sequences, particularly when the dune rider gets hit, are very good, as is the suspension which move up and down as the level of the terrain changes. The sound effects are acceptable being a good partner to the graphics without being overwhelming.

They can be disabled and re-enabled from within the program. The game starts with only alien scouts and the occasional tanker to aim at. Scouts only earn 10 points so scoring is fairly slow. The tanker is worth 120 points with a bonus for catching the fuel pod as it falls, so for a good score this is really necessary. The third type of alien, the orbiter worth 20 points, appears once 1000 points have been scored. This took me so long I was beginning to think they didn't exist. When the other four aliens appear I haven't found out yet, as I have only managed to score 1970 points. Perhaps at 2000?? The obligatory three lives are given, but no mention is made of earning extra lives at a particular scoring level.

My only criticism of the game is that I found it too difficult. Having to concentrate on the alien ships and avoid their bombs whilst avoiding the lava pits and rocks is not easy. Some of the lava pits are difficult to see and controlling the jumping is tricky. I frequently found myself jumping too early and landing on the obstacle. There is no facility for setting the level of difficulty so you have to take it as it comes. If the starting level had been a little easier, and the other alien ships introduced earlier it would have been better still. When the third alien ship comes in at 1000 points the game speeds up noticeably and it quickly goes from hard to near impossible.

Overall this is a very good game with excellent graphics and sound. It contains all the refinements such as sound disable and re-enable, pause and continue in mid screen, and on-screen scoring. It is only a one player game, but there is a high score table for those who wish to compete against each other. Perhaps if I get better I might find out where the other aliens have got to. In the meantime the planet looks doomed.