Alessandro Grussu


Dungeons Of Gomilandia

Author: Alessandro Grussu
Publisher: RetroWorks
Machine: Spectrum 48K/128K

 
Published in Al's Spectrum Annual 2021

Dungeons Of Gomilandia

Dungeons Of Gomilandia is the sequel to Gommy Defensor Medieval, also produced in 2009 by Retroworks. In the previous game, the protagonist Gommy - a sort of anthropomorphic potato - defended the castle of Gomilandia from a horde of monstrous invaders, throwing stones on their heads from the battlements; it was in fact an updated version of the ancient Siege, created in 1983 for the Spectrum 16K by then unknown Mike Singleton.

Having accomplished the feat, Gommy rushes into the throne room to tell the good news to the king, but with dismay he realizes that a skeleton is sitting on the throne and that the enemies, while he was busy throwing stones, had already entered the castle. The poor soul is then captured and thrown into the dungeons of Gomilandia, where Justice herself offers him a chance to escape.

Each of the 54 rooms the dungeon is divided into contains a key and a door that gives access to the next room. Within a tight time limit, Gommy has to collect the key and reach the door; if he fails, he will lose a life. To do this, he must use blocks as a sort of ladder; he can only carry one at a time, and cannot climb them if the pile is higher than a single block. During the adventure, other types of blocks appear: some can be used as moving platforms to move horizontally and vertically, others quickly crumble when Gommy walks upon them, others are fixed, therefore they cannot be taken, or are deadly to the touch. Even falling from a height of more than two blocks will cost Gommy a life.

Dungeons Of Gomilandia is a first-rate puzzle game. Graphics are mostly basic, but clean and colourful, without a hint of "colour clash"; besides, the character's expressions are particularly funny. Sound is made of beeper effects and tunes and underlines the game action effectively. The 54 levels are all very different from each other and of increasing difficulty, and this means they will be able to hold the player's attention for a long time. However, the game's authors wisely thought of assigning a code to each one of them, so that it is possible, through a dedicated option in the start menu, to restart after the "Game Over" from an already reached level. There is even an "arcade" mode, where the time limit is removed, but no points are scored.

Finally, as further proof of the care the game was made with, there is the lovely user manual, which tells the background story through a really nice comic strip. There is no denying: Dungeons Of Gomilandia is a real "gem"!

Alessandro Grussu

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