Previous Next

It might sound like a new brand of pet food, but does Core's new platformer live up to its Mega CD pedigree?

Conversions, eh? Doncha just love 'em? Don't you just love it when you get a nice shiny new game and someone swans in and says"Oh yes, well of course I saw this done six years ago on the Nagagamichi 5000... the graphics haven't converted very well... oh dear, the gameplay's shot to pieces... no, you should have seen it on the Naga - it was brilliant."

Of course it's at this point when your patience generally snaps and you roundly berate your so-called friend for being (a) such a tedious git as to know where the game originated, (b) such an elitist git for thinking the original was better than your version (probably simply because it was the original rather than for any properly thought-out reason) and (c) such an annoyingly thoughtless git as to tell you.

Wonder Dog is a conversion from the Mega CD where it looked just lovely, thank you very much. It wasn't in any way exceptional to play, but it did look extremely nice. But you don't care about that, really, do you? You could have lived your whole life without ever having learned that Wonder Dog was a conversion from the Mega CD. Core would be unhappy, though, because they're very pleased with the way it's turned out.

So, then, what do you really want to know? You probably want to know how to become an inordinately rich, successful and happy person. You probably want to know how to meet and win the partner of your dreams. You probably want to know... [We want to know when you're going to get on with it! - Ed]

This here is a platform game. In the manner of platform games, it has a mulitude of platforms spread throughout numerous worlds. You get to visit a lovely wooded world, some sort of alien world, a junk yard and loads of other places besides, as well as a number of 'bone-us' levels (no, really). You play the part of a dog with a silly hat on (always a jolly good start) who throws stars (well, he would, wouldn't he?) and has to, er, well, er, get to the end of the game, really. It's fun. Sort of.

You start out on a lovely sunny sylvan world being bothered by bunnies. The bunnies don't seem to be actively trying to give you a hard time, but they do get a little tetchy if you muck them about, so it pays to leave them alone. Dealing with nasty things is chiefly by means of magic stars. Or something like that.

I'm not usually much of a one for reading instructions, to be honest, but in this case it wasn't much of a problem because I didn't have any. Even without them I managed to work out the star business (trust me, I'm a professional). A short press on the fire button releases a little star or two more or less horizontally from your dog. Longer presses produce somewhat larger stars which fly up in an entertaining manner and can be used to inflict fatal damage upon flying saucers. If you should happen to encounter any. And you do on the outer space level bit.

The problem with the modern computer game is that the programming has all tended to get a bit on the slick side. The result is that the controls have become very sensitive and the consequence of that is that they've actually become a little difficult to control. In days of yore, you used to have to heave long and hard on the joystick (oo-er) to make the game character move even slightly. Now, the merest accidental tap on the official Amiga Power Bug seems to send Wonder Dog skittering about all over the place. There was one jump, for instance, that took absolutely ages to get right and nearly made me give the whole thing up as a bad job. (Oh, and Up to jump doesn't help and is the world's stupidest idea. By the way. If you want my opinion.) So, anyway, it's much too controllable, sometimes to the point where you can't actually control it. But perhaps that can be considered to be part of the challenge.

It sounds great, though. There's music and effects and... ooh, loads of aural treats. And the graphics are smooth and well-executed too. There is strangely for a Core game, only scant humour. The bunnies in the first level are ausing, I guess, and some stuff later on has its moments (like bouncing on old sofas in the junkyard to reach the higher bits), but it doesn't really seem to sparkle quite as it should. That's not to say that it isn't pleasing, merely that it's not exceptionally pleasing.

"But what, oh reviewing-type person, is it like to play?" you would almost certainly be saying right now if only you were here with me. (Actually, I rather think you'd probably be nagging me for some of my coffee and trying to scrounge a bit of the chocolate I'm about to eat. You'd get short shrift, though - this is my breakfast.) I'm sorry, where was I? Oh yes, what's it like to play?

What do you expect it to be like? Search deep into that part of your brain labelled 'Computer Games And What They're Like'. Root through the dusty files. Laugh at the scribbled-out notes you originally made on the 'Film Licence' file which said they'd probably be really exciting and innovative. Ignore 'Shoot-'Em-Ups' - that means you've gone too far - and eventually you'll light upon the file marked 'Platform Games'.

What does it say? Mine says something like: "Characters move through a left-to-right scrolling world. Occasionally they get the chance to jump onto platforms (hence the name of the genre). There are obstacles and baddies. These can usually be destroyed by shooting at them (if the character is armed in any way) or by bouncing on their heads. Main characters can be cute and cuddly or vicious and hard (see also Film Licences)."

If that's what you think platform games are like then you already know what Wonder Dog is all about.

It certainly doesn't dismay, it more sort of disappoints. I loved Core's recent classic, Chuck Rock 2, and I was expecting something more from Wonder Dog, to be honest. It's a great conversion from the Mega-CD, that's for sure, but that's really more of a technical achievement than a 'creating a great game' achievement.

No, sadly, it's little more than standard platform stuff, and with so many other platformers out there competing for our attention, it's going to be hard pushed to make much of an impact. And Wonder Dog isn't even particularly cute.

Uppers: An excellent conversion of a Mega CD game. It's competently put together and does pretty much everything you'd expect a well made platform game to do.

Downers: Unfortunately, there's nothing really new in there and it doesn't really do anything you wouldn't expect a well made platform game to do.

It's not really going to set the world on fire, but, to be fair, it is a moderately amusing diversion for a couple of hours. Just not very much more than that, that's all.

Exactly and absolutely the same, right down to the annoying detail of not seeming to recognise a second disk drive. What a drag.