ßÛßßßßßßßßßßßÜÛßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßÜÜÜßßßßßßßßßßßÛß ßÜú ùÜÜÜÜÜú ßÜÛ ú ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ ßÜÜß úÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜß ßÜ ßÜ ßÜÜÜßÛ ÛßÜ ú ÞÝÜßù ÜÛÜÜÜ ßÜú ßÜÛù ÞÝÛ ÛÜß ú úÜß ßÜ ùßÜÛ ßßßßßßß ù ÛÜß ú Üßßßßßß ßÜ úßÜßÛßßßÜÛ ùÛßßßÛ ÞÝÜß ùÜß ßÜù ßÜÛÜÜùßÜ ÞÝú ÞÝ ÞÝù úÛ Üßú Üß ßÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÛÜ ßÜÜÜÛ ÛÜÜÜÜÛ ÜÛÜÜÜÜß  ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Captain Dynamo from The Codemasters, Released by THG Review done by Overlord Well, it certainly has been a while since The Codemasters have released a decent game. In fact this IS their first good game. Captain Dynamo is definetaly a change in style for the CodeMasters. This semi-original platform-style game combines pretty nice Adlib music with some smooth scrolling effects. At times, this game is slightly remeniscent of the Commander Keen series, however without the wide spectrum of colors, and the similarities don't hinder the game's originality or playability. The palette for this is mainly one of dark tones, with the occasional bright color. Although the game is mostly void of creatures and baddies, it has many pitfalls and tricks to fuck up even the most experienced player, helped by the fact that speed and jumping ability is at a strong loss. I found the ending very bland however. All you get for completing the final level is a congratulations and a ludicrous 10,000,000 point bonus, which is irrelevant because it's impossible to build up even a slightly comparable score without beating the game. The game starts out on the bottom of a vertical passageway, which Captain Dynamo must climb to the teleport station at the top to go to the next level. The first level is short and easy, with relatively few perils. The succeeding levels are much the same, with the exceptions of lava pools, spikes and other lethal objects, and more enemies. To eradicate the enemies you must stomp on each one, like in Super Mario Brothers. Each new level assaults you with a different challenge, but each is similar in that you are still climbing vertically. In some places, there are hidden rooms, which are enemy-clean and loaded with charms, bonus packages, and diamonds. Background graphics are very nice in a 320x200x16 layout. However foreground leaves much to be desired. The enemies and the Captain Dynamo graphics could've been done better by my little brother. The pictures are choppy and blocky, CGA style. The sound options are None, PC Speaker, and Adlib. PC Speaker sounds like shit, but the Adlib track is nice, although short. The tune is repeated throughout the game. Scrolling is OK, a little choppy if there's a lot of screen activity, but normally OK. It could be a bit smoother though. Playability is great. With a joystick you can do anything. Its a little harder with a keyboard, because the height jumping is difficult to coordinate in some situations. Overall, this game was definetaly worth it. At only a little more than 200k, and the two cracks, one from THG, and one from EXTiNCT, only a bout 30 more KBytes. I recommend using the EXTiNCT trainer, as it as more options and is a small TSR. This game was definetaly worth the download, but i haven't seen it in stores yet. You probably never will, either, because while it is a nice game, it is definetaly not commercial quality (Unless you count Babbage's 4.99-9.99 section). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Graphics: 7 þþþþþþþþþþ - Good background, shitty foreground Music: 8 þþþþþþþþþþ - Nice, but short beat Sound Effects: N/A None Playability: 9 þþþþþþþþþþ - Nice joystick, pretty good keyboard Scrolling: 8 þþþþþþþþþþ - Not loader-quality, choppy at times Overall: 8 þþþþþþþþþþ - Ok game overall