Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future - Sinclair Spectrum - 1986

Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future is a game based on comic book character Dan Dare.  He was first seen in Eagle comic in 1950 and has also appeared in 2000AD among others.  His sworn enemy is The Mekon who is ruler of the Treens, a race of green skinned humanoids that live on Venus.  I am in no way a fan of comics so wasn’t aware of Dan Dare before I heard about the game.

In Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future, The Mekon has sent a large hollowed out asteroid on collision course with Earth.  Unless the powers that be agree to his demands (I couldn’t see these demands in the manual) the planet will be destroyed.  As Dan Dare, you must explore the asteroid to find the five parts of the asteroid’s self destruct mechanism.  There is a time limit of 2 hours in which to achieve the goal. 

Three down, two to go

The game is a flick screen arcade adventure played across 120+ screens.  The player can run left and right onto adjacent screens and can reach rooms above and below by way of lifts.  The asteroid is inhabited by Treens that you can easily dispatch with a blast from your laser. The laser has only a limited number of shots available with extra ammo pickups being very few and far between.  The Treens are similarly armed and you lose energy if they shoot or run into you.  There are wall and floor mounted lasers that also reduce your energy.  If you run out of energy or fall too far you are captured and put in a cell.  The cell doors are broken and you can walk straight out but will have lost 10 minutes game time.  Extra energy is available to pick up and is as sparsely scattered as the laser ammo.

The asteroid is split up into five sectors, each containing a part of the self destruct device.  Each part of the device has to be taken to the control centre in order - the second sector will only open once the first item has been placed in the control panel and so on. This makes the game linear which is one thing I don’t like about it. 

A closed door on the right leads to another sector.  Next to it is part of the self destruct device.

For a Spectrum game the graphics are excellent.  Each screen is very colourful and is cleverly designed to avoid colour clash.  An especially nice touch are the comic style captions that pop up at times.  The same can’t be said of the sound which consists of a pitiful amount of weak spot effects.  Overall though, Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future, is a very slick arcade adventure that still plays well today.

Same name, different game 

Unusually, Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future was a completely different game on the Commodore 64 and the Amstrad.  Although it looks good in static screenshots the Commodore 64 version is ultimately unsatisfying.  It has different objectives to the other versions and a 25 minute time limit.  Annoyingly, you are unarmed and have to have a protracted fist fight with each Treen you come across.

Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future for the Commodore 64 and Amstrad.  Neither is as good as the Spectrum game.

On the Amstrad you play a rather squashed looking Dan Dare.  The objective is the same as on the Spectrum but the asteroid layout is different and the graphics aren't as good.  Your initial enemy is The Mekon who you can kill, yet he reappears on the next screen.   As The Mekon is a unique being, this makes no sense.

Balloon Fight - NES - 1986

A strange game but in a good way.

Balloon Fight is a neat little game released for the NES in 1986.  It is rather reminiscent of the arcade game Joust, utilising same left, right and ‘flap’ controls. The game is a quite bizarre and there is no backstory to the game in the manual (which is probably just as well).

The games takes place on a single wraparound screen with some platforms scattered around and water at the bottom.  You start the game strapped to a couple of balloons.  For whatever reason you have to fly around the screen popping the balloons of your enemies while they attempt the same.

Enemy balloons can only be popped by attacks from above and if successful the enemy descends by parachute.  If you hit the parachute or the enemy lands in the water he will die.  If he lands on solid ground he will inflate another balloon after a short time – you can kill the enemy by hitting them again before they take off.  When an enemy lands in the water, a bubble rises up the screen which can be collected for bonus points.

If the player is successfully hit by an enemy, one of his two balloons will burst.  This makes flying a bit harder, but thankfully you can flap your arms continuously by holding down the B button.  If the second balloon is popped you will lose one of your three lives.  You can also lose a life by being eaten by a fish if you venture too close to the water.  If you take too long to clear a screen a lightning bolt travels around the screen that is fatal if touched.

After every third stage there is a bonus round where the aim is to pop as many balloons as possible that are released by pipes at the bottom of the screen.

The bonus round - burst as many balloons as you can.

Balloon Fight can also be played with two players either competitively or co-operatively but I haven't had chance to try this mode.  

The sound and graphics are nothing special but do their job adequately.   The controls can take a little getting used to due the inertia but can be picked up within a short time.  Additionally there is a good scoring system that rewards skilled players.   Overall this is a great game. 

Goodbye 1985, Hello 1986

Hello Sinclair ZX Spectrum 128 - Launched in the UK in January.  It came with an extra 80Kb memory, a three channel sound chip and an external heat sink that helped keep your tea warm.  Sadly it was too little, too late....

Goodbye Sinclair Research - In April the Sinclair brand name and computer range is sold to Amstrad.

Hello Sinclair Spectrum +2 - The first 'Spectrum' to be released by Amstrad.  Essentially a Sinclair Spectrum 128 in an Amstrad CPC style case with built in joystick ports and cassette deck.

Hello Sega Master System - Released in North America in June.  It was completely overshadowed by the NES.

Hello Nintendo NES (again) - Released in Europe in October.  It did not fare nearly as well as it did in the US.  It was outsold not only by the Atari ST and Commodore Amiga, but ultimately also by the Sega Master System (which was released in Europe in '87).

Looking through my shortlist of games for 1986 I've either played or not heard of most of them.  The only one I haven't played that really stands out is Pentragram* by Ultimate Play The Game.  I'm looking forward to playing Uridium and Tau Ceti again to see if they are still as good as I remember.

1986 looks like another year dominated by 8-bit home computer releases with the occasional 8-bit console and 16-bit computer games starting to creep in.  

*I've since played Pentagram and didn't enjoy it.  It plays like a combination of Knightlore (good) and Nightshade/Gunfright (bad).