Dynamite Dan had been a huge hit for Rod Bowkett and Mirrorsoft, so naturally a sequel was always going to be developed for the ZX Spectrum.
This one was released late summer of 1986 - and once again another D Dan arcade game was a huge hit.
Rod Bowkett created another fine platform game (and sequel) for the ZX Spectrum.
The evil Dr Blitzen was up to his old tricks, and our hero Dynamite Dan was sent in to save the day. He had set up a new headquarters within a group of eight islands (The Islands of Arcanum) and in the usual mad professor megalomaniac way had laid dastardly plans for world domination. Muha ha haaa.
His latest idea was to destroy the youth of the world by planting subliminal sound waves in records (not CD's or MP3's - it was the 80's remember!)
Unaware of this deadly threat, those young folks would listen to their favourite songs on vinyl their minds being gradually destroyed. Without Dan, all would be lost and Dr Blitzen would take over. Another fantastic ZX Spectrum arcade game plot!
It was up to our Dan to infiltrate Dr Blitzen's headquarters, locate the record pressing plant and blow it to kingdom come. To do this Dan had to explore all eight islands (that made up Arcanum) which would give you the password to access the plant.
In a nice feature, a jukebox and record was present on each island and playing this record would reveal part of the password. You could then jump into the trusty airship and move to the next island. Breaking the game up into 8 islands (stages) was a great idea by Bowkett.
The usual nasties (usual for these classic platform games) were out to get you and make your life difficult. Robotic minions and monsters would attempt to drain Dan's energy level - some would even steal items from you. Dan could replenish lost energy by eating the bowls of fruit and drinking the cups of tea dotted around the levels.
As in the original game, Dan could walk left and right and perform pretty hefty jumps to negotiate his way around the levels.
To improve on the original, various bonus items could be collected which powered you up for a while. Bombs could be used to blast away doors, and some levels had secret passages on them - finding these areas was not always easy.
In another improvement over the first game, the difficulty level had been tweaked. Dynamite Dan was an incredibly difficult game, and Rod Bowkett had taken this on board and made the sequel a little easier.
Dynamite Dan II was a very good arcade platform game that ranked alongside Jet Set Willy and Technician Ted. It had just the right mix of action, puzzles and wacky graphics. A good game.
On release:
This had been pretty highly anticipated because the original game had been so well received. Fans of the original needn't have worried, the sequel was even better than the first game. It was more playable, had slightly better graphics, great sound effects and more features. Once again, Rod Bowkett (and Mirrorsoft) had a Crash Smash on their hands.
The test of time:
Fans of platform games will still enjoy Dynamite Dan 2, and we here in Spectrum Games reckon that it is one of the better platformers you could get for the machine. Dynamite Dan 2 is still fun to play and has the right amount of 'wackiness' in it to make you want to have another go. Not bad at all. I don't think Rod Bowkett created any more games for the Speccy, which is a shame as the guy was obviously talented.
Give Dynamite Dan 2 a go - it's still a bit of a blast.
DAN!.... DAN!.... DAN!
We recommend getting hold of the real hardware but if not then download a ZX Spectrum emulator and download Dynamite Dan 2 for the ZX Spectrum. Alternatively you could try and play it online.
GENRE: Platform Game (Arcade Game)
RELEASE DATE: September of 1986
RELEASED BY: Mirrorsoft
DEVELOPER(S): Rod Bowkett
PRICE: £7.95 - UK
Dan starts to exlore the first island in Dynamite Dan 2 - classic arcade action:
Classic Games and Arcade Games
1 comment:
Brilliant game. Along with the first one, this proved you could have colourful graphics and plenty of sprites moving about the screen without anything slowing down and no colour clash. Shame Rod Bowkett only wrote these 2 games for the Speccy (as far as I know) but he certainly made his mark.
Post a Comment