Dan Dare – Pilot of the Future was one of those games which came out when our family only had a Commodore Plus 4. I remember reading all about it in an early copy of Commodore User and hoped it would one day come out on the Plus 4…
Of course, that never happened.
I got my Commodore 64 for Christmas in 1987, and I remember being ecstatic when a jaunt in to Basildon (and Toys R Us) resulted in me finding this game. It had recently been re-released as a budget title (by none other than the king of budget games, Mastertronic) for a nifty £1.99. Sweet!
The game is a fun action/adventure game with what I think are superb graphics, and wonderful gameplay. You play Dan Dare (or Colonel Daniel McGregor Dare if you’ve ever read the Eagle comic strip), and the aim is to stop Dan’s nemesis, The Mekon, from crashing an asteroid in to the Earth. The action begins on the surface of the asteroid after having just landed there, and you move from screen to screen, collecting objects and solving simple puzzles. For instance, Dan can’t swim but needs to get through deep water. Find a reed, cut it and use it as a snorkel!
Once you’ve found a way in to the Mekons base within the Asteroid, you need to rescue your friends who have been captured and placed behind bars before finding a massive laser which must be fired to destroy the Mekon and foil his dastardly plan. The ‘laser’ puzzle is great because you are required to flip reflectors in several rooms so that the laser hits its target correctly. Not very difficult, but fun to figure out!
Aliens called Treens will try and stop you from completing your mission. If you’re lucky you can avoid them, although in most cases you will be required to eliminate them through hand-to-hand combat. Fighting is quite simple – block, punch and kick. No weapons here!
Definately a fun adventure, and a true classic. Oh, and may I add the Spectrum and Amstrad versions were completely different games altogether, although the C64 version was (and still is) the best!
