Capitan Trueno

STORY / GAMEPLAY
Capitan Trueno is among the last classic games developed by Dinamic and offers a nice pack of features like good visuals, great gameplay and, at least this time, a reasonable difficulty level (though it's still tough to play). The game is divided into two different parts (as most Dinamic's games are). The first (and the most interesting) part is a mix of arcade action and puzzle / strategy story while the second part (which is quite short) is a typical side scrolling platform game. In both parts you can switch among three different characters, each one with his unique skills. The first character is Captain Trueno himself, who can use his sword to take down enemies (like giant mice, frogs, lobsters etc). By holding down the fire button, the Captain will swirl his sword continuously killing everything in its sharp path! Trueno can also jump over enemies or objects to avoid lethal contact. The second character (named Crispin) has the abilities to jump higher while he cannot use any weapon. Use this character i.e. to grab a rope and step on a higher platform or make any long jump when needed. The third character (the Goliath) is a muscular man who can either hit with his strong fists the enemies / objects or even destroy certain objects by jumping vertically on them (but he cannot move left or right, just by staying at the position where selected!). Using this kind of gameplay (based on the characters' skills), the game offers a strategy-like arcade action rather than being a simple action adventure, especially on its first part (i.e. you need to activate or collect certain objects to open doors). The game is definitely one of the best action adventures for the 8bit genre though it remains quite difficult to handle.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The graphics on the ZX Spectrum look great with beautiful and detailed backgrounds (especially on the first part) and smooth character animation, although the colors are limited to the machine's default color-palette. Actually, the screens look very similar to the MSX version, having minor differences in terms of colors. Comparably, the CPC version has better graphics, with more colorful backdrops. The sound effects on the ZX are good and bond well to the game's atmosphere, offering a few nice aural touches such as the character's footsteps, several spot effects when hitting enemies or collecting bonuses but no in-game music (as in all the other 8bit versions).