Rick Dangerous

STORY
The game is largely based on the Indiana Jones movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. Set in 1945, British agent Rick Dangerous travels to the Amazon jungle to search for the lost Goolu tribe. His plane crashes in the jungle and Rick must now escape from the enraged Goolu. When the game starts Rick finds himself inside a cavern running as hell away from a rolling boulder (a scene taken from the Indiana Jones movie).

GAMEPLAY
Rick can jump, climb and carry a limited amount of bombs and ammunition for his pistol. The gun is mostly used to shoot enemies, although most traps that can kill Rick can also kill his enemies if used correctly. The bombs are generally used for puzzle solving, such as blowing out certain blocks. The difficulty level is quite high since you have to always be aware of traps and foes, so it might frustrate some players. But showing some patience and giving the game some time, you may learn the patterns and, perhaps, finish it.

GRAPHICS
The graphics on the Amstrad CPC version fall somewhere between the other two 8bit versions (C64 and ZX Spectrum). The colors are far brighter than the C64 and there is no color clash as with the ZX Spectrum. Unfortunately, to be able to use more than four simultaneous colors, the graphics had to be entirely drawn in double pixels. This makes for a not so satisfactory scenery. But again, the CPC version looks pretty good in terms of colors and details.

SOUND
The sound on the CPC is very similar to the sound effects of the Spectrum 48k models, without any in-game short tunes. Comparably, the C64 and Spectrum +3 models include a great intro music and some nice short tunes at the beginning of each level. At least in terms of sound, the CPC could do better than that!