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To be honest, neither I’d read the comics of the popular sci-fi hero nor I’d played the original game ‘Dan Dare – Pilot of the Future’ or its sequel. So I can’t really say if the third part of this trilogy is a successful conclusion. Because of that I’ll review the game without consideration of the previous two games...
The Story so far...
To conquer Earth and subdue mankind, the evil Mekon performs diabolical genetic experiments with Colonel Daniel McGregor Dare as guinea-pig. Fortunately Dan manages to escape his abductors – unfortunately the shuttlecraft he wants to escape with is out of fuel! So he searches the entire satellite space station for the essential gas...
On 16 bit computers the program comes up with a nice intro in picture story style – that fits very well to the subject matter; after all the ‘Dan Dare’ games are based on a comic. The bad thing is that this intro isn’t contained in the C64 version of ‘The Escape’ - the good thing is that the program itself is far better on the 8 bit system...
‘Dan Dare III’ starts with two very cool title tunes by the famous Maniacs of Noise – after you’ve heard enough just press the fire button and let the action begin...
As if you didn’t have enough Problems...
The space station is separated in five decks – each of these decks contains one jerry can. Dan has to collect all of them – only then he’s able to fly back to Earth! However, the problem is to gain access to the other decks - although they are connected by teleporters, you can’t leave a deck without the corresponding key! If it’s not one thing, it’s another...
Each deck is constructed like a maze – actually the layout of the several levels reminds a little bit of the two ‘Cybernoid’ games by Hewson. That’s no coincidence – the graphic artist is the same who was also responsible for the graphics of these two classics. But in contrast to those programs, ‘The Escape’ contains scrolling! At the beginning of his adventure Colonel Dan finds himself right in front of a gas pump – that’s important to fill up his jet pack, because half of the time of the game you’ll be flying through the corridors of the station! Just move the joystick down and your jet pack will be fully refilled. Now you’re ready to start your little ‘station exploration’...
Of course you’re not alone onboard the space station – Mekon’s slimy mutants are everywhere! Either they shoot their deadly projectiles towards poor Dan or they charge at him at once – fortunately his suit’s able to absorb some damage. By pressing the fire button the legendary ‘Pilot of the Future’ will give them a taste of their own medicine! Hold down the button for a little while and a concentrated ‘power beam’ will be fired at the enemies – just like in ‘R-Type’ or ‘Katakis/Denaris’...
After some meters to the right you’ll meet the first intermediate boss: a clone of evil Mekon - just fire a few shots towards him and he’s history! After his demise he drops the essential teleporter key. But there’s another thing which stirs up Dan’s curiosity: a terminal! When you’re right in front of it, push down the stick again and a menu comes up – here you can buy smart bombs, bouncing bombs, new ammo for your laser gun and extra lives (up to four lives are available). But beware, the gas for the jet pack is for free – the several weapon systems or lives aren’t! There’s also the option to ‘blast off’ – but that’s only possible if you’ve collected enough fuel. By moving the stick down you can switch between the several weapons you've bought...
’Master of the Lamps’...
Next Dan enters the room with the teleporter device and gets rid of the enemies there. After he had used the key, he flies through a three dimensional star tunnel - to be more precisely: a tunnel which consists of several squares. During that ‘space travel’ the player should try to stay inside those squares – if not he’ll lose life energy! That sequence bears a striking resemblance to the classic ‘Master of the Lamps’. After this ride Dan enters the next section of the space station...
After altogether five levels you find yourself in the first section again. The only thing you’ve to do now is to activate the terminal and choose the option ‘blast off’. If you’ve collect all of the jerry cans the game is finished – if not you must try it again...
As you can see ‘The Escape’ isn’t that complex – advanced players and particularly pros will complete the program within an hour. That’s very disappointing! Nevertheless ‘Dan Dare III’ is an acceptable game to a comic – far better than other candidates of this genre (like ‘Clever & Smart’ for example)...
All in all an above-average program without many surprises – and sadly the last performance of the famous comic hero on the C64...
Downloads: Music
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| GRAPHICS - 8/10 |
The graphics are very colourful and detailed and the scrolling is very smooth. The several sprites look good, too - on the other hand their animations aren’t that sensational...
| | SOUND - 9/10 |
The two title tunes of the game sound very good and atmospheric – much better than the music of the 16 bit versions! But actually the several sfxs are the real highlight – some of them sound very strange but nevertheless very good...
| | PLAYABILITY - 8/10 |
The program is completely joystick-driven – there’s no need to make use of the keyboard! The control of Dan is very accurate – except for the selection of the several weapon systems. That’s a little bit tricky. Because the game isn’t that complex it fits completely in the memory of the C64 – this means no loading times! Cool...
| | OVERALL - 7/10 |
For players who finish games like ‘Turrican’ before breakfast, ‘Dan Dare III - The Escape’ is no real match! But if you’re not too familiar with the shoot ’em up genre, this game is a good introduction. All in all a nice program...
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| COVER |
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