Defenders of the Earth

Copyright : Enigma Variations | Reviewed by : Ritchardo

The year is 2015 and Earth is under constant attack from the evil Ming The Merciless. Earthâ??s greatest heroes have banded together to try and protect the planet from the would-be tyrant. Join Flash Gordon, The Phantom, Lothar, Mandrake and Zuffy as they look to free their comrades from his terrible clutches.

Graphics

Big chunky sprites dominate the gameplay area. Flash Gordon can be clearly defined despite being fairly blocky and the same can be said of his allies who are displayed in panels along the bottom of the screen. Flashâ??s generic foes are although not fantastic in terms of design are perfectly serviceable.

The background to Mingâ??s moonbase is a little more confusing and the colours clash in one or two areas.

Sound

Lots of bangs and crashes as you shoot and collide with your enemies. The title screen has a version of the TV showâ??s theme tune that is fairly accurate.

Gameplay

This game is hard. Depressingly hard. From the moment you start the game, a constant stream of enemies flood on to the screen from all directions forcing you to crouch and shoot or die. Sadly, whether you crouch and shoot or not you tend to die anywayâ?¦

The level design is completely linear and in all honesty the game is simply about getting from one level boss to the next in as quick a time as possible. The action becomes highly repetitive and thereâ??s no let up at all from the constant assault.

From time to time you come across a locked door or large crater that you can only pass by calling in one of your colleagues. You then have to wait around until they fix the problem for you. The drawback to this? Wait around on one screen too long and an intruder alarm goes off that in effect saps your energy.

In the end this game is too hard to be worth the effort that it would take to pass the second level let alone complete the game!