Rick Dangerous 2

Copyright : Core Design | Reviewed by : Ritchardo

Following on from his first adventures, our intrepid hero Rick must now foil his arch nemesis, The Fat Guy?s plans for world domination on a trail from his spaceship parked in the middle of London?s Hyde Park through frozen tundra and forests before the final confrontation in The Fat Guy?s Headquarters.

The sequel to a very popular game in it?s own right, RDII to become one of the most popular games with the 8-bit computing press, picking up the joint highest ever Amstrad Action rating of 97% and a Mastergame award in the process.

Graphics

Looking less like an archaeologist and more like a superhero, if Rick Dangerous was supposed to look like Indiana Jones then he looks more like Flash Gordon in the sequel. With a far more futuristic theme, RDII is a stylish improvement on the original?s graphics with just as much emphasis on the details and, again, great pains have been taken to make each and every level look and feel different to the last.

The five levels are all well designed and the animation is of the highest calibre. Unfortunately due to the level of detail and the amount of action going on in screen, the game can suffer from some slowdowns some of which are fairly severe and this does have a knock-on effect on the gameplay.

Sound

As well as a bombastic theme tune that plays on the main menu, each of the five levels has a short introductory tune that plays for the first minute or so of action. After this the music fades and it?s up to the excellent array of sound effects to carry the atmosphere of the game, which they do with aplomb. Excellent variety of effects and well implemented, the sounds are tremendous and are as good as any other Amstrad game you can care to mention.

Gameplay

Once again Rick must collect as much treasure as he can while disposing of his enemies using his trusty pistol (which now shoots electric waves rather than bullets) and his all new sliding dynamite which opens up a whole myriad of new problems and challenges.

Taking all of the criticism for the first title on board, Core have built upon an already impressive blueprint adding features that enhance the gameplay and create a significant and difficult challenge for even the most experienced of platform game fans.

Now the player can choose which level they want to start on meaning you don?t have to go all the way back to the first level and start again (you do if you want to complete the game because, The Fat Guy?s Headquarters only become a selectable option after you?ve completed the first four) which prolongs the game?s enjoyment greatly.

The difficulty curve is again perfectly pitched and all players would be well advised to start on level one rather than jump immediately to the fourth as you?ve next to no chance of making it through without honing your skills on the earlier levels.

Absolutely tremendous, Rick Dangerous II is without doubt one of the best games ever released on the Amstrad and were it not for the slowdowns that infrequently afflict the game, it would be picking up perfect tens. I can?t recommend the game enough.