The Games - Review of Defenders of the Earth

Defenders Of The Earth is a platformer based upon the succesful cartoon adventures of about 4 superhero's not good enough to get their own series'.

The plot is completely dispensable, being something about something going missing or somebody being kidnapped, I couldn't really care less as it adds nothing to the game. Unfortunatley. (It was the brats - Tim)

It's a real pity, that aside from great sound FX, a lovely tune, superb graphics and a pretty good difficulty curve, this game is so standard. It has nothing that grabs you and makes you want to play it more and more. It has been slickly programmed enough, everything moves at a good rate of speed, and the collision detected isn't dodgy at all. It's just I supposed that there is no variation in gameplay.

All that is involved is jumping along platforms, collecting the occasional bonus, and pressing the 'help' key when a situation looks impassable (ie. a wide gap, a force-field or a strong door). It's all very linear too, there is no sense of exploration, you gradually work your way to the guardian for that level (there are only 3, but they are tough). A little variation in the way the guardians fight would have been nice, but no. They all just spew dangerous spheres at you whilst you pump endless bullets into them.

This game had the chance to be something special. But I guess they couldn't stray from the original versions too much, because of licencing agreements.

Again, a pity.

Graphics       88% - Impressive throughout. Good use of colour.
Addictivity    72% - Nothing special, pretty average I'm afraid.
Instand Appeal 77% - The simple gameplay means that it's easy to get into.
Sound          85% - Great tunes by Sean Conran.
Overall        74% - File under 'okay'.

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