Dan Dare (1986) 128k AY music version Walkthrough + Review, ZX Spectrum
10Huge playlist archive with AY / GFX improved games: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxOanVBhqd3t74YnYAJA9p4vMQYZYCJWX
INTRODUCTION (From the manual):
Dan Dare the original Super Hero was being featured on the Earth Broadcasting Corporation "This is Your Life" programme.
The invited guests who spoke glowingly of Dan's achievements, his bravery and compassion, included his faithful friend Digby who had shared so many of Dan's adventures, Professor Peabody, Fleet Commander Sir Hubert Guest, Sondor the Venusian ambassador along with his equivalent from every planet in the known universe. It seemed that the whole world had turned out to honour Dan.
Dan Dare, embarrassed but deeply moved by these accolades, stepped forward to speak, suddenly the picture on every Vidi-screen in the solar system changed into a series of multi-coloured horizontal stripes, slowly clearing to reveal none other than the evil green face of the Mekon.
The Mekon proceeded to tell of his dastardly plan to propel a hollowed out asteriod the size of a minor planet on a collision course with Earth. If the powers that be did not give into his terms Earth would be eliminated!
If they agreed the asteriod would be harmlessly detonated, earth would be safe and the Mekon would take over as commander of the universe.
They could not give in to the Mekon's threats but what was the alternative? In the studio the assembled gathering turned their gaze to one man, Colonel DAN DARE knew what he had to do...!!
(c) 1986 IPC/DAN DARE Ltd
Part of the Dan Dare Nostalgia Collection licensed Worldwide by Dan Dare Ltd
Taking Digby as co-pilot. Dan heads for Spacefleet HQ and his trusty spaceship, the Anastasia. Soon, they are flying towards the Asteroid, leaving an anxious Earth behind them.
As they approacg the Asteriod, they see pieces of machinery and small building upon its surface. Is it inhabited?
With only two hours to go before the Asteroid reaches the point of no return, they arrive at the Asteroid. Dan asks Digby to stay with the ship, in case he needs to make a quick getaway.
A few tests reveal there is a supply of oxygen surrounding the Asteroid so Digby lowers Dan to the surface, and his solitary quest begins. As he lands gently on the surface, he notices a disguarded laser gun lying nearby. It works! Dan takes it...just in case.
It is your task to guide Dan around the Asteriod from the moment of his arrival, in order to initiate the self-destruct sequence and escape back to the Anastasia. There are 5 parts to be collected and inserted into a control panel to do this. These Dan will find in various parts of the Asteroid.
REVIEW:
The object of the game is to find five parts of a planetary destruction mechanism (SDS keys) to the control room, so that it can be safely diffused. It is only possible to carry one key at a time, and every time a key is placed in the control room it will open up for a new area.
If a Treen is catching up with you, some of them will make you lose energy, and some of them will take you to prison. You can just leave the prison but you will now probably be far away from where you were, and waste precious time for getting back. You have limited time to complete your mission, and you also have limited ammo and health, but it is possible to find extra ammo and health.
The game is from 1986 and can best be compared to Saboteur from 1985, but this is a much tougher nut to crack, and you will definitely need a map: http://www.worldofspectrum.org/pub/sinclair/games-maps/d/DanDare-PilotOfTheFuture.gif
The basic controls are okay, but if you sit down and shoot you will have to stand up for turning around and shoot in the other direction, and in some places it is hard to see where to stand for using the lifts.
The version in this video has got some nice in game AY music added by the Russian group Golden Disk!
The game was published by Virgin Games Ltd in 1986.
Rating:
Original 48k version: 84%
Unofficial 128k version: 88%
48k tape: http://www.worldofspectrum.org/pub/sinclair/games/d/DanDare-PilotOfTheFuture.tap.zip
128k tape (Snap of Beta Disk version with trainer/cheat activated): http://retrospec.sgn.net/users/tomcat/yu/ReCracks/DanDareRemix_128.z80
128k Beta Disk / TR-dos (Selectable trainer/cheat): https://vtrd.in/gamez/d/DDARE_AY.ZIP