Captain Comet

Retro-gamers out there must be warned about the following title as Captain Comet is coming to a mobile near you!

As far as platform games go, you will probably and indeed fondly recall the likes of Super Mario, Sonic, Crash Bandicoot and almost any other famous title out there. The trick to these games is that you would need to remember the level, to learn as to where to be and how to avoid bringing your game to a sooner than planned end. Well, Captain Comet is certainly in the same vain but indeed brings back frustrating memories of old BBC classic games which were fun but also caused blood-pressure to increase to near lethal highs as you end up dying over and over again in this rather repetitive trial and error-tastic adventure.

Unlike these other mentioned games, this frustrating and repetitive quality was redeemed by its amusing and synonymous charisma and distinctive look and features. Unfortunately Captain Comet is lacking in any such quality or charm (although in fairness it has some nice looking appeal). With an easy and instant death which can be induced by being zapped by a laser bolt, skewered on protruding spikes (which are unseen until too late), being blown up at the hands of your own bomb as you’re trying to blast your way through an obstacle (which really adds insult to injury) or being touched by a robot (even when you know you were a few pixels away from them at the time of death), you are left dismayed, frustrated and thinking ‘here we go again’ or better yet ‘where’s the quit button?’. Needless to say, unless you’re a glutton for punishment or indeed not willing to ever give up – no matter how truly maddening this game gets, I’d give this game a bit of a wide berth.

This game is as straight-forward as it gets. You play Captain Comet who’s tasked with saving the world by stopping the evil robots by attacking them at their source. Armed with limited laser shots and detonation charges, you must solve the rather cunning and cruel lairs of each level by avoiding previously said obstacles through testing your timing, skill, luck (and patience) to the limit.

The controls are very simple (left/right, jump (up/left/right), fire and plant bomb. As pointed out, you are limited with the number of shots and explosives you have, so must be careful and also keep your eyes peeled for any replenishing packs you may find. Believe me, running out of ammo when up against one last robot and certain death at the end of a level is enough to make a grown-up cry (especially after all the countless repeated attempts to even get that far).

The positives of this game are that it does offer a challenge and will keep you guessing throughout. It’s also got some quite nice graphics, where the background moves slightly differently to the foreground which adds to the depth of vision perceived. However these are the only good things I can find myself informing you about. If fun and amusement is what you seek, try Crash Bandicoot or nearly anything else on offer – this is only for the most determined and heavily sedated people to play – anyone else you will probably start frothing at the mouth after your fifth attempt on the first screen.

Rating: 27%

Positives

Challenging

Addictive in a sadistic or masochistic kind of way (trust me, you’ll want to see Captain Comet die in more ways if you could)

Pretty graphics

Negatives (Too many to mention but here goes…)

Repetitive – dying can only be so much fun!

Counting the number of times you die trying should be the new objective of this game

Frustrating

Boring

Lack of imagination

Poor level design

Could get expensive seeing a psychiatrist to help you recover from playing this title!