¢DINO DUDES¢A Jaguar Review by Michael Clatworthy¢¢¢ Dino Dudes can best be described as a platform and ladders game with a more subtle strategy than just collecting items or avoiding monsters. It involves lots of thinking and strategy to ensure progression through the levels.¢¢ After the regular Jaguar title screen, a cute title appears with some jazzy music to accompany it. On pressing the button you go to the options screen, where you can change the fire button configuration, select music or just sound effects, select the difficulty of the levels or access the password screen (where you enter a password to begin a level previously played). More about this later.¢¢ Upon pressing a button you enter a pre-level screen informing you of the level's password and how many Dino Dudes you have left. The game then starts with a detailed platform area and Dino Dudes positioned around it.¢¢ Dino Dudes are in fact simple cavemen who follow your every command. You must help them through each level by directing them about the screen and instructing them to pick up things, throw things and other actions. Sounds similar to Lemmings/Brundles? Or maybe you're familiar with Humans on the 16-bit machines. Dino Dudes is actually based on Humans, which is itself a spin-off of Lemmings.¢¢ The difference with Dino Dudes, when compared to Lemmings, is that you have total control over each individual and they won't move until you take control of them. Also, there are only up to 8 Dino Dudes on each level, as opposed to 100 in Lemmings! Dino Dudes are much larger than Lemmings.¢¢ The first level is a basic find-your-feet level in which you have three Dudes and must use them to "discover" the spear. The spear is in fact on an inaccessible platform, so to pick it up you have to get the three Dudes to the platform beneath it and stack them up on each others' shoulders! The last Dude is then able to climb this human ladder and reach the platform with the spear. He picks the spear up when you press the button and lo and behold, you've finished the first level. You receive a bonus depending on how long it took you.¢¢ The levels become progressively more difficult, where you have to use the spear to fault gaps in the platforms or to kill dinosaurs which roam around.¢¢ The Dudes themselves are beautifully animated, their faces even go green when they are in a stack and have to bear the weight of a fellow Dude!¢¢ The Dude you currently control is highlighted by an overhead arrow, and selecting between them is done by using the number pad.¢¢ To make a Dude perform an action, you select the relevant icon from those displayed at the bottom of the screen.¢¢ Other items that appear as you progress through the levels are a torch (for burning bushes), a rope and a wheel! The wheel is worth riding just to see the faces of the other Dudes when you ride over their toes. Be warned though, the Witchdoctor, who appears in later levels, is none too impressed by this action!¢¢ Mentioning the Witchdoctor allows me to explain what happens when you reach a level which seems impossible without the aid of a spear, rope, etc, but there isn't one to be found. You then use the Witchdoctor to sacrifice one of the Dudes to make the item appear. To perform this you move the Witchdoctor next to a poor unsuspecting Dude, and select the relevant item at the bottom of the screen. The Witchdoctor then performs his Black Magic, during which he apparently says "BUY JAGUAR GAMES" backwards!¢¢ Besides discovering items, other objectives for levels include rescuing a hostage Dude, reuniting a pet dinosaur and collecting icons.¢¢ Some levels involve the use of pressure pads to remove obstacles and the use of Pterodactyls to move between platforms.¢¢ After completing a level you progress to the next, which will have its own level code. This code can be used on the options screen to access the level at a future time.¢¢ In all, Dino Dudes is an impressive game, simple yet challenging enough to cause problems for most game players. Graphics, sound and music are very good, especially the spot effects like when a Dude gets eaten by a dinosaur!¢¢¢LEVEL CODES ¢ 2 LIBERTY ISLAND 3 STONE WALL¢ 4 G MEN 5 WILD WEST¢ 6 LEMON ENTRY 7 WAGON WHEEL¢ 8 OIL DRUM 9 MOON ORBIT¢ 10 HARD ROCK 11 TRIP AND FALL¢ 12 ALARM CLOCK 13 BIG COUNTRY¢ 14 HOG TIED 15 CAN CAN¢ 16 CUTE MOUSE 17 SPARK PLUG¢ 18 PONY EXPRESS 19 PADDED CELL¢ 20 LOG PLUME 21 CANVAS SAIL¢ 22 GOLDEN ERA 23 WIDE SEAT¢ 24 BAD KARMA 25 CRASH BARRIER¢ 26 LIME GRASS 27 SURFS UP¢ 28 PENAL COLONY 29 RELIEF ART¢ 30 TRIBAL DANCE 31 SODA FOUNTAIN¢ 32 PARKING SPACE 33 PIZZA DUDE¢ 34 CROW FLIES 35 TILED ROOF¢ 36 SLATE MISSING 37 OPENING TIME¢ 38 INNER PEACE 39 BAD DOG¢ 40 SOUR BELLY 41 LARGE MUG¢ 42 HALF A BET 43 SING SING¢ 44 BROWN COW 45 IRON HORSE¢ 46 WHITE WHALE 47 BOX OFFICE¢ 48 CORNY FUR 49 ATOM CAT¢ 50 FREE WHEELING 51 BUSH FIRE¢ 52 CAR BRA 53 PORK PIES¢ 54 STORMY WEATHER 55 STAGE COACH¢ 56 QUAY BORED 57 SPLASH DOWN¢ 58 BUG POLITICS 59 SHAKE SPEAR¢ 60 SCHOOL ZONE 61 PINK MARBLE¢ 62 ROLLING PLAINS 63 ICON DRIVE¢ 64 CARROT TOP 65 QUILL PEN¢ 66 TUTTI FRUTTI 67 PUBLIC ENEMY¢ 68 BIG END 69 TAN PARLOR¢ 70 NEVER READY 71 SHARK FANGS¢ 72 STOOL PIGEON 73 PROM QUEEN¢ 74 RED LETTER 75 CORN PONE¢ 76 BILGE PUMP 77 SIXTY FOUR BIT¢ 78 HALF MAST 79 WALKING BOSS¢ 80 SPACE TO LET¢
