Personal Compuer Games


Cash Man
By Microdeal
Dragon 32

 
Published in Personal Computer Games #12

Cashman

A real first for the Dragon, or for any machine, is a platform game which two players can play at once.

In this game of amassing dollars both a sheik and a sailor can dash around the screen collecting dollar signs. There are over forty screens and, while most of them are relatively simple, the later ones become extremely difficult with lots of invisible platforms and deadly floors.

The characters are crudely animated but leap around the screen like rabid kangaroos in a drought. The control of the jumping and getting on and off some platforms is difficult, made even more so by a joystick that does not centre.

Cash Man

These problems aside, the game is very playable with your man being able to fall any distance and move around very rapidly. Your life is threatened though by cats that are hatched from purple bombs and when they hit, you deplete your energy level.

The bombs can be grabbed before they hatch, purple ones for a bonus or brown ones can be picked up and thrown at cats. Birds hatch from the brown eggs and if they catch your man, they will not zap him but carry him up the screen.

There are lots of different floors and walls with spring pads, ladders, electrified floors, invisible platforms and conveyor belts. All forty-odd screens are different and come in sections, one of which does not allow jumping, so the game should keep most Dragon owners busy for a while.

Cash Man

The two player game is perhaps the most exciting thing about the program with both men chasing after the same cash. So, if you have a money-grabbing friend out there to take on at Cashman it will be even more compulsive.

Chris Anderson

So... just when you thought Dragon games were dead and buried, along comes a major platform game. Rejoice, Dragon owners. No less than 50 or so screens for you to leap your way through.

As usual, I found it hard controlling the Dragon joysticks, but experienced Dragon hands should be well used to this. The fact that it can be run as a two-player game is a major innovation.

Cash Man

The game doesn't have quite the precise, satisfying feel of Manic Miner, but its arrival is still an important, happy event.

Samantha Hemens

A sailor and a sheik make an unlikely combination of characters, and in Cashman you sometimes have trouble telling them apart.

Being able to change the colour set of the screen is a major advantage.

Cash Man

The two player game is great, and when the other person seems to be doing a bit too well, you can accidentally hit the 'X' key. If you want a good game for the Dragon, this one takes the credits.

Steve Cooke

What I really liked about this game was the display and the ease of control. My only reservation was that on the early screens, it was a bit *too* easy. Even so, the slightest twist of the infamous Dragon joystick sent me hurtling through the air and pressing the fire button practically gave me wings. As a result, it wasn't always possible to exercise precise control.

However, I found the game great fun to play and things certainly hotted up later on. If I had a Dragon, I'd make sure of adding this program to my collection.

Bob Wade

Other Dragon 32 Game Reviews By Bob Wade


  • Ice Castles Front Cover
    Ice Castles
  • Yumping Yosser Front Cover
    Yumping Yosser
  • Demon Seed Front Cover
    Demon Seed
  • Time Bandit Front Cover
    Time Bandit