Commodore User


Dork's Dilemma

Publisher: Gremlin
Machine: Commodore 16/Plus 4

 
Published in Commodore User #23

Dork's Dilemma

Dork's dilemma is that he has crash-landed on a strange planet that looks remarkably like a maze. He leaves the tangled wreckage to take a nose around and in his absence the aliens, or natives depending on how you look at it, have dismantled the craft and hidden the bits.

This is where you come in. You have to guide Dork around the maze to retrieve the fragments of his ship; there is one on each screen. They are not too difficult to locate because each part is smack in the middle of the screen. The difficulty arises in avoiding the Zobwats - little creatures which follow you around and attempt to entrap you in cul-de-sacs. Contact with a Zobwat spells instant death.

Another thing in your favour is that you can convert Zobwats into alien pulp by employing the lazer splat time bomb (their spelling, not mine). The only problem with this device is that it's fairly indiscriminate. It has a very short fuse and unless you're quick on the retreat you'll end up pulped along with the hapless Zobwats.

If you get to the centre of the maze you can pick up your spare part and then move on to the next screen. Should you get to the stage where you have all the bits they then have to be assembled in a jigsaw on the far right of the screen. I didn't actually get this far - I got bored.

On the whole, Dork is a pretty average game. There's nothing wrong with the game, at £6.95 even the price is average. I just wasn't inspired.