Commodore User


Jackle And Wide
By Bulldog
Commodore 64

 
Published in Commodore User #48

Jackle And Wide

Dr. Jackle has acquired an amazing new drink with 100 percent Nutra Sweet that makes your eyes pop out and gives you a two-minute beard that would make Ayatollah Khomeni think about taking up Christianity. It doesn't do much to improve your table manners either.

All of which puts the poor chap in a bit of a dilemma, because the effect seems to be permanent and he has no antidote. But Dr. Piqued has an antidote, for it was he who invented the problematic potion. The trouble is Dr. Jackle/Mr. Wide and Dr. Piqued are sworn enemies, which is just as well when you think about it, because if they weren't Dr. Piqued would just say "Don't worry Jackle old chap, just gargle down some of this here antidote and you'll be right as rain in no time at all"; there'd be no story, no game and nothing to write about.

Quite understandably, Jackle does not want to wander around for the rest of his life looking like a cross between Richard Branson and Oliver Reed. So he goes in search of the antidote. The search begins in Hyde Park. This is a sort of two dimensional maze of trees and walls viewed from above. Dr. Jackle travels by bicycle, because after about three minutes the screen goes black and you are told oyu have to run out of time. In the park there are various objects to collect and various puzzles to solve. These objects have some use - if you drop them in the right place, things happen. If you drop the axe by a boulder, you can get into the quarry, if you have the sea sickness pill, you can avoid death by drowning and so on.

Jackle And Wide

Meandering around Hyde Park on a bicycle is all well and good, but Dr. Piqued's laboratory is hidden on one of the caverns deep below ground. To get to it, you will have to go down all nine of them at one point or another. Going to the caverns has the advantage of stopping the clock so you won't run out of time.

Life in the caverns is very Jet Set Willy-ish. You can walk around, jump over things, get chased and attacked by unwholesome thingies which deplete your energy and kill you.

Unremarkable describes it pretty well, it's reminiscent of early C16 games, but with better graphics. I've seen other Bulldog stuff and that's not up to much either. If you're after better quality cheapos stick to the Mainstream Mastertronic budget range.

Ken McMahon

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