Defenders of the Earth Longplay (C64) [50 FPS]
35Developed by Enigma Variations and published by Hi-Tec Software in 1990
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Based on the classic 1980's animated series, Defenders of the Earth is a run-and-gun shoot 'em up released for the Commodore 64, Spectrum and a range of other home computing platforms of the day. I remember receiving this on a Commodore Format Power Pack tape and remembered it looking quite exciting from the preview screenshots in the magazine, but couldn't remember whether it was any good or not.
The objective of the game is rescue the Defender's children from the clutches of Ming the Merciless, Flash's arch-nemesis and all-round bad guy. Taking on the role of Flash, the player must wander through corridors and rooms of Ming's fortress in what is, basically, flick-screen shooter.
Endless waves of featureless bad guys spawn from both sides of the screen in an effort to swarm Flash. Although they can be despatched with a laser blast or two, the fact that they just keep on coming is a real annoyance. You have to keep hammering on the fire button to stem the tide of bad guys and there's always the chance that one will spawn right on top of you as you reach the sides of the screen.
Occasionally, you'll come across a locked door or chasm that requires the aid from one of your fellow Defenders to bypass. Tapping on the space bar will activate the correct Defender automatically, but it will take time for them to break open the door, so you must keep on blasting to keep the enemies at bay. Once breached, the Defender will enter a cool-down period, indicated by metal shutters closing across their portrait window. One annoyance I encountered was that if you exit the screen before the Defender finishes opening it then the door remains shut, but you'll have to wait for the cool-down to expire before you can try opening it again - most annoying!
Certain screens in the game contain power-ups, such as extra health or a force field that grants invulnerability for a short period of time. There are also guns that supposedly increase Flash's fire-power, but I couldn't really tell whether they made much of a difference.
Graphically, the game is something of a mixed bag. Some of the background art is nicely drawn and use of colour is generally quite good, but the sprites of the Defenders look terrible. A special mention must go to the amorphous jelly-baby blob that is supposed to represent Lothar.
The game features a single, solitary piece of music that sounds pretty close to the theme tune from the cartoon show, but it's but a single line and just loops over and over. The real problem, however, is the incessant 'pew pew' sound of Flash's gun as he tries to deal with all the bad guys. This is pretty much the only sound you''ll hear whilst playing and will probably be the only thing you remember about it as well.
Although Defenders of the Earth isn't terrible, the endless onslaught of bad guys, prolonged boss fights and repetitive sound effects make this bland button-masher difficult to recommend.
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