Dynomite
by Astraware,
Price: $14.95
Reviewed October 2003 by Eric Falk
Developed by Astraware, Dynomite is a frantic
action puzzle game where the object is to gain as many points
and advance as many levels as possible by launching colored
dinosaur eggs from a slingshot. Dynomite requires quick thinking
and good aim.
There are actually two slightly different
games to choose from in Dynomite, "Stomped" and "Endless".
Both games are very similar and have the same objective,
however each game has a slightly different twist. Stomped
requires you to clear randomly placed egg arrangements before
a wall of eggs comes crashing down on you. Be careful, every
egg you launch increases Mama Brontosaurus' "mood meter" thus
bringing the wall of eggs closer to the bottom of the screen
and ending your game. Endless mode is similar except, the
wall of eggs is constantly moving towards the bottom of the
screen. Endless mode is fast paced and less forgiving than
Stomped mode, posing bigger challenge and lot of fun.
You will want the same goal in both game
modes: score BIG! To gain points you must use your stylus
or the hardware keys to aim and fire a colored egg from a
giant slingshot and hit a similarly colored group of eggs.
If you hit a group of three or more eggs with same color
you clear part of the egg wall, thus gaining points and creating
more room to shoot more eggs. You've got to be quick both
in your aim and thinking as the wall of eggs is always coming
closer to you. If the wall reaches the bottom of the screen
the game is over. There are many fun and surprising eggs
to shoot at such as "shaking eggs", "score
multipliers", and "virtual egg points". Hitting
these unique eggs will help you gain more points and advance
you to new levels quicker.
Dynomite has excellently rendered graphics,
animations, and smooth game play. As with all other titles
from Astraware you will not be let down. Their games have
a very high standard of quality art, programming, and sound.
Dynomite utilizes Astraware's Aurora™ Sound
System for enhanced sound effects and background music and
the quality and variety of sound effects is very pleasing.
The game supports both Palm and Pocket PC devices and Astraware
provides an online high score board for gamers around world
to compete with their high scores.
Playing Hints and Tips
Dynomite has a bit of a learning
curve. I found the biggest obstacle to be the control or
aim of the eggs being launched from the slingshot. I recommend
beginning with Stomped in "easy" game mode to
get a hang of using the slingshot. Also you may want to
aim where you want your egg to be shot on the screen rather
than trying to aim it from the slingshot itself. After
a few games my skill improved and I found the slingshot
to be quite accurate and easy to use.
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