Doctor Tsunami

Review

You play as Barry, who lives on the island nations of Popoy, that keeps being hit with a series of tsunamis causing widespread destruction and misery for the people of Popoy. The tsunamis are being caused by the evil Doctor Tsunami and his offshore drilling operation. Your friend Audley comes to visit you and let you know that Doctor Tsunami is currently here, in Cabbage Town. So, you and Audley set off to track down Doctor Tsunami and put an end to his evil doings.

You make your way through Cabbage Town, which has eleven levels, one of which needs unlocking before being able to play. The others are numbered from one to ten on the world map, all of which when completed will be rewarded with one to three stars, depending on how well you did. You don’t have to play the levels in order, however some of the levels are linked within a location. In Cabbage Town the levels One, Two, Six and Ten are linked by a pathway, which I think is the path that Doctor Tsunami has taken. Should you wish, you can play the other levels at any time to collect more stars, so you’ll be able to unlock new locations further on.

Not only are you looking for the Doctor, but you’ll have to find and lead some children to the safety of higher ground if you want to collect stars. Finding and leading all children to safety will grant you three stars; fewer stars will be granted if you leave any children behind.

Each level is made up of roads, dirt tracks and even some hidden paths which forms a maze. Figuring out where all the children are and where you must lead them to safety isn’t as easy as it seems. While you’re running around searching for the children, a tsunami will start moving up from the bottom of the screen shortly after you start. You need to move as fast as you can to find the exit point without being swept away by the tsunami. Each level has a different number of children who will need rescuing. There are also coins which you can collect as you make your way around a level.

Along with the dead ends, hidden paths and the tsunami chasing you down, there are other things which will hinder your progress. On some levels you’ll have to cross a road with cars driving up and down; if they hit you, it’s game over!  Other obstacles include cracks in the path.  These are ok if you cross over them but once you’ve done this, they will fall apart, leaving a gap that you can’t cross, and possibly creating a dead end which may seal your fate. Running on dirt paths can slow you down, however it’s not all doom n gloom; dotted around occasionally you can find shoes, which will give you a boost in speed for a short time and may just save you from being swept away.

As you progress unlocking more locations, you’ll find more information on what Doctor Tsunami is up to. You don’t want to listen to him; you’re only interested in killing him, so the tsunamis stop. Upon completing a level you’ll be shown the amount of coins collected and banked, the number of children rescued and your star rating.

The graphics are nice, and the music isn’t too bad.  There are three slots for saving a game, and when starting up, you’ll be able to choose which saved game you want to load. There are no settings to play around with; you can play in full screen or you can play in a window by using ALT+ENTER. The controls are simple, using the arrow keys for movement, and the enter or mouse button to move on to the next text message.

I did find it a bit awkward when trying to select anything; my mouse cursor doesn’t seem to be shown, so trying to select a save or anything else is a bit of a pain. You can use the arrow keys to make your way through them. Another thing I found a pain was when trying to leave a game, there’s no exit game button (or none that I could find) so I had to hit ALT+F4 to exit the game. Overall though, it’s quite a fun little game which can be quite challenging and frustrating at times, especially when you can’t find the exit.  Sooner or later, you’ll figure it out.

Review written by Piston Smashed™ for Zeepond.com!