Captain Goodnight and the Island of Fear is an unusually difficult run and gun platform game that was originally created for the Apple II in the early to middle eighties. By the late eighties, it was converted to the personal computer running the DOS operating system, and the faithful conversion reflected the difficult nature of the game. This is not one for the player new to the run and gun or jump and run genre. Inexperienced players can expect to die often, and will likely become frustrated.
The plot of Dr. Goodnight and the Island of Fear consists of an evil and obviously mad scientist who has set up a hidden research base on the lost and remote Fear Islands. He has used his research and his brilliance to construct a Doomsday device, which he is using to hold the world hostage. He has demanded a two hundred billion dollar sum in gold, or he will blow up the entire planet with this dastardly device. Captain Goodnight is a Bondesque secret agent, and he has been deployed to the Fear Islands to infiltrate the doctor’s headquarters, locate and destroy the Doomsday device. He will fight a great number of mechanized menaces, also created by the doctor to protect his base and destroy
intruders.
Captain Goodnight and the Island of Fear is a very diverse game, and there is not much that the gamer won’t do. This requires a lot of different skills, and will also require the user to learn the controls for several different vehicles. Besides learning how to run, walk, duck and jump, the gamer will be required to drive: tanks, jeeps, airplanes, submarines, boats, helicopters, and a tram. There are weapons on many of these vehicles that the user will also have to master. This great variety of vehicles adds a lot of depth to the game, but is also a contributing factor to its difficulty.
There are many other little perks in the game. There is a running commentary on the bottom of the screen that both apprises the user of his progress and also offers little snippets of humor, mostly in the form of sarcasm and one-liners. The graphics are quite good for the day, and the game play is actually quite smooth. All of these factors combine to give Captain Goodnight and the Island of Fear a cool comic book atmosphere.
Captain Goodnight and the Island of Fear is a good game and a solid play. Again, it is not the easiest game to master, and it could create either frustration, or a great challenge, depending on the player’s attitude. Overall, however, it comes recommended for download.
