Jonny Quest

Sinclair User

Graphics 70%

Sound 65%

Playability 78%

Lastability 75%

Overall 76%

Alan Dykes

Steve Keen 76%

Label: Hi-Tec Memory: 48K/128K Price: £3.99 Tape Reviewer: Steve Keen If you've never heard of Jonny Quest before, don't worry, you're not alone. However, Hanna-Barbera assure us that in America this youngster is as famous as the Doggy hero Scooby Doo and his anemic, Garth-like side-kick, Shaggy. Jonny's dad, the incredibly important professor Quest, has been kidnapped and it's up to our young friend to rescue 'im. To do this Jonny must trudge through several puzzle, animal, robot and thug infested platform levels. Along the way he will encounter objects which at first will seem to have no importance whatsoever, but as usual with those sort of game, if you leave anything behind it's sure to mean curtains for your character later on. It doesn't take long for you to get easily bogged down in Jonny Quest. Initially it seems like a simplistic adventure ramble, but you soon realise that you'll have to utilise all the cunning of a one-legged fox caught inside Battersea Dogs home to get out alive. Unfortunately Jonny only has a very meagre supply of energy to start off with, so the sooner you learn to utilise this punching ability or find that handy stun gun, the better. Jonny Quest is a peasant, smoothly scrolling affair with just enough puzzles to keep the average player entertained. Graphics are meagre, but purposeful, which, unfortunately, is also how I would describe the gameplay.

Don't fall into the water! It is the first major life-jacking obstacle. Jump as far as possible.

Where will the quest lead now?

Your Sinclair

Life Expectancy 82%

Instant Appeal 90%

Graphics 90%

Addictiveness 88%

Overall 84%

Jon Pillar 84%

Hi-Tec £3.99 cass [redacted] Reviewer: Jon Pillar With my encyclopaedic knowledge of Hanna-Barbera cartoons and my endearing way of telling everybody about them at length, there was never any doubt as to who would get to review this game. Jonny Quest is one of Hanna-Barbera's 'soap opera' cartoons, dealing with realistic characters as opposed to out-and-out slapstick gagsters. Of course, when I say the characters are realistic, I don't mean that they spend their time losing the car keys, or setting the video timer wrongly, or worrying what their mum is going to say about the carpet. This would make for a staggeringly dull cartoon. Actually, their idea of realism is to thwart villainy on a weekly basis. This, of course, is extremely interesting. JONNY BE GOOD! The basic plot of the show is as follows Jonny is the only son of Dr Benton Quest, who has bravely overcome the tragedy of being named Benton to become an ace scientist and table tennis supremo. Constantly striving to improve the quality of people's lives with such amazing inventions as the self-assembly jigsaw, the atomic stilt and the neutron bomb, Jonny's pa is the number one target of the eminently hissable Doctor Zin. Consequently the Quests are accompanied at all times by government bodyguard and amateur flautist Race Bannon. However, and and I quote, "this does not stop Jonny and his mystical Indian friend Hadji, along with Jonny's pet dog Bandit getting into all sorts of hair-raising adventures." Ahem indeed. As the theme music plays and the cassette inlay unfolds, our diminutive do-gooder is having a startlingly poor day. Taking advantage of a momentary lapse in Race's vigilance, Dr Zin has kidnapped Benton, Hadji, Bandit, a passing librarian named Sue and the bodyguard himself. Undaunted, Jonny sets out to rescue the lot, which is where you come in. QUELLE SURPRISE! The game's a tasty platform number, with loads of rooms and more than a small hatful of objects to utilise. There's a kind of mini-game at the beginning to ease you into the main part, with Jonny wandering quietly through leafy glades where innocuous and exceptionally fluffy bunnies bobble around harmlessly. The overall effect is to full you into a horribly false sense of security, 'cos in the very next screen an enormous blue beetle leaps out at you. This more or less sums up the game as a whole - it might sound hackneyed, but this one really keeps you on your toes! Once you get into Dr Zin's headquarters you face his shadow guards and robot minions. This is where the games one fault shows up. As a collect-'em-up maze game it's hard enough, but as a beat-'em-up it's almost impossible. The guards sap energy when you touch them, and when you punch, you move forward a bit as well. So every time you bash a guard, it also drains your energy. There's a way to avoid this - punch them once, then back off to biff them again - but its really frustrating not to able to get past the minions without losing some energy. Its almost as if the programmers finished the game, then decided to put this in as an afterthought just to make it harder. What bounders! QUEST ON! Don't let this put you off though. Jonny Quest is an exceedingly playable game. The puzzles are of the match-the-object-with-the-barrier sort, but the objects have been distributed with an enviable degree of sneakiness. The graphics are rather marvellous for a barg, with large and smoothly animated sprites plodding around pretty backdrops. Apart from the problemette with the punchy bits, I've got only one reservation with the game and that's that the tie-in element is a bit shaky to say the least. These days, the rescue-your-friends idea is only of interest to Speccy historians. There's a better attempt than usual to fit in the supporting characters (for example, you've only got one life, until you can rescue Hadji and persuade him to bung you some more) but it's a pretty feeble plot. Still, that's only a minor grumble. Jonny Quest is fat and addictive, and well worth shelling out for. Jingle those coins, and get questing.

Discovered by two shadow guards, Jonny poses as a Canadian ballroom dancer.

Down in the subterranean cave network, Jonny stumbles upon the evil doctor's sinister plumbing system.

Our hero prepares to ascend, little realising a metal dentist is waiting...

When spies meet. "The red kipper flies at midnight." "Pardon?"

BLIM! Jonathan Golightly, the writer of Jonny Quest, based the events in the show on his own childhood.

SELECTED MEMBERS OF THE QUEST FAMILY 1. Walthamstow Quest, the jungle adventurer. 2. "Pinks" Quest, the linguistic researcher. 3. Shreepworthy Quest, the wallpaper-hanger. 4. Misterbun Quest, the baker's assistant. 5. Alan Quest, the ostracised cousin.

Read it at Your Sinclair Rock'n'Roll Years

Crash

Presentation 70%

Graphics 74%

Sound N/A

Playability 70%

Addictivity 72%

Overall 73%

Alan Green 77%

Nick Roberts 68%

Jeepers! Rubber Quest... er, sorry, I mean Jonny Quest and his cartoon pals have gone and gotten themselves into a whole heap of trouble. Alan Green is into assault and battery (rechargeable only) so we sent him off to bash some baddies (down boy, down! - Ed). Hi-Tec £3.99 Jonny Quest? Sounds like a trip down to the chemist (how rude!). But no, it's the name of our hero in the latest budget blast. This Hanna-Barbera cartoon star is a disgustingly cute little blonde-haired, blue-eyed do-gooder. Being the son of the fantastically clever and Important Dr Benton Quest (a top boffin in the US government), little Jonny is constantly getting involved in galactically important matters, saving the world (as one does). Jonny's dad is such a blinkin' big wig that evil conspirators are forever out to kidnap the little blighter to use as a pawn in their games of global domination. In fact, Jonny is so nabbable the government have given him a full-time rock-'ard bodyguard - a hunk known as Race Bannon. RANSOM NOTES, AHOY! In this particular episode, it's not our Jonny in trouble but Dr Quest himself! Captured by the evil Dr Zin (you'd never guess he was a baddy with a name like that, would you?), he's being forced to design a deadly laser to serve Zin's cunning plans to rule the world. Unsurprisingly, our hero sets off on a mission to rescue his dad, along with his henchman, his mystical Indian pal Radii, and his pet dog Bandit (ash!). But oh no... wouldn't you know it, his pals all get captured too, leaving Jonny to do heroic deeds single-handed (selfish swines). And that's where you come in as you guide the little fella across platforms, over lakes, down rabbit warrens and so on. There are robots to punch, blue lobsters to jump (ooer!) and all sorts of other nasties hindering him, but there's the odd useful item tying around - keys, dynamite, torch etc - which aid progress. SUPER BOWL? Possibly the most striking feature of Jenny himself is the incredible bowl-cut hairstyle Hi-Tec have given the poor boy (almost as bad as Nicko's - Ed). Admittedly the little chap in the cartoon has got a bit of a basin but his graphic depiction here is unflattering in the extreme. Other than this small gripe, it's quite a pretty game, with the odd bouncing bunny and other cutesy snippets of animation (mmm... lovely). The baddies, on the other hand, are more menacing. Apart from Dr Zin's evil faceless robots, there's a whole host of small, brown, dog turd-like creatures (which you certainly want to avoid landing upon) plus abnormally aggressive fish and other bizarre nasties. Can't say much about accompanying sound FX - there aren't any. At the end of the day, it's a jolly little game for a cheapy. Bouncing Jonny around the screens gets more addictive as you play (don't let the dog turds put you off) and there's plenty to keep the old grey matter functioning... yes, that's a good point, you lazy lot! I just hope he eventually gets his jonny (shut up, Alan! - Ed) ALAN 77%

Go Jonny, go. Get those turnups flapping and get yourself across the water.

Hmmm! You could do with getting that key from dowm below. But how do you get there?

Oh dear! Looks like a dead end, better turn around and find a different way out.