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The first thing that comes
to my mind when playing this game is "This is supposed to
be a kids game??" I understand the Dumbo tie-in would
appeal to children due to the Disney tie-in. But this
game is *HARD*!!! I mean, if someone in their twenties who's mispent
way too many years playing videogames is saying this game is difficult,
how the heck did they expect to market this one to
kids? Perhaps this was the reason the game was not
released, or perhaps this was some grand scheme by Atari
to replace hundreds of broken controllers, thrown into
walls and floors by frustrated children, therefore
funneling millions of dollars into the pockets of Atari
and bringing them out of the downward spiral of the Great
Crash and letting them DOMINATE the industry!! Well, ok
maybe not :)
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Ahem. Anyway, Dumbo's a
pretty fun game, despite it being a little too hard for
its intended audience. The goal seems to be to collect as
many clowns as possible. Dumbo can grab the orange
balloons for points, but must avoid objects that look like
flashlights. The flashlights, however, can be shot. (What
is Dumbo shooting at th... wait, I don't even want to
know...) A few times per level, clowns will rise from the
bottom of the screen. Shoot the balloon that is carrying
them before they reach the top of the screen, and then
catch them as they fall to get a "saved" clown. If they
make it to the top, the clown appears on a unicycle and
begins dropping yet more stuff for you to avoid. Also,
any orange balloons that aren't caught will lower the
ceiling, giving you less room to move around and making it
easier for the clown to hit you. Once all the clowns for
the level are either caught or left to go SPLAT onto the
ground, the Magic Feather will start bouncing
around. Catch it for a feather point. |
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It looks like this game was
either ready for release, or very close to that
point. The only thing I can see that would hold this back
is the single, and quite pointless intermission in which
Dumbo flies around with a sign with his name on
it. There's only one of these scenes, and logic would
dictate that there would be one every few
levels. However, playtesting of the game may have pointed the difficulty
problem and doomed this game. Anyone know for sure why this game was
doomed to the land of Bit Rot rather than being released?
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