A new YouTube video provdes an in-depth look at the Dan Dare game series available on 8-bit systems in the late 1980s
Long ago there was a comic book hero called Dan Dare.
Address the front and back covers of the eagle and 1950s boys magazine and Dare’s adventures took him into space around our solar system from Jupiter and Saturn to Mars and Venus where he regularly crossed swords with “Venusian Hitler” the Mekon.
For many done there’s adventures ended in the early 60s when the eagle folded but the story goes on beyond there. Various attempts were made to revive done they’re the most successful of which was in the late 80s and early 1990s. This coincided with the release of a series of video games. Thanks to YouTuber Kim Justice you can take a look at those 8-bit Dan Dare adventure game and shooter classics.
Dan Dare, one of the UK’s great comic heroes, also has some of the best tie-in video games under his belt! here’s a look back at the Pilot and his titles on the Spectrum, C64, Amstrad and even the Mega Drive.
Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future is perhaps the best known title from the series. A joystick-controlled adventure game, it is interesting how different the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC versions are from the Commodore 64 release. In many ways the C64 game is superior (and made 94% in the ZZap!64 review).
The Pilot of the Future was followed in the Dan Dare game series with Dan Dare II: Mekon’s Revenge and Dan Dare III: The Escape.
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Christian Cawley is a writer and editor who covers consumer electronics, IT, and entertainment media. He has written for publications such as Computer Weekly, Linux Format, MakeUseOf.com, and Tech Radar.
He also produces podcasts, has a cigar box guitar, and of course, loves retro gaming.