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Way back at the dawn of time there is a prehistoric
conurbation with Burger Bars, Health Clubs and a Drive-in
Movie -- a stoneage metropolis known as Bedrock, whose
inhabitants are as timeless as the Earth itself (and
their television series come to think of it) -- the
Flintstones! Those legendary cartoon caricatures have
been effectively reincarnated and brought to life on
your screens in digital form courtesy of Task Set.
The
game takes place before Mr Flintstone ever met Mrs Flintstone
and Bedrock was nowt but a twinkle in the collective
minds eye of the natives. You play the part of Fred
Flintstone and it is your task to win the heart of that
gorgeous gal Wilma. Obviously, it takes more than the
good looks and charisma of a sweaty caveman to impress
a female Neanderthal type. Yes, to ensure that Wilma
will dotingly follow Fred, he must build her a house
made of finest stone. And this is where the problems
start . . .
Fred
needs room to build his residence, so his first task
is to clear the unwanted flat stones from the vicinity
of the site and dump them in the nearby tip -- easier
said than done, since pterodactyls and turtles prove
a constant hindrance. The former attempt to drop rocks
on poor Fred's head and the latter rob him of his energy,
as does Dino, the Neanderthal equivalent of Man's best
friend, who gets a little over-excited when he sees
Fred and inadvertently molests him in a similar manner
to the turtles, with similar effect.
The
state of Fred's health is shown at the top right of
the screen and is depicted by a bar. As his energy depletes,
a woodpecker hammers away at the bar until it finally
reaches the end and a life is lost. Should this occur
four times, Fred's cause is lost along with his lives
and the game is over.
The
house can only be built with the finest smooth, round
rocks and these are scattered about 40 locations, which
flip from screen to screen when moving from one to the
next. As Fred can only carry one rock at a time, he
must return to the site and deposit them before he continues.
Once the house is complete it needs a roof. Unfortunately
Fred is a little on the short side and therefore needs
some form of ladder to reach the roof. Luckily there
is a Dino-Hire in the neighbourhood where one can conveniently
hire dinosaurs with stepped backs, suitable for climbing
on and attaching roofing. But hiring a dinosaur costs
money and this can be obtained by working at the quarry
for a short time, not that any work needs to be done,
as Fred merely needs to pick up the dollar sign lying
provocatively upon the floor. Should he completely finish
building his humble abode, he can go in search of Wilma
and attempt to persuade her to 'shack up' with him.
Ah, love is blind!
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Following
in the footsteps of Thunderbirds,
Yabba
Dabba Doo
is yet another conversion of a favourite television
series of mine that has totally failed to capture the
ethos of the original. All that is spot on are the excellent
graphics; Fred looks just right and is very good indeed.
The game itself is average and soon begins to bore.
Avoiding molestations from Dino and the turtle is near
impossible. The map isn't that hard and the end goal
isn't particularly difficult to achieve, just awkward.
I didn't like Yabba
Dabba Doo at
all and it's a shame to see something with such potential
to go to waste.
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