Tintin on the Moon

Blistering barnacles! The bashi-bazouks have got Tintin and gone and turned him into – gasp – a computer game! Well, leading French software house Infogrames has at least. World renowned Tintinologist Marcus Berkmann donned his plus fours and filed his story…

Tintin On The Moon is based on ‘Destination Moon’ and ‘Explorers on the Moon’, two of the kiss-curled reporter’s adventures (did you know that Tintin has failed ever to file a report to the newspaper he works for since the first story?), in which the young chap along with Captain Haddock and Professor Calculus (not forgetting the highly intelligent dog Snowy) are piloting the first manned rocket to the moon.

The opening sequence sets the tone for a comic romp and the ingame graphics keep the feel going well. But the 16-bit versions suffer from being too hard to play, so that only its associations are likely to make it appeal to Hergé fans.

Virtually identical to the Amiga game, the ST version suffers a little in the sonics department, but Colonel Boris is still as much of a swine to beat.

It has taken years for a software company to show some sense in licensing probably the greatest comic character ever. Currently enjoying his 50th anniversary, celebrated in a wonderful exhibition during the summer in London, Tintin now makes his small screen debut. Infogrames have been working on Tintin On The Moon, based on the intrepid hero’s troubled journey through the stars. It was published nearly 10 years before the real event and showed some remarkable foresight on the part of Herge as to the real problems of lunar flight – even if Tintin did find ice on the surface.

Europe's most famous comic character has finally made it onto your home computer. And he's determined to be the first man on the moon! Swots might protest that there's already been a man on the moon, but of course he wasn't French, so it doesn't count. Sadly, Tintin isn't your typical comic hero and instead of tying his mum's curtains around his neck and up, up and awaying to the Moon, he hitches a ride on a Professor Calculus's rocket ship.

Tin Tin, Captain Haddock and Co., look as if they have just stepped out of one of the many books, but, sadly, the graphics are the high point of this lacklustre game. There are only two stages in the game, both of which don't last very long, and both of which get very repetitive. So, because they don't last very long, it won't be very long before you help Tin Tin reach the moon. Because of this lack of lasting appeal, I cannot recommend it.

Europe's most famous comic character has finally made it onto your home computer. And he's determined to be the first man on the moon! Swots might protest that there's already been a man on the moon, but of course he wasn't French, so it doesn't count. Sadly, Tintin isn't your typical comic hero and instead of tying his mum's curtains around his neck and up, up and awaying to the Moon, he hitches a ride on a Professor Calculus's rocket ship.

Although this is not a great classic, it’s a very representative 80’s computer game (although it came out at the end of the decade). The premise is simple, the gameplay basically consists of two different arcade type minigames. You will need to replay it over and over in order to get better at it, so you will be able to finally complete it and after you’ve completed it, the only thing that might make you come back is setting the new highest score. It’s slightly frustrating, since no mater how close you get to the end, if you loose you’ll have to start over and do a better job at it the next time around (there’s no save option). It’s one of those things that kept you glued to the screen until your eyes became all bloody from the lack of blinking, while trying to collect objects flying towards you.