Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Dan Dare II: Mekon’s Revenge delivers a tense, action-packed experience that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. You infiltrate the Mekon’s spaceship, and every corridor, platform, and control room is teeming with SuperTreens eager to thwart your progress. The core objective—to locate each control box, disable it before the timer runs out, and move on to the next level—establishes a relentless pace that rewards both speed and precision.

The level design cleverly balances exploration and urgency. While racing against the clock, you must also manage your six lives and conserve energy shields to survive the massive blasts that follow a successful sabotage. The tension ramps up whenever you spot a cluster of SuperTreens guarding a control box, forcing you to weigh whether to engage enemies head-on or slip past them and hope your shields hold. This risk-versus-reward dynamic injects real suspense into the action.

Supplementing the core loop are collectible power-ups: extra lives after you tally 50,000 points and energy recharge packs scattered throughout the ship. These additions feel well-calibrated, offering reprieves just when you’re running low on resources without trivializing the challenge. For veteran players, mastering movement and timing becomes key to racking up high scores and pushing further into Mekon’s stronghold.

Graphics

Graphically, Mekon’s Revenge captures the charm of late-’80s retro titles while pushing hardware boundaries of its era. The sprite work on Dan himself is impressively detailed, with fluid animation that conveys his determined stride and the recoil of his weapon. His color palette contrasts sharply with the metallic grays and sickly greens of the SuperTreens, making it easy to track your character amidst the chaos.

The spaceship interiors boast rich backgrounds and parallax scrolling that add depth to each level. Pipes, control panels, and ominous energy conduits create an atmosphere of high-tech peril. Subtle lighting effects—like the flicker of warning lights or the glow of unstable reactor cores—heighten the sense of urgency, reminding you that one wrong move could see your shields collapse.

Enemy designs are equally memorable: the SuperTreens come in various shapes, some darting across platforms with unexpected speed, others trudging forward under bulky armor. Animation frames for their attack patterns are smooth and readable, allowing you to predict movements and time evasive maneuvers. Overall, the graphics strike a fine balance between challenging your reflexes and letting you appreciate the detailed art.

Story

The narrative thrust of Mekon’s Revenge is delightfully straightforward: the diabolical Mekon returns with a new breed of genetically engineered SuperTreens and a fortress of doom. His merciless drive for planetary domination sets the stakes high, and as Dan Dare, you’re humanity’s last line of defense. This immediacy of purpose propels every mission, giving context to the gleaming corridors and lethal traps you navigate.

While the story is not heavily dialogued in-game, brief interstitial text and mission briefings do an admirable job of framing your goals. You feel the weight of humanity’s survival resting on your shoulders, and the knowledge that the Mekon is actively attempting to override each control box before you do adds a palpable urgency to the narrative. It’s a classic hero-versus-villain setup that never outstays its welcome.

Supplementary lore—hints at the SuperTreens’ creation and Mekon’s relentless evolution—pepper the experience without bogging down the action. For fans of the Dan Dare universe, these touches enrich the adventure, while newcomers can still appreciate a clean, high-stakes storyline that drives you deeper into the spaceship’s tangled corridors.

Overall Experience

Dan Dare II: Mekon’s Revenge shines as a masterclass in retro action design, delivering an adrenaline-fueled journey through a deadly alien fortress. Its blend of timed objectives, resource management, and enemy encounters offers a gameplay loop that feels both familiar to genre veterans and approachable to new players seeking a challenge.

Graphically and sonically, the game immerses you in a science-fiction thriller, marrying detailed sprite work with atmospheric audio cues. From the hum of power conduits to the clang of doors sliding shut, each element reinforces the tension of racing against the Mekon’s nefarious plans.

While difficulty spikes can be unforgiving—especially on later levels where enemies compound and time limits tighten—Mekon’s Revenge rewards perseverance. Every success feels earned, and discovering new shortcuts or mastering enemy patterns provides genuine satisfaction. For those craving a challenging, story-driven platform shooter, Dan Dare II: Mekon’s Revenge remains a standout that demands to be played.

Retro Replay Score

6.8/10