Reviews

I have a curious relationship with this game (also known as "The Island of Dr. Destructo", at first glance it seems nothing very special - you control a biplane with rotational controls and shoot down enemy planes, which then change into debris that fall and hit a conveniently placed enemy ground target. When enough debris falls, a water spout is formed - enough water spouts and it's "adios enemy ground target". There's a cursory two player mode and a host of levels with differing targets.

Where the game shines for me is the variety of baddies and the different behaviour of the debris when planes break up which adds some welcome strategy to proceedings. For example, the spontaneously appearing/vanishing UFO is difficult to hit, but offers a much bigger chunk of debris for your money, some planes the debris will fall in haphazard diagonals, others will rise. Others still will emit wobbling torpedoes in an unsettling manner. The carnage in the skies is merely window-dressing to the real game of getting the damn debris to hit where it'll do the most damage. In a way the whole act of shooting planes down becomes entirely peripheral - it's possible to simply watch the ground target/spouts and falling debris with the firebutton nailed, looping a bit every so often - and be just dimly aware of which way your fuselage is pointing and still play the game, sometimes better than concentrating. It's a funny sort of zen.

I guess that's why I have a soft spot for Destructo. It won't win any awards for originality, but it does have its share of neat ideas and fun scenarios. Later on the game goes entirely insane and starts throwing nuclear waste ridden islands and floating castles and I kinda like that. It won't haul you back for more, but it delivers a pleasingly rounded game that is definitely worth a playthrough, particularly with a co-op chum.

I think this is a great game. Yeah the graphics clash but it has really exciting gameplay that I instantly got into. I'm really liking this.

Just a couple of months earlier, Mastertronic's Bulldog label brought out the abysmal Jackle and Wide, for that reason alone I would never have taken Destructo seriously back in the day if I had seen it, but this is so much better. It's simple and enjoyable to play although the deaths seem a bit too random for me. But still I was very impressed with this.