Dungeons of Gomilandia

Plot

Gominolo is having one of those days. You know the ones, like when you think things are going just great then the rug is pulled out from under you and you realise that instead of having repelled an invading army, they’ve tricked you by trapping you in a hellish dungeon.

OK that example may have seemed oddly specific, but that was Gominolo’s plight and it’s your job to help him prove he is “innocent and just” enough to solve the puzzles and escape to freedom.

Gameplay

From the off I want to say that I absolutely love puzzle games, and this one is a doozy. You control a character that bears a striking resemblance to Mr Chips from the 80’s quiz show Catchphrase, who must navigate his way out of each room by collecting a key & leaving via the exit. As you would expect, this is not as easy as it sounds, as to reach different levels Mr Chips, I mean Gomilandia, has to grab bits of floor to make steps to reach higher levels, but as he doesn’t have jumping ability he can only step up one step at a time and as he’s only a little fella he can only carry one bit of floor at a time.

As with most good puzzle games, the first few levels act as tutorials, before things start to get hairy with moving platforms, lifts, springs, bouncy floorboards and all manner of complications.

The time limit on each screen is super tight but luckily there is a password system and an option of a “Relaxed” mode that dispenses with the strict timer and limited lives, at the expense of being able to earn points. This is a really nice touch that helps those of ahem limited abilities to enjoy the game’s many delights.

My only criticism is that the character’s movement can be a little jerky at times, don’t get me wrong it’s not game breaking by any means but you might find it’s not quite as responsive as you’d like, which is frustrating when you are against the clock. Having said that, once you get into the flow of things, you find yourself automatically making adjustments for this and it’s not much of a factor at all.

Graphics and Sound

In spite of this being a 48k game, there is an exceedingly jolly and catchy tune that plays on the menu screen.

Special mention too must be made of the very impressive “dynamic” loading screen that reveals itself in a cool way, I’m an absolute sucker for neat tricks like this.

Also, I’m not sure if there is an award ceremony for sprite animation of the year, but the wave your main character does when they pick up a key is beyond charming and deserves to sweep the boards. Seriously, it’s the most adorable thing ever.
Finally strong use of the Speccy’s limited colour palette with minimal clash is always a winner in my book and on this score Dungeons of Gomilandia hits another home run!

If you’ve stuck with me this far, you may well have gathered that I LOVE this game. From the cute main character to its fiendish puzzles and variety of game modes. If you like puzzle games, you may well find yourself losing hours of your day to this one.

Verdict

A fun and addictive puzzle game that sucks you in as you learn the techniques, then hits you with some brutal screens that will have you howling in frustration when the clock falls on your head, as all the best games should! I genuinely did not expect to be rating this one so highly, but it’s exactly the sort of thing that a Speccy game should be: fun, charming, addictive and if you don’t mind, I’m going to have to stop writing & get back to trying to beat a particularly tricky level.

Info

Release Date: 27 March 2020
Publisher: RetroWorks
Format: ZX-Spectrum 48K
Available from: http://www.retroworks.es/php/game.php?id=17