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Pardon the dust! This page includes some jargon that hasn't been added to the site's glossary yet. I'll be around to fix this later, but sorry for the inconvenience in the meantime. |
Review: Dynomite! Deluxe
At a Glance
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How to Save and Pause:To save a game in progress, click on the little disk button over on the left hand side of the screen, then select which slot you'd like to use. Although you can save at any time, saving the game will send you back to the main menu. To pause the game, either click on the pause button to the left or press ESC. Time needed per session:Rounds of this game are rather short, so I wouldn't worry about setting time aside for it.
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Does this game pose issues for Christian players?
 | No - this is a great game for Christians The closest thing to objectionable content this game has to offer is that the eggs you're smashing sometimes hatch, but to be very blunt, I get the impression that's not meant to be taken seriously. |
Screenshots
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/dynomite_deluxe_0.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/dynomite_deluxe_1.jpg)
![[view screenshot]](../images/screenshots/dynomite_deluxe_2.jpg)
Game Overview
Back in the early 2000s, Popcap Games was very popular with gamers and parents. Their games were always easy to learn, yet tricky to master, and you could also expect them to be family friendly. Although they've been absorbed by EA, their legacy has lived on through their games, most of which are still available. Dynomite Deluxe might not be their best known title (that's easily Bejeweled), but that doesn't make it any less fun.
If you've played a lot of mobile or Flash games, then you're probably going to recognize Dynomite Deluxe's basic gameplay. Most of the screen contains the play area, where colored eggs are suspended from the ceiling. Your task is to use the slingshot at the bottom of the window to shoot colored eggs up at them, hopefully knocking them down. Each time you're able to do this without missing, you'll gain a "combo" level.
Holding onto a combos long enough will eventually lead to you building up a Dynomite Combo. When this happens, thunder claps and your next egg is replaced with a bomb. When fired, the bomb will burst every egg in a wide area, earning you a lot of points and pushing the entire stack upwards a bit.
This simple premise is made more difficult via the presence of Whirly, a pterodactyl who will periodically fly in and introduce a new egg color to the stack. After all, the more colors there are, the harder it is to match the eggs and build up those all important combos.
Overall, this is a fun little dinosaur themed game, but it's starting to show its age a little. The window's limited size may not work well with modern systems, and these days players usually want more than just getting a high score. But like most of Popcap's titles, you can't go wrong with it.
If you've played a lot of mobile or Flash games, then you're probably going to recognize Dynomite Deluxe's basic gameplay. Most of the screen contains the play area, where colored eggs are suspended from the ceiling. Your task is to use the slingshot at the bottom of the window to shoot colored eggs up at them, hopefully knocking them down. Each time you're able to do this without missing, you'll gain a "combo" level.
Holding onto a combos long enough will eventually lead to you building up a Dynomite Combo. When this happens, thunder claps and your next egg is replaced with a bomb. When fired, the bomb will burst every egg in a wide area, earning you a lot of points and pushing the entire stack upwards a bit.
This simple premise is made more difficult via the presence of Whirly, a pterodactyl who will periodically fly in and introduce a new egg color to the stack. After all, the more colors there are, the harder it is to match the eggs and build up those all important combos.
Overall, this is a fun little dinosaur themed game, but it's starting to show its age a little. The window's limited size may not work well with modern systems, and these days players usually want more than just getting a high score. But like most of Popcap's titles, you can't go wrong with it.
Points of Interest
Adjustable difficulty
Regardless of the mode you've selected, you can choose between three levels of difficulty. These mainly control how quickly the stack is lowered and how many colors are present at the beginning of the game.
Four game modes
To keep things interesting, there are four ways to play Dynomite: Endless Puzzle, Stomped Puzzle, Fossil Challenge, and the Time Trial. The first of these is exactly what you'd expect: you simply play for points and continue until you lose. In the Stomped Puzzle mode, you're trying to clear the eggs, but have limited shots per stage. Next, there's the Time Trial, which is similar to the Zen mode found in other Popcap games - it's just about playing the game without worrying about anything.
The Fossil Challenge is probably the most unique of the four modes: each level mixes a fossil fragment in with the eggs. Your goal is to both survive the level and knock down the fragment. There's a lot of unique fossils to collect, making this something akin to a campaign mode.
The Fossil Challenge is probably the most unique of the four modes: each level mixes a fossil fragment in with the eggs. Your goal is to both survive the level and knock down the fragment. There's a lot of unique fossils to collect, making this something akin to a campaign mode.
Limited gameplay
Back when this came out, it wasn't uncommon for games to be little more than short timewasters. Today though, players often expect a lot more content from the games they buy. In fact, you can expect it to take more than ten hours to see everything a modern game has to offer. By comparison, you'll have seen everything this game as to offer in about ten minutes.
Concerns and Issues
Eggs sometimes hatch
Every so often, one of the eggs in the stack will start shaking. If you can pop it before it stops, a little baby dinosaur will burst out, say "Mama!" and fall off the screen with some fanfare. This earns bonus points, but it also suggests that all of these eggs you're so eagerly smashing are fertilized, which basically means you're destroying the next generation.
I really, really doubt that anyone meant for people to think through it to that degree though.
I really, really doubt that anyone meant for people to think through it to that degree though.