The Incredible Crash Dummies

Automobile-impact testing tools, safe- driving TV commercial stars, toy figurines, and cultural icons...not a bad track record for a bunch of Dummies. In fact, The Incredible Crash Dummies is not bad for a Genesis video game.

This zany, side-view action/ adventure game makes you the Crash Dummy, Slick. You're on a mission to save the synthetic hide of Dr. Zub, who's been Dummy-napped by the villainous Junkman and his Junkbot gang. You must find Zub before Junkman can squeeze the plans for the TORS09000 Super Dummy body out of him!

You Ain't Got No Body

The frenetic fighting action here is straight hop-n-bop, and the hoppin' plays off the key characteristic of the Crash Dummy toys -- detachable limbs. You got it! It literally costs you an arm and a leg every time you get hit by a bad guy! If you aren't careful, you'll wind up as a tumbling torso. Don't worry, you can still hurl a mean Wrench at the Junkbots, and Screwdriver power-ups restore your appendages.

Crash Dummies' challenge won't make your ego crash and burn, but intermediate action buffs will get a good workout. The game's four Zones consist of four to five Dummy- dangerous stages, each of which has a hard-to-find exit and a time limit.

In general, the controls do a good job of enabling you to handle the action. However, precision play is necessary, since the Dummies slip and slide whenever they leap.

Looks Like a Dummy

The smart-looking graphics do the Dummies justice, but the sprites definitely lack personality. Turning down the game's volume is no loss. Its sound effects are cute, but not cutting edge.

Do It for the Dummies!

The Incredible Crash Dummies is a creditable game. Dummy fans will want this game for their collections, but kids will face a fairly tough fight. If these merry manikins turn you on, don't be a dummy, be a Dummy.

Safety starts at home, so UN's peeled the Crash Dummies off the asphalt and slammed them in the middle of a neck-breaking NES game. Those two dummies of Driver's Ed fame, Slick and Spin, are after a diabolical Junkman who's snatched their pals (Spare Tire, Darryl, and Bumper). To save their buddies from the scrap heap, Slick and Spin team up for a simultaneous two- player action/adventure game, or Spin can go solo on his unicycle.

Safety First

You have plenty of chances to crash and still make it through the game's four side- scrolling levels, which include a roll through a Test Center, a Circus Fairground, a Dockyard, and a Junkyard. Here you'll come metal-to-metal with the trashiest of trash -- the Junkman. In each level, the Crash Dummies have to navigate through the area, gathering orange traffic cones and fighting off the Junkman's Junkbots.

Although you're armed with only an Exhaust Gun Can that temporarily stuns the 'bots, there's not much to the game play. The controls are simple. You've got four lives, giving you a total of 24 crash dummies to splinter. Beginning testers may be the only ones survival tough.

Necessary Repairs

While you're searching for your missing dummy buddies, you may lose your head, or a few body parts. If you do lose your head, literally, you might as well start over, because your controls get turned around. You can also grab tools and spare parts between smash-ups. Spare Hands boost your health, Oil Cans strengthen your Exhaust Gun Can weapon, Steering Wheels give you temporary invincibility, Rockets speed up your dummy, Balloons help you jump further, Arms knock enemy bots out of your way, and Cones give you points. If you rack up enough points, you get a 1-up.

The graphics in this game won't pass any crash tests. They're dark and average. Some of the sprites even fade in and out. As for the sound, it's unobtrusive and keeps you walking or rolling along.

License Renewal?

Crash Dummies is an average game for average players. Although mildly entertaining, you won't crash into your TV to play it. The Crash Dummies are more entertaining in Driver's Ed movies.

Welcome to the world of self-torture. Assume the role of Slick, one of those S&M-lovin1 crash dummies, and subject yourself to many dangerous experiments and safety checks ranging from wrecking cars to disarming bombs. Earn big money by completing each task with the least amount of destruction and mayhem.

Play as one of the lovable crash dummies. These breakable numbskulls are in their own Genesis cart where they must keep themselves together.

Play through a number of testing sites, where obstacles threaten to break pieces of you off part by part. Make it to the circular exit at the end, and prepare yourself for more fun.

Your attacks vary, depending upon your form. Your mobility will decrease every time you are hit. Ouch!

The Crash Dummies keep reminding us to buckle up, and show us why to do so. The Incredible Crash Dummies is a lot of fun. Getting from zone to zone will test all your skills. If you are interested in breaking into pieces, this game is for you.

Oh boy! More Crash dummies! Maybe it's just me but this whole idea isn't very appealing! This is very close to the Super NES version, with the typical hits that dismember your player. Just love it when he ducks!

Remember that scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where a Knight loses his limbs in a hilariously gruesome duel? Apply that theme to a hop-n-bop video game, and you've got The Incredible Crash Dummies.

You play as a Crash Dummy, helping Dr. Zub against the evil Junkman. The game is a mindless test of reflexes as you dodge traffic and falling objects. Your only assets are the abilities to run, bounce on objects to blow them up, and throw tools. As you sustain damage, you lose limbs until you're just crawling along as a head and a torso. The torso action is funny at first, but the novelty soon wears off. The graphics are probably too cartoony for older gamers, and the simple sound effects are basically variations on "Beep!" and "Boing!" Younger gamers might enjoy a Crash Test with the Crash Dummies.

Most everyone is sure to have seen the Crash Dummies on the tube by now, using humor to convince people to buckle up--or pay the consequences of taking a nosedive through a windshield. Although they've made the move to the NES, the message remains the same.

Spin and Slick (yeah, I didn't know their names either) have a problem: Their arch-evil-bad-guy-adversary, Junkman, has kidnapped their friends Spare Tire and Darryl, and Bumper, the crash dummies' pooch. Alternating between playing the parts of Spin (who rides around on a unicycle of sorts) and Slick, your objective is to rescue your friends, while avoiding the traps and "junkbots" of Junkman. Armed with an exhaust gun, which stuns your enemies temporarily, and an oil gun, which does more permanent damage, the action is generally horizontally scrolling, run-and-shoot (and avoid). Other than a few power-ups, the only items to collect are orange traffic cones, which eventually will award an extra life.

There are five levels to explore, which begin with the crash-test center, onward through a circus, a waterfront and a junkyard before your final confrontation with the Junkman himself. It takes some time to get the hang of jumping around with Spin's unicycle, especially if you collect a "speedup" icon, but, otherwise, basic jumping and shooting skills will suffice. The bosses, up to and including Junkman, are easy to figure out and present less of a challenge than simply reaching them does.

Your dummy can lose his head (literally!) if he runs into an obstacle at high speed or if certain junkbots take a shot at him. In these cases (at least until you find another head power-up), your dummy's sense of direction is reversed, as are your controls. No continues are allowed, but four lives are given with six "hits" each, and there are plenty of power-ups to restore partial life.

Although this game plays okay, there isn't anything in particular that makes it stand out from any 50-odd other games for the NES. I thought that there would be some humorous shots of the dummies getting bashed to bits, but, other than the occasional head flying off, the action is pretty mundane. The story line is limited and hard to support to begin with, but having the dummies visit the circus? This game needs more levels and a more complex goal, rather than the same tired theme. The plugs about wearing your seat belt are fine, and if a video game can convince somebody to buckle up, great! Let's remember that the primary objective here is to entertain, however. (I can just see a "Woodsy the Owl" adventure just around the corner, complete with players collecting video garbage and giving a "hoot.")

I question whether the dummies are the types of characters that will appeal to older players, yet the game may be too difficult for some younger players to handle. If nothing else, the constant reminders to buckle up may make some parents decide it's a harmless way to program their kids with that message. Otherwise, most players would be dummies not to preview by rental first.