Let this be the summer I revisit some of the games I started long ago but never finished. To get things rolling I dusted off Super Dangerous Dungeons, one of the best little platformers for mobile.

Help Timmy the treasure hunter wiggle his way through four different dungeons to steal some loot. Every dungeon consists of ten levels plus one boss fight. The levels are rather short, filled with the usual platformer stuff: spikes, fireballs, vanishing stones, moving platforms, rising water etc.

Everything a dungeon needs: Spikes, moving platforms …
… fire …

Avoid the traps, get the key and open the door to the next level. All boss fights work the same way: the bosses chase after you while you have to avoid a lot of traps on your route to escape the dungeon. In order to finish the game you also have to find four crystals in hidden stages. This will allow you to open the final door – and the final level. There are even two extra dungeons, each with ten more levels and another boss fight. Altogether you get 60 levels, 4 secret levels, and 6 boss fights.

A perfect game for mobile

Super Dangerous Dungeons is a remake of an old Flash game called Dangerous Dungeons – with new art, better controls, and more levels. All made by one developer, Jussi Simpanen from Kerava, Finland. There is also a new SNES inspired retro soundtrack by KungFuFurby.

… electricity …
… big boss fights …

Everything is extremely well done. Great retro pixel art. Nice music. The early levels are rather easy. Some of the later levels are more challenging. But after a few attempts it is possible to beat every level and boss fight.

One problem with mobile games are the controls. No haptic feedback can be quite troublesome. The controls in Super Dangerous Dungeons are great. Big buttons, right where I need them. In contrast to for example Reed 2 where I hate the controls.

… hidden crystals …
… and some bonus levels.

I bought Super Dangerous Dungeons in December 2015. Quite some time ago. I played the game while travelling by train and managed to rush through most of the game. The only thing I didn’t do was finish the very last level. I died a few times and then arrived at my destination. I don’t know why I didn’t finish the game a few days later.

Anyway, I stumbled upon Super Dangerous Dungeons again on my tablet and this time I finished it. While the game does not offer anything new in the world of platformers it is still one of my favorite mobile games. Not too easy, not too difficult, with great retro graphics and fine level design. I’d call this a perfect game for mobile.

Verdict: If you like retro platformers and play games on mobile it is very simple: Buy it!

Super Dangerous Dungeons
Developer: Adventure Islands / Jussi Simpanen
Publisher: Adventure Islands / Jussi Simpanen
Published: 18. November 2015
Platforms: iOS, Android, Steam

PS.
There is also a game called Tiny Dangerous Dungeons, also made by Jussi Simpanen. It features the same protagonist. But this one is a tiny metroidvania with Gameboy graphics. It’s rather short, but worth the 0,99 Euro.

PPS.
Turns out this is the same developer who published Total Party Kill, which is on my watchlist as well.