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We've not had a puzzle game in Gamer for ages and ages. Well, at least not for two issues. I bet you puzzle freaks are just thirsting for a bit of a brain drain.
Puzzle games are alright with me, but what if you had a puzzle game and turned it into a 3D isometric puzzle game with lots of shooting of lasers and things that you would never see in a normal puzzle game? If only there was one like that. Hark, what do I see bounding over the hills like a breath of fresh air, but a puzzle game with the odd title of D/Generation and, look, it's got loads of lasers and stuff you wouldn't normally see in a puzzle game.
D/Generation is a NeoGen. I bet you're really confused now, so I'd better start from the beginning. You play the part of a man, a male, a bloke, a non-woman, got it? The poor little chap hasn't got a name and personally I think he should have one, so I will christen him Eric.
Eric isn't a muscle bound hero with a super weapon and neither is he a normal hero with a super weapon. Eric is just a delivery boy armed with only a simple package, but – and this is a but that will alter Eric's whole life – the package contains something that could save the whole wide world and more likely will make Eric the president or something.

Eric has to deliver the package to Singapore to a place called the Genoq Biolabs. The Genoq Biolabs produce NeoGen organisms and these NeoGens have escaped. The NeoGens haven't worked out how to get out of the labs – yet! Prior to the outbreak, some recon satellites spotted an explosion near the top of the building. This is where Derrida, the head scientist is creating the next NeoGen prototype, the D/Generation.

There are three other generations of NeoGens. The A/Generation is a bouncing red ball that smothers its target and can cloak itself by going transparent. There is the B/Generation that is a bouncing blue cylinder that crushes its target. It's extremely fast and can hide in the floor. The C/Generation is a humanoid that can disguise itself as anything, animate or inanimate. This NeoGen decapitates its targets (gulp!). Finally there is the D/Generation. The good news is that there is only one D/Generation in existence; the bad news is that it's equipped with sophisticated neuro-holographic camouflaging. So it can disguise itself as anything. It also has a super-hardened dermal layer that acts like a sheet of armour, making it virtually indestructible.
If the D/Generation were to escape from the labs out into the real world it would threaten the life of every single person on the planet (double gulp and even a slight gasp!).

Unfortunate Eric has unknowingly walked into the building to hand in his package and the door has closed behind him. Eric finds the receptionist hiding behind her desk. She tells Eric that Derrida has been demanding the package and it is extremely important to Derrida. Eric's mission is that he must take the package to Derrida and if possible rescue any survivors that he finds along the way.

Well I suppose after all that waffle you're probably wondering whether it's any good. Well personally – and this is only my opinion – I think it is good.
D/Generation is a nice refreshing change. If you're fed up shooting wave upon wave of aliens and bored stiff of beating the hell out of enemy upon enemy, then D/Generation could well be worth a look.

The puzzles range from easy to hard. Some are obvious, some are not so obvious. As well as using your head to solve the puzzles, you have to be pretty good at waggling your joystick. There are plenty of A/B/C/Generations all looking to squash and mangle you to death. D/Generation takes a while to get into, but once you're in there you might find yourself trapped and unable to get out. The game is massive with about 20 levels of puzzling that'll keep you entertained for ages and ages.
D/Generation doesn't have that certain something that makes it stand out from loads of other games, but it's a really good and very enjoyable puzzle-'em-up.
Jonathan

The old software house myth states that a good game will always shine through, and it doesn't really matter about the graphics and sound: they're just the king on the cake. We're not saying that Mindscape believe this, but a close look at D-Generation reveals that the cake in question, although good enough to eat in large amounts, is probably a scone, and thus doesn't qualify for any icing at all.
Generation XS
The basic idea behind D-Generation is nothing particularly new, but it does make for a fun game. You're a courier, and you've arrived at the offices of a giant genetic research establishment with a package for the big boss. On your arrival, you discover that the building has been overrun by escaped genetic mutations, and the staff are holed up and hiding. Pretty soon you realise that the package you're holding has something to do with getting rid of the mutants – but you've got to find the head honcho to make it happen. So, you have to negotiate ten floors of twisting corridors and guarded rooms in your search for the chief, and on your way you score extra lives for rescuing cowering staff. Sounds simple, but it's one of those game plots that constantly has you dipping in for 'just one more go'.

But that's where the fun begins and ends; the rest of the game has little appeal. The intro music is one of those unfortunate tunes that begins impressively, building up to the point where the other instruments come in, and then suddenly has you reaching to cover your ears when the main melody (which sounds like it's being played on a rat) arrives with gusto.

The Generation Gap
D-Generation's only saving grave is its gameplay. On the face of it, even this isn't that brilliant, but after only a few minutes playing, you'll be hooked. Each room you enter contains a number of problems to crack, be they simple 'shoot the nasty mutant and stop them re-generating' or more complex 'open the doors and avoid making the hostage stand on the electric floor' type situations. The puzzle aspect of D-Generation has obviously been the subject of some detailed planning and brainstorming, and it shows. Once you've solved a room, there's usually a pay-off: either a new object to use or an extra life gained from the rescued hostage. This means that there's always a good supply of lives to keep you going for a long while. There's a save-game option which means you don't have to play it all at one sitting, though this save out to the original game disk, which is a tad worrying.

PC emulation?
If you can tolerate all the limitations with D-Generation, then you can be sure of a good game that will keep you occupied for many a sleepless night. But if you bought your Amiga because you knew it was the creme-de-la-creme as far as graphics and sound goes, you'll be asking yourself why Mindscape left you out in the cold with what is basically a PC-Conversion. Graphics are distinctly PC-quality: very blocky, with flat colours that do nothing to make your Amiga shine. The animation is passable, and the backgrounds are OK, but there's nothing to write home about, and much to be dissatisfied with. Dig into your pockets only if Impossible Mission in 3D is what your life needs to make it complete.
Neil Jackson

Title D/Generation
Game Type Action adventure
Players 1
Compatibility All
Submission Joona Palaste (palaste@cc.helsinki.fi) Profiled Reviewer

Review
D/Generation is one of the few games from the early 90's with a really
deep, intriguing plot. Even the packaging seems to emit an air of intrigue
so thick you could cut it with a laser beam. To put it short, a large
multi-national genetic engineering company called Genoq has developed an
entirely new type of biogenetic weapon, but it has got out of their hands
and taken control of the whole central office building. The head of Genoq,
Jean-Paul Derrida, has requested a package from abroad to help him fight
this dreadful weapon, called the D/Generation. You take the role of the
courier bringing him this package, and pretty soon it becomes apparent you
are Genoq's only hope of survival.
What the game turns out to be is an isometrically viewed action
adventure. Even though the game's deep plot is still strongly present
during the playing, the focus is on the action. Your character lands on
the 80th floor and has to work his way upwards to the 89th floor, where
you will confront the D/Generation and hopefully save Genoq.
Each floor is made up of rooms, which can be viewed as miniature levels
in a platform-style game. There are walls, doors, keycards and switches to
utilise in the correct order, but that is not all. Almost every room is
also infested with renegade biogenetic weapons, called A/Generations,
B/Generations or C/Generations. You must kill all the biogenetic weapons
in a room and seal off the air duct they came from until you can proceed
to the next room. Trapped humans are another element in the rooms. If you
save them from death in the hands of the biogenetic weapons, they reward
you with extra lives and may offer clues to the adventure's plot.
The action is usually very fast-paced, it is almost impossible to get
bored in any part of the game. The control system is simple, you move your
character with the joystick, using the keyboard to converse with rescued
humans. The graphics are simplistic, but very well drawn. They remind me
of early Commodore 64 games, where playability was more important than the
graphics. Sound is even simpler. The intro music is a very absorbing James
Bond / Dr Who -type tune, but the game itself has no background music. The
sound effects are standard fare, footsteps, laser blasts, and so on. They
do their job, but are hardly special.
Even if you are a hardened gamer, forget all hope of finishing
D/Generation in one go. It would require the reflexes of Annie Oakley, the
patience of the Dalai Lama, and the intelligence of Stephen Hawking.
Luckily, the programmers have kept this in mind and implemented an option
to save your position to disk. However, the saved positions always revert
to the first room on each floor, so the benefit is not as great as it
would have been. Still, it adds to the challenge, which was obviously the
intention. Just save the game every time you go up to the next floor.
D/Generation is an excellent game for those who just require good, solid
action and hold playability above presentation. In spite of that, it can
hardly be considered a classic. It will always be one of my favourite
games, but it doesn't have anything to merit a place on the very top of my
list. It's just good, solid fun.