Item - The King Takes a Dare

The second superhero book in a row, this is much more enjoyable than the less focused The Doomsday Device. Each character has a series of actions that can be taken against his opponent, and week by week, the players attempt to weaken each other before the final direct confrontation. The long-term planning element is a lot of fun, and there's a fair amount of player interaction as plans bear fruit (or backfire). The strategic elements may be something of an illusion -- I feel that in the game I played, I won mainly by dumb luck even though most of my plans went horribly awry -- but whether or not there's a need for deep thinking, the adventure feels right and is fun to play. Definitely worth a look if you can find an opponent!

More reviews by Demian

Although the other reviews of this particular 1 on 1 Gamebook set were favorable and seemed to prefer it over the other Marvel Super Heroes set (The Doomsday Device), nevertheless I take the opposite tack, and for good reason----in The King Takes A Dare, Kingpin is often penalized Karma points and rarely gets any opportunities for Karma bonuses, whereas Daredevil gets an absolute *plethora* of Karma bonuses throughout the adventure! This makes the contest unbalanced, in spite of the fact that they start off with the same number of Hitpoints! If Kingpin's Karma score could go past zero into the negative numbers, it could get down to -30 something, or worse even, with all the repeated karma penalties he keeps getting hit with. At least in The Doomsday Device, Dr. Doom has a chance to win; not so for Kingpin.

More reviews by le maudit

The second time around with Marvel characters, and I think it works a lot better than the FF/Doom books. One reason is that the armor ratings have been dropped, which really helps the pace of the game. The other reason is that Daredevil and Kingpin have a rivalry that fits the One On One format really well. Both characters are also portrayed better, with their actions and motivations being more consistent with how they are normally written in the comic book. There are some glitches in the books, But they're not as bad as ones found in others of the series. The King Takes a Dare is one of the better games in the One On One series and is a marked improvement over the disappointing The Doomsday Device.

More reviews by SilentGunman