Interplanetary Spy guide to Ultraheroes

Story Line: 9
Puzzles: 5
Pictures: 7
Endings: 6
Writing Style: 7

Story Line:probably the very best plot of all the Interplanetary Spy books. Yes, it even edges out The Star Crystal. There is a saboteur in the galaxy's newest team of Superheroes and it is up to you to find him/her! There's a nice detective story followed by galaxy-threatening action. Andromeda(from The Space Olympics) is a superathelete, Logico has electronically increased intelligence, Telanon can teleport, Chronos can slow down and speed up time, and Proteum is a mechanical genius with goofy glasses. You start out by going through training exercises until you find out the guilty person. Then you follow Kort, Tunk's evil twin who is in league with that person, to stop whatever he is up to. Stuff like looking at the Ultraheroes' grades for training is cool as well.

Puzzles:some are cool, but some border on moronic, to be honest. None is really tough. Probably one reason why I gave such a low score here is that you miss several unusually easy puzzles and don't get killed for those, and there's one that looks like it was typeset wrong. They also don't refer you to a previous page for hints on differentiating Kort and Tunk. There is a neat one where you try to read someone's mind to find your code name, and there's a decent amount of variety. And the one puzzle where the Ultraheroes laugh at you when you miss it is a great idea, and yeah, it's way easy. Gotta mention that the "meteor maze," where the meteors move as you do, is cool. As a whole the puzzles are exciting and genuinely fit in with the plot.

Pictures:there are a few mistakes. While the Ultraheroes all look buff(even Proteum with his glasses) and the cover looks cool, it's inconsistent. First of all, Chronos is blond on the cover but has dark hair in the book. When you try to sneak into the traitor's cabin, s/he is wearing pajamas with notched lapels on page 48 but not on page 5, the next one. And maybe it's just a sign of their talents I missed--how does Telanon and Andromeda find the time to hit the hair salons? She changes hair styles several times in the book. Granted, she looks good either way, but... Wait a minute--Chronos slows down time while she has their hair appointments. Never mind that one. So... Telanon's costume is drawn incorrectly. She seems to be wearing leggings on the cover but in many pictures it's not clear where they end. Andromeda mighta gotten breast implants too since Space Olympics. Good choice there... Of course, there are some way cool ones(Kort and Tunk are cool when annoyed, and Logico is way cool) including an awesome scene where the Ultraheroes look like they've drunk too much coffee or where a couple get "sunburned."

Endings:what's neat about endings is that you aren't automatically blown to smithereens in each one. There are some dreaded one-line endings, but there are enough weird monsters to satisfy the reader overall.

Writing Style:this is a well-written book. There aren't really any holes in the style and some of the endings are cleverly done. It moves smoothly and has some neat asides where you make a wrong choice. The training programs are even cooler than the Space Olympics events and a lot more realistic. The Tunk/Kort difference is handled well, too.
Links to other books: Dr. Cyberg's bionic ESP machine, which Kort had stolen, made your helmet. Andromeda was in The Space Olympics.
PagesSide choicesPuzzleDifficulty
1-2-3 22-3 Which numbered pieces form an indicated shape? 1
17 12 What shape will your ship fit in? 1
31-14-15-16-40 51 Find repeating pattern 2
25-36-37-38-46 4 6-lever combo to unlock vault. Pull 1 to make the combo. 1
35-39-58 91 Switch 2 shapes in 3x3 square to make polygon. 1
52-53-54 63 Reflect shot off wall to hit robot. 1
8-9-43-55 10 Find squares in 4x4 grid with same pattern of dots. 2
60-7 20 Which button connects to which line? 1
62-68-23 70-48-5-26 1+1=10. Remove 2 lines for a true equation. 2
26 30 Number pattern: 1, 3, 7, 13, ... 2
80-65-45-32 78 How many triangles?(Count the outer one) 2
6-11-18-19-13 87 Get from sector 21 to 36 through fewest # of sectors 1
21-24-74 27 See a word under static interference. 1
34 82-83-95:42/47-33 Go around warp storm quickly. If not, go through maze. 2
29-33-41-71-104 44-92 AZBYCXDW--next letter? 1
92-75-76-77-100-49 95 Which path has most "warp lines?" 2
56-57-84-85 61 "Meteor swarm" maze--meteors move as you move. 2
50-117 108-59 Move 2 circles so they're all centered. 1
59-110-111-112 64-66 Tunk or Kort? 2
66 114 Add numbers to compute your rifle's range. 1
105-116-107-67-73-69-72 109 Find black/white inverse of a pattern. 2
88-89-79-90-81 93:101/86 Shortest path. Retry: find break in lines. 2
86-94-96-97-106 103 right-angled maze, turned 45 degrees. 1
99-118-102 113 Combine 2 line pattern. 1
119-120-121 The End!
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