Bantam Books, $2.25, ISBN 0-553-24425-6
Sci-fi, 1984

It has to happen. You have been so successful as an Interplanetary Spy that even superheroes with amazing powers will eventually need your help. In Ultraheroes, an old friend tells you that you are needed at the planet Galdan ASAP. Someone is trying to be funny at the Ultraheroes’ training camp and apparently none of those superpowered losers are able to take care of matters on their own hand. Lame. But still, a job is a job, so you go undercover as one of the Ultraheroes.

The puzzles here are pretty typical and even predictable by now if you are familiar with the gamebooks in the Be an Interplanetary Spy series. The story line, unfortunately, is mediocre. The identity of the Ultrahero who is being controlled by the villain is pretty much given to you without any effort on your part to do any investigating. Indeed, it’s odd how this is a whodunit adventure but the puzzles have nothing to do with the mystery!

And, ultimately, the plot is about saving the world from an evil mind-reading dog. Yes, a dog. How ridiculous is that?

At the end of the day, Ultraheroes is an average by-the-numbers entry into this series.