Krusty's Fun House (1992)

One of several Simpsons games made around the late 80s and early 90s. This seems to be a forgotten one (probably because the Simpsons themselves only had a limited role) but in my opinion, it's by far the best of the franchise. I remember owning Bart vs the Space Mutants on the Spectrum in the early 90s which is okay, but when I played Krusty on my cousin's NES, I was hooked. Yes, it's a Lemmings clone (though I played this before Lemmings!) with some platformer thrown in, but it's done so very well.

The game was released on multiple platforms in 1992

Your basic gist is just like Lemmings. Krusty's Fun House has been infested with little purple rats who Krusty needs to solve puzzles to guide them to their doom via killing machines operated by other Simpsons characters! Brilliant in it's simplicity. By the time you get as far as level 2 though, you realise this is like all the other Simpsons games...very tough!

Bart is one of the characters helping Krusty smash some rats!

There are numerous baddies making Krusty's task tougher, from spitting snakes and pooping parrots, to lasers and robots. You only have a limited supply of ammo too, so don't dare waste it! There is usually a little cache of bonus boxes on every room, with extra lives, ammo, bouncy balls (used on some levels for breaking walls), food for power and occasionally secrets that open up other unreachable areas. But again, the further you progress in the game, the harder these often become to find.

The dreaded pipe puzzles!

Different items are introduced too as you progress in the game, and the puzzles become more and more complex. Some of the rooms on level 5 are truly painful, with that horrible combination needed of good thinking to beat tough puzzles, as well as speed to do them quickly before your rats get trapped somewhere you cant get them out of again. Having an infinite lives cheat when I played it as a kid was a godsend!

A scene from a room on level 5...you know this is going to hurt!

If you've never played it, play it now! It's better than Bart's Nightmare

Krusty's Fun House, released on Amiga, NES, DOS, Master System, Game Gear, Game Boy, and as Krusty's Super Fun House on Mega Drive and SNES in 1992

Donkey Kong Country (1994)

Well since I've been playing it a bit this week, why not?

Well the first thing I suppose anybody remembers about Donkey Kong Country is the graphics. Absolutely groundbreaking at the time, it was an incredible game to be released on the SNES just as the Playstation was soon to be released and 3D games were about to become the norm. But what certainly stood Donkey Kong Country apart from so many games that were graphically groundbreaking...it was a damn good game too.

Taking on one of the world bosses for the banana hoard!

Simple concept, Donkey Kong's banana hoard has been raided by King K. Rool and his army of Kremlings, so he and Diddy Kong have to go and get them back. Easy as that. The characters look good, there is an excellent mix of enemies, from the stumbling and jumping Kremlings, and all their various incarnations, to flying vultures and numerous aquatic enemies. There are plenty of allies to help you on the way too, some of whom in the form of animal 'helpers' like Rambi and Rhino who can bash through walls, and Enguarde the swordfish on the water levels. There are also the other Kongs, like Cranky who gives some pretty veiled advice, Candy who can save your game, and Funky who can switch you back to previous levels. The hidden bonus rooms also added to the fun, with numerous little games to win you extra lives or other bonuses.

Making use of one of the animal allies in an underwater level

The graphics certainly help add to the experience, as the game and it's backgrounds are absolutely beautiful, and the movement of the characters and their moves are seamless all over. What always struck me as better though is the music. It was the first game I ever played that had 'real' background music, rather than the tinny MIDI-esque stuff that was on everything else at the time. Dont get me wrong, I love all the old tunes, but to be playing a game with beautifully detailed 3D landscapes and with real music was mindblowing to my little 9 year old brain! The first time I got to a water level especially, I remember it looking and sounding totally jawdropping! Then there is the snow level where the blizzard gets progressively worse as you travel through the level, two minecart levels, and the factory level where the lights keep on going out! The game just showcases so much in terms of what looks good, but it never detracts from the game, just makes it even better!

The blizzard closes in on one of the snowy levels!

As I said at the very beginning, despite the fact I've played and completed the game so many times over the last 21 years, I still love playing it, and still find little things I've never found before! While you can never recreate that open mouthed wonder of playing a game for the first time, this is one that always takes me back to my childhood.

Donkey Kong Country, released in 1994 on Super Nintendo

Head Over Heels (1987)

One of the first games I remember playing on the ZX Spectrum, alongside the Dizzy games, Atom Ant, Batman, Technician Ted, Jet Set Willy, Horace Goes Skiing, Chuckie Egg and Operation Wolf. Never knew there was a storyline at all when I was a kid, just that the general gist is a simple, but brilliantly executed one. Head Over Heels is an isometric platform puzzler, similar in style to Batman by the same creators, and Knightlore. You switch between characters, one being Head and one being Heels. Head is slow, but has a good jump and can glide in mid air. Heels is fast, but cant jump very far. When the two get together, Head can ride on Heels, and you gain the abilities of both together! But the game is a pretty damn fiendish puzzler, and every time you get the pair together again, you will soon reach a puzzle that requires you to split them up again! You have to progress through a large chunk of the futuristic space world of Blacktooth until you reach the transporters, which then take you to four other worlds, Egyptus, Penitentiary, Bookworld and Safari. Once you have found the crown at the end of each world, you then have to return and find the last one in Blacktooth.

Head and Heels have been separated and imprisoned at the start of the game.

There are loads of other little features too, Heels can find a handbag which enables to pick up blocks and other items for solving puzzles, and Head can find a gun which stuns enemies to make up for the fact he cant run away from them. There are also the fishes, which when found can save your progress.

One of several puzzles where Head and Heels had to work together to clear.

As with a lot of Spectrum games at the time, the difficulty was downright frustrating sometimes! Some of that was down to the technology of the day, but in general, this is quite rare. Even today, the game stands up very well, because the concept is so simple, yet so intricate at the same time. The music is also pretty good. Not constant, but depending on what area you are in, you are treated to a different little jingle every time you enter a new room. The sound effects too are fun, with the little pitter patter of Head and Heels' feet, to the background sound of fans and enemies. On the topic of 'new rooms,' I think its this concept of single screen games of my childhood that still to this day have me proclaiming to my dad that when I find an area in a game I've never seen before, I say I've found 'new rooms!' There are a hell of a lot of new rooms in this game, as it has a massive scale of over 300 of them!

The 'puppy steps' were only available when Heels entered a room alone.

If you're looking to play the game, an excellent website called Retrospec created a PC remake, which is quite simply beautiful. It manages to stay utterly true to the original I remember, but with much improved colours, controls and by making a slight tweak in that you can stockpile your save game fishes, rather than be forced to save when you find one. The Retrospec remake can be downloaded on their website here. I really can't recommend it enough.

A screenshot of Egyptus in the Retrospec remake

Overall, despite this game being almost 30 years old now, it is still a true classic, and among my all time favourites. That's not just the nostalgia talking either, as it still holds up as a cracking little game today. For anybody who fancies a challenge, it's well worth giving it a go to see how good you are!

Head Over Heels, released in 1987 on the Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Atari 8-Bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amiga, MSX and ZX Spectrum. PC remake released in 2003

Introduction

I turned 30 yesterday. And from as early as I can remember, I was a gamer. It's the one thing that's been constant all through my life as other loves and interests came and went as I grew up and were replaced by new ones. Gaming was always there, and basically, this blog is just a series of recollections of the games I've loved and hated! From my earliest memories, Killer Gorilla on the Acorn Electron being the definite first game I remember, to starting Rise of the Tomb Raider this month and everything else in between. From all time classics, to the guilty pleasures. The game I've been playing religiously this week, or the one I haven't played in years. This is my life in gaming!

Killer Gorilla, released 1983 on the BBC Micro, Acorn Electron and Amstrad.