[Throughout this project, I will be handing over this space to the viewpoints of others for guest posts. This is one such post, from head honcho of The Singles Jukebox, and former Zzap!64 reader, Edward Okulicz]
Like this blog’s host, I grew up with a Commodore 64. Even worse, I was one of those kids who had a disk drive and read the gaming magazines and nodded my head when they would criticise games for daring to look like a Spectrum port. I had never actually seen a Spectrum computer, and didn’t know anyone who had one, but I knew the Spectrum had severe graphical limitations, poor sound, and so earned all the scorn I had that was not already reserved for kids who had Amigas, the lucky sods (I was also aware that something called the Amstrad existed, but what even was this? Who can say?).
Monty Mole is an iconic Spectrum character, even if his games are on other platforms. But I might argue that even if it wasn’t the version to reach number one in the UK sales charts, the C64 version of this, which I had on a Gremlin Graphics compilation, Ten Great Games, might be the most iconic version, and it’s not because of the game itself, or because it’s a superior port as far as games go. No, it’s iconic on the C64 for its brilliant soundtrack by Rob Hubbard. The main tune is acknowledged, even by Hubbard, as being derivative of “The Devil’s Gallop” but it doesn’t matter. It is exciting, superbly arranged and even sounds good today. I would play the game just to hear the music, and I clocked up a lot of hours on it over the years.
So to experience this game many years later on the Spectrum is to accept that the game is going to be downgraded in ways that are significant aesthetically, but the basic game play should be the same. So, without the music, is it worth playing the game? Yes, for a while, because it’s playable, but it has some pretty big flaws that you notice all the more because the game no longer dazzles you.
The Spectrum only could have two colours in each unit of the screen, so if the white Monty comes close to, say, a purple enemy and they share the same space on the screen, the purple colour of the enemy will temporarily bleed onto Monty. Having never experienced this before, this is quite jarring to look at, but it’s not something that bothered Spectrum users. Given the graphical limitations, the visuals are quite creative. The animation on Monty is very good as he somersaults, and he’s a likeable character. Less are good are the enemies, which are a grab bag of creatures and shapes that don’t seem to obey any consistent style, either in how they look, or how they relate to the story.
There’s not much in the way of in-game sound. There are some indistinct noises when you pick up an item, and some ugly white noise from some of the teleport rays.
At its core, the game is a platformer with some collecting and some mapping. The maps are extremely well-done and quite intricate for their genre. I like how early on in the game you can see little pathways in inaccessible parts of the screen that later come into play. Monty walks around and jumps onto platforms, including climbing up and down ladders and pipes while avoiding enemies who travel a defined path, usually left-to-right but some also go up-and-down. His somersault jump goes to a fixed height and length before he then falls straight down. In the post-Mario/Sonic world with more satisfying physics, it comes across as very basic, though probably it’s how a mole would travel if he could in fact jump. I guess I’m just spoiled by platformers that let you control the height of the jump by pressing the jump button longer or shorter, and platformers that don’t do it feel very odd to me. The game mechanics and controls are generally fine.
Where the game came unstuck for me years ago, and still does now, is the Freedom Kit gimmick. At the start of the game there is a menu where you can select five items to help you in your quest. I’ve consulted copies of the manual for the Spectrum, and it implores the player to go as far as they can until they get stuck, then try again with an object that would help in that situation. This is a completely dick move and just bad game design. These days you can easily look up what the correct combination is, which made it dumb at the time and pointless now. The game is not very generous even when it is fair. And it isn’t always fair – some objects will kill you arbitrarily (a lift on one screen is fatal, when on another it is harmless). You can observe the patterns of enemies to avoid them, you can remember which items kill you arbitrarily and which ones don’t, and you can learn the timing that will enable you to dodge two enemies moving near each other but on different schedules. You can map methodically. But the game just throws a bunch of unrelated screens at you which aren’t as fun to play as the maps are cool, and it’s a drag until the moment of freedom when Monty (SPOILER!) uses the jet pack from his Freedom Kit to take to the sky. Is there any better feeling in video gaming than being a terrestrial character given the power of flight? I struggle to think of it.
Playing it today I didn’t get particularly far because my attention waned and I made careless mistakes. And let me tell you, it’s a lot harder to want to win when there’s no damn sound!
