The surge in home micro sales is due in part to implementation
of arcade games on the micro. One such game is Hunchback, which
is as good a copy as you could expect. Superior Software sells
the game under licence from Ocean, who originally wrote the game
on the Commodore, and the Beeb version is near perfect.
The object of the game is for the hunchback Quasimodo to rescue
Esmerelda from a castle tower. To reach her, he has to get past
a series of obstructions, so we find the Hunchback jumping across
the ramparts or leaping Tarzan-style onto a swinging rope to
reach the other side.
To make life more difficult as the game progresses, guards with
spears appear, and boulders and arrows threaten our hero from both
sides. The game has twelve different screens, though the setting
is one of two basic types. The object within each is for Quasimodo
to cross the screen from left to right to pull the bell rope on the
right-hand side. The screens vary in their difficulty and the user
can choose which screen to start from, and three different levels
of play are available.
The sound effects are adequate but an option to turn them off is
sadly missing. Unusually, and pleasantly, only three keys are used,
and these are conveniently laid out for ease of use. The game can
be played on keyboard or joysticks and includes a high score table.
The only fault with the software was the sideways scrolling across
to the next screen, which fails dismally. The movement is very
jerky.
That said, I thoroughly enjoyed Hunchback and I'm pleased that my
local pub is no longer reaping the benefits of my addiction.