Ron Simmons

The ladder at the far right, or the one in the middle, one platform up?

Also, to nominate a different kind of game, would you be so kind as to add "Simon The Sorcerer 2" on the list at some point?

I'm not sure which jump you can't make, but have you got the running/jumping shoes? You might need to use a merry man for a puzzle depending on where you are. It's certainly not an unforgivingly difficult game, I'm guessing it's a "lack of instructions" thing for you, I dunno?

That being said, I'll give it 5/10. It has potential but never truly met it thanks to the clunky controls (even with a better control setup it wouldn't change that it sometimes feels like pot luck whether you make a jump of not, especially the ridiculously annoying second level where you spend more time repeating that first series of jumps than the rest of the level combined).

I've been playing the original Amiga version, and yes, the jumping in level two is a bit annoying. However, it's not a recurring theme. I don't know if it's because you become a better judge of the jumps you need to make or what, but jumping wasn't really an issue for me as the game progressed.

I think you need to give the game more of a chance, Pat. It's an excellent little puzzler.

My review:

Benefactor was a game I used to love when I was younger. I'll admit I was a bit hesitant about playing it again as I was worried I wouldn't like it. I was worried it would have dated and simply wouldn't have been as fun as it used to be.

I'm glad to say my worries were unfounded.

The first time I played Benefacter back in the day I didn't get it right away. The graphics are tiny. The story is weird. I think CU Amiga summed it up well: "It might not look special when you first load up, but if there was ever a prize for games which improve with playing time Benefactor would definitely be shortlisted, or possibly win it." And yes, this could not necessarily be seen as a point in the game's favour. However, the reviewer went on to give the game a score of 87%

The play time you get from this game is enormous. There are six moons, and many levels on each. And the game changes with the moon, new problems and challenges arise with each setting and the game really creates a "different" feel when you swap scenario. You start in a kind of "underground" world, and this goes on to an Egyptian themed planet. There's also an ice planet and a "transylvanian" one amongst others. The puzzles start of as simplistic but quickly get further, and the "merry men" (the creatures you save) become vital tools to your progress. I was worried the game would feel like an extended escort mission, but it absolutely does not. Intead it feels like a frantic race against time to ensure that you save your creatures. The merry men are lemming like, but actually have their uses, and figuring out what these uses are each level is part of the fun. You form a strange attachment to these creatures, and I felt genuinely sad when I accidentally caused one to get killed by a monster.

The game's music makes me feel nostalgic, but to others it probably doesn't seem special. And that's fair enough. It doesn't impact on gameplay though, unlike last weeks game. Benefactor is fun, it's frantic, it makes you think, it makes you swear...it's excellent.

And I will score the game this week.

8/10

I was pretty disappointed after playing this game - I enjoyed it, but it just wasn't as good as I remembered.

When I was younger I didn't notice that it simultaneously ripped off both Mario and Sonic. Not that that's a bad thing. It's steals elements from both games and in my opinion uses them well. I only wish they'd gone the whole hog and stolen the music as well, as I think that was the main thing that ruined the gameplay experience for me. The initial version of the cartoon's theme music that they use in the first few levels now haunts my dreams, and I was really worried at one point that they'd used the same music for every single level and my child mind had blocked it out, as it should traumatic experiences. However, the music used on every other level is only better in the way getting stabbed in the foot is better than getting stabbed in the balls.

The actual gameplay is fast and fun, but somewhat hollow. It DOES copy Sonic and Mario, but in an extremely watered down form. That doesn't mean it's not fun, it just means you shouldn't go into the game expecting more than you're going to get.

EDIT:

Since my game is up next, add Chuck Rock II to the end of the list.

Shit - I forgot to post my review. Just a quick one, then.

I actually enjoyed this game - it was surprisingly quirky for a game of this type. I expected something generic, along the lines of Populous, but I was hugely wrong. It took the idea of a God Sim and did something startlingly original with it. I think it's aged quite well, and I'd recommend it to any budding "retro gamer" - well, the Amiga version anyway. Good stuff.

I've managed to get a hold of an Amiga copy of the game. There might be a few differences in my review when I post it, but from what I've read they are minimal. It'll be faster for me to get hold of the Amiga copy so that's what I'll use if that's OK?

I already have two nominations, so if you go with this remove Chuck Rock II, Benefactor is a gem I'd like people to experience.

Sure. It's difficult with a thread like this for sure. Maybe we could work through games in order of nomination, or something? You could be entitled to one nomination at a time, and we work through the games in a order of pick? Then when your game has been played you get a new nomination to add to the "to play list" (or something like that. It's not a huge deal, but it just means that we all get a turn to potentially not fork out for a new game each time! (I know some people use emulators, but I don't really like to do that)

Can we find another way to choose games from now on? Perhaps people who write reviews can pick the game on a rotational basis? The past two games have clearly been ones that you enjoy and possibly even own - I'm not suggesting you're rigging things or anything, but I think there's less scope for fairness when the games we play are chosen in such a way. If we all take turns everyone will get to experience a wide taste of games and tastes. Some weeks we might have some obscure gem, another week we might have the chance to revisit a known classic.

I have to admit that after playing the game I'm not overly keen on it either. The premise is excellent, something I'm surprised hasn't been repeated given the current era of "sandbox" games, but that's the main positive I can give about Pirates. There is a weird contradiction within the game in that you can do what you want...except you can't. You can take part in a selection of activities that the game allows you to, but there is very little variety within these activities. Rather than a primitive sandbox game, in a way to me it felt like a collection of mini games sewn together. There was nothing to drive me forward in the game, nothing that made me want to keep playing. As Mike says the battles are simplistic, and because of that they just become an annoyance. They're not difficult to win, and I didn't think they were fun, so you kind of wish you could just skip them all together.

I can see why people would have liked this game at the time, but unfortunately I think it's a good example of a game that's dated. I'm sure some people will be able to play it and appreciate how good it WAS, but in comparison to later games it's hard to say how good it IS.

I'm not going to score it as I don't think that would be fair, but people who are new to the retro scene should be careful before buying it.

Hmm, well I'm keeping my Chuck Rock II as a suggestion for next week...much better game

 

Tis already in the pot as has been nominated. Seen as there has been so few would be churlish to ignore em

I see! I'll need to throw in a few others too. A question - any idea if the Amiga game "Pirates!" the same as "Pirates Gold!" ? I actually own that game, and I'll use it as my play copy if the games match up.

Hmm, well I'm keeping my Chuck Rock II as a suggestion for next week...much better game

That said, I'll post my opinions on Pirates later after I've played it. I didn't like it much back in the day, but sometimes when you replay games you didn't like you end up wondering why that was. Hopefully this will be one of those games.

Added Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck to the nominations. Recently got the Mega CD version which is excellent!

 

Ron, do you want a version with or without the intro?

 

I will update the game from a 'random' choice later on today

 

So we can get inspectin' for the next week

Either would be fine, gives maximum flexibility to those who are playing the original game and not an emulator. As far as I'm aware the actual game itself doesn't differ much version to version.

I'm gonna add Chuck Rock II (for various systems) as it's a fantastically fun little platformer jammed full of humour AND people shouldn't have a problem getting a hold of it as it's multi-format.

But with the game being so hard to get through, the designers were kind enough to include secret bonus levels that, if you complete them fast enough, will warp you further forward (For an idea of one of them, just go to the first level and jump to the left into the water and keep going, you will land on an island with a fruit there, shoot the fruit three times, when it would normally explode (shoot these fruit twice to get maximum health gain from them).

See, I don't like that. I buy a game to play it, not to complete it. So the whole "level skipping" thing doesn't appeal to me. I want to be able to enjoy every level rather than to warp past them. However, I wasn't doing that anyway so I guess it's a moot point.

I'd always wanted Plok when it first came out. It was well received review wise, and looked really original. Disappointingly after playing it I'm going to have to say I didn't enjoy it. I probably would have when I was younger, but the unfortunate fact is that Plok is now rather dated. The way you kill bad guys is pretty frustrating, and makes the game much harder than it should be. The levels are also pretty boring. There's not much variety in what you do, and although there are tweaks and twists that were probably clever and unique at the time they now feel bog-standard ordinary.

I really wanted to like this game, and I probably would have with the rose tinted glasses of nostalgia. As it stands I would give it a completely average 5/10 score.

I've not really been around for a while so I'm probably missing something here - what's with all the "dark clown"/Mr Seven avatars?

What is in the picture in the "this might have tickled a bit" thread? Don't post the actual picture obviously, just explain it. I'm curious to know but at the same time I'm pretty sure I don't want to see.

This video is interesting. It's Hogan, Savage and Vince McMahon, talking to some kids before a Raw taping, that was filmed by the NCLF Childrens group. All three come across as top blokes.

Yikes, that seemed pretty awkward.

The Miz was on Blue Peter the other day. Here he is helping to make a thumb-wrestling ring, being awesome, and generally pissing off the female presenter!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DmOSNOehao

I quite liked that, but he was being a little cringeworthy towards the end.

Randy Savage vignette from the mid-80s. Just hilarious. I wish there was stars around like this bloke today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr_ehvSPynw...feature=related

I didn't watch wrestling back then, but from what I did see I was always terrified of Savage. As in I would have actual nightmares about him breaking into my home and chasing after me, shouting "come out, come out wherever you are" in his bizarrely gruff voice. So yeah, this segment brought back bad memories.

Secondly, again we're going from one extreme to the other in the discussion of prison. As I've stated prison shouldn't be 'just' about punishing people, but nor should it be just about rehabilitation. There has to be a balance between the two. I'm not saying put them in a gulag and waterboard them every night, but in my opinion they didn't lose enough years of their personal freedom to constitute reasonable, just punishment for their crime. Whatever age they were when they committed the crime, 8 years in prison for maliciously taking a child's life in an absolute joke.

It's a bit ironic that they likely received a better education behind bars than they likely ever would have had they stayed out.