Monty on the Run
Website: spacetimegames.co.uk
Original: Monty on the Run - Gremlin Graphics - 1985
I always had a love/hate affair with Monty Mole. The treacle-like way he crawled through the screens in his original adventure, the abominations of Monty Is Innocent and Impossamole and the milking of the formula for Auf Wiedershein Monty sometimes make me look back and wonder wether as a games character he deserves all the acclaim lauded upon him. In hindsight, for Monty On The Run alone I'd be inclined to think that maybe, just maybe, this one game is enough to cement him in the minds of everyone and justifiably so.
This remake and I didn't get off to the best of starts. I still don't see the point in using an installer to shower files all over my hard drive when a zip or a rar will allow me to place it where I want and not have to go chasing files after I've uninstalled it. The game is barely 3 meg. If it came sprawled across 4 cd's then perhaps I'd have a better grasp as to why its packed this way.
But thats by the by. What we have here is a workmanlike and barely competant remake of a classic game.
Its not criminally bad in any particular way, but after a good playing session leaves you with more niggles than smiles. The whole thing, whilst presented well (with the exception of the eye boggling blue border) has an awful amount of glitches and just feels as though the author rushed it out.
Its easy to fall into an infinite death loop upon re-entering a screen, the ropes and ladders don't seem to work how they should, some of the nasties are incredibly difficult to avoid in comparision to the original and its pot luck on wether you'll be hit by the thrusting crushers. Throw in some of the most obnoxious music to grace a remake in years and you'll be yearning to load up the emulators and play this game how it deserves to be played.
A little bit more time and a little bit more love and this could have been great. As it is, it leaves a rather sour taste in the mouth and is only saved by the lovely graphics.
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