Jumpman was the original name for Mario, and the cover for this game featured a Mario lookalike. So you’d think it would be a Mario clone, right? Wrong, it’s a Q*Bert clone... You play as Q*Bert lookalike Hubert C. Jumpman, and have to hop around the blocks, turning them all another colour, while avoiding the blobs pursuing you, and trying not to fall off. There are six levels, which repeat again and again, each time adding another evil blob to the mix. The graphics are very colourful but basic, and the game slows somewhat as more blobs appear on the scene, but the game is mercilessly addictive and actually very good fun! It’s a pity that you only get three lives, though.
Is The Jungle Book the king of the swingers on the CPC? In many ways this is a typical Coktel Vision product. The graphics are messy but they are at least colourful and you can make out the different characters and locations, so the game remains true to the source material. As Mowgli, you wander the jungle at first, either avoiding the other inhabitants or throwing items at them to progress a bit further. The transition between screens is disappointingly slow, the sound effects are very poor and the gameplay is a little awkward. The game is set as if being viewed in an old cinema complete with curtain and audience members. The audience needs to be kept entertained and awake by your on-screen actions, otherwise it’s game over. Exploring is OK and so is seeing the various animals, but ultimately you may find yourself dropping off like the audience.
Jungle Jane
(Minipuce/Bug-Byte, 1986)
While Tarzan is away, the native tribesmen of the jungle have taken advantage and captured Jane. Unless she can escape, she will end up in the cooking pot for their next meal! On each level, Jane can climb up and down a vine on the right of the screen, and she must fire bananas at the tribesmen as they move about the screen. If she lets too many of them get away, or she is hit by too many of the coconuts that the tribesmen throw at her, she’ll literally end up in a stew – although there may be one last desperate opportunity to escape... This French game features very bright and cheerful graphics, and after playing the first screen, the game looks quite promising. However, once you play the second screen several times, you’ll find that it’s far too difficult to be able to progress further, even on the easy difficulty level.
I don’t know how many Operation Wolf clones were released for the CPC, but as far as I know, almost none of them were even decent games. Jungle Warfare isn’t an exception to the rule. The graphics and the sound are just average. The scrolling is smooth, though, but that’s due to the fact that the playing area occupies less than half of the screen. The gameplay is quite dull; you won’t see more than two or three enemies on the screen at the same time. On top of everything, you can be shot only three times before you die, which makes the game rather difficult.
It’s a pity how games that otherwise would have been quite successful are relatively unknown, simply because they were released when 8-bit machines were about to die. This the case with Jungle Warrior. Regardless which part of this adventure you are playing, the graphics are nice, colourful and well animated. Concerning gameplay, it is also a good game, as a result of the addition of some arcade elements. Nevertheless, I must admit there’s hardly anything in this game that can be considered really original, and of course, this is the kind of game in which without a map, you won’t do much more than walk around in circles.
Watch YouTube videos of this game by:
jgonza (part 1),
jgonza (part 2).
Just Get 9
(Stéphane Gourichon, 2021)
This is a tile-based puzzle game that is played on a 5×5 grid. Each tile on the grid contains a number. Matching two or more tiles with the same number removes all of them and replaces them with a new tile with the following number – so, for example, if you can match six tiles, all with the number 2 on them, they are replaced with a single new tile with the number 3, and new tiles fall from the top of the screen to replace the tiles that have disappeared. It’s a simple concept that is quite similar to another popular puzzle game, 2048, but there’s a lot of strategic thinking involved as well, as you need to decide where to place new tiles and work out how the other tiles on the grid will align after you’ve matched tiles. It’s very well presented, with plenty of hints to guide you on how to play the game. Fans of puzzle games will love it.
Justin is a burglar who must open some safes in a mansion and escape within 60 minutes! You control him in this isometric 3D adventure, and besides stealing the gold, you must also open doors and avoid mice, dangerous plants and policemen! The graphics are brightly coloured and well drawn, the sprites have a satisfactory level of detail, and the animation is above average as well. There are some sound effects, but no in-game music. The game itself is very big and well designed. It will remind you often of Head Over Heels! The biggest drawback to Justin’s gameplay is its difficulty level, which is rather annoying. Besides, there are no continues; you have only four lives, and you must start over again and again in order to progress.