INTRODUCTION
WWhat is so special about the platform game? What can be so exciting about hopping from platform to platform while killing various evil hordes? Why when each platformer is virtually identical to the next one do gamers to continue to buy the genre in their thousands?
To be perfectly honest with you, I don't know or have any answers. All I can do is present the next Amiga platform offering to you.
Renegade is one of the best software houses at producing high-quality games. Have a peek through their back catalogue and you'll find classic titles such as Speedball 2, Magic Pockets, Fire & Ice and Sensible Soccer.
There is a reason why the games are so good. It's simply because Renegade had the foresight to sign up some of the best Amiga developers in the country. The Bitmap Brothers, Graftgold and Sensible Software are just a few examples.
Renegade together with developers, Wunderkind, have created Ruff 'n' Tumble and it's a game that might make you think twice before dismissing the platform genre.
STORYLINE
The hero of the game is a blonde-haired, gun-toting, cutesy kid called Ruff. While playing marbles near a mysterious rabbit warren, Ruff loses one of his precious collection when it rolls down a tunnel.
Ruff decides to get his marble back. but little does he know that down the tunnel is a teleport to another world. Ruff, dazed and confused, finds himself on an alien planet. He later discovers that the world is run by the evil Dr Destiny. The mad doctor controls a fearsome army made up of robots called the tinheads.
Our hero, to his surprise, also spots his marble collection lying strewn throughout the planet. Armed with a variety of weapons, including flame-throwers and laser-guns, Ruff must battle through four worlds and 16 levels to recover his marbles, and while he's at it he must also save the planet from the evil clutches of Dr Destiny and his Tinhead Army.
ADDITIONAL INFO
There are four worlds in Ruff 'n' Tumble, all with their own distinct theme. The first is Fantasy Forest and Ruff must race around the woods and tunnels to rescue his marbles. There are plenty of underground sections to the game and the graphics darken accordingly.
World two is the Underground Mine. This has lots of slippery crystal surfaces and pools of molten lava dotted around the place. Keep a careful eye out for the Miner and the Drillbot.
The third world is entitled Tinhead Factory. The metallic levels feature lots of flickering lights and fatal electric fields. it's best to steer clear of the masked Docker and watch out for the rockets which will launch themselves at you, if you get too close.
The fourth and final world is Dr Destiny's Castle. The floors are littered with concealed traps and various metallic beasties. There are Knights armed with swords and shields, plus it's worth keeping tabs on the Wizard. Defeat the end of game baddie and you'll have completed Ruff 'n' Tumble.
SOUND
Most games of this ilk do make the unfortunate mistake of ruining the whole package by adding a cutesy, plinky-plonky soundtrack - the kind of tune a six year old might appreciate.
Luckily, Ruff 'n' Tumble hasn't made this mistake and although it's by no means a classic, the music is adequate enough to keep you leaping and shooting at a rampant frenetic pace.
The sound effects also do their job with plenty of bleeps and bloops when you collect one of the pick-ups. Explosions are abundant and they make enough noise to keep your attention.
In this case, the sound and effects are quite good, but during the fast-paced action, you don't tend to take any notice of them. If they were missing though, I'm sure the game would suffer.
54%GRAPHICS
The words "exquisite", "superb" and "gorgeous" do not even come close to describing the graphics in Ruff 'n' Tumble. I haven't seen a platformer look as good as this in quite a while, only Magic Pockets and Gods could challenge it for graphics supremacy.
There isn't an introduction sequence for the game, surprising as they come fitted as standard for most games of this genre, but that's a good thing rather than bad as your whole attention goes on the in-game graphics.
The attention to detail in Wunderkind's platformer is very impressive. Things like the background graphics and the various explosions have had a lot of time and effort spent of them and it's paid off. The animation is top-notch throughout, but the main "Ruff" sprite is totally brilliant and although he looks quite nice in the screenshots, Ruff comes to life when you're playing the game.
Details such as Ruff's quiff which flicks about when he runs around the screen are nice inclusions. Although these small factors alone won't make you want to buy the game outright, they do go a long way making the game, as a whole, a more impressive product.
Put it this way. If the graphics in Ruff 'n' Tumble could be represented by a Sunday Roast dinner complete with all the trimmings, plus you'd also have apple pie and cream for afters.
90%OPINION89%
Ruff 'n' Tumble is one of the best platformers I've played in ages. Not since the days of the Bitmap Brothers' Magic Pockets have I seen a more graphically fantastic and enormously playable platform game.
What really appeals, despite the success in the graphics department, is the difficulty level. This level is set high so that even the most experienced gamesplayer will have to spend plenty of time mastering the various levels.
Event though you're surrounded by cuteness, don't think for one minute that Ruff 'n' Tumble is for kids only. Older gamesplayers will revel in the tough platform challenge.
Wunderkind has done an amazing job and seems to have got every single element of the game just right. The graphics are superb, the sound is good, the gameplay is amazing and it has an uncanny level of addiction that'll keep you playing it again and again.
Ruff 'n' Tumble is, quite simply, the cutesy platformer of the year.