A Pig Quest (Piggy 18 / Protovision) €9.99
Game title: A Pig Quest
Game description: A Pig Quest is a flip screen action adventure game that sees you take on the role of Frank Further, an everyday run of the mill sort of pig who stumbles across a quest to return his land to wellness. Set across 5 levels featuring 200 screens, Frank needs to locate fragments of statues while navigating through hordes of enemies (many of which re-spawn) screen after screen. Scattered across the game world are chests that will contain many rewards that are imperative to helping you progress through the game. But to open these up you will first need to locate keys that are required to unlock them. Weapon and armour upgrades are available for you to locate and use but note that these upgrades are not permanent and will run out after a period of use. In addition to using fast reactions and solid timing skills, A Pig Quest will require you to use some brain power as there are a number of puzzles for you to work out in order to open up the game world. Each level has a time limit and Frank has a health bar rather than set number of lives, which can be replenished obtaining food rewards when unlocking chests.
-
Production - 97%
97%
-
Fun - 75%
75%
-
Depth - 95%
95%
Summary
It does not take very long to appreciate the overall sense of quality within A Pig Quest. From the gorgeous graphical art and effects, to the high quality SID soundtrack, the ever so tight game controls and the scrolling text cryptically pushing the story narrative – there is no doubt that A Pig Quest is a work of art.
The non-linear nature of the game design along with its puzzle elements are effective in making A Pig Quest feel larger than it actually is (and at 200 screens the game is large enough) and provides a good immersive experience as the sense of satisfaction you get when you work out the various puzzles within the game is high. But be warned that this is one tough game. The vast number of enemies that you need to face along with the fact that most of them re-spawn may frustrate players who simply won’t be able to commit the time required to learn all the enemy movement patterns (so as to jump over or avoid many of them). And this is a shame as A Pig Quest is a game that keeps on giving the further you progress through it.
Difficulty aside, the game is very well executed across the board. Unlockable levels is a god-send, different game over screens for each level shows the attention to detail that has been implemented, the use of scrolling text to help push the story narrative forward is effective and the easter egg type rewards when you perform certain actions is certainly a nice touch and I do like how the story narrative evolved towards the end of the game.
A Pig Quest is one of those watershed moments in C64 gaming that needs to be experienced. It is original content like A Pig Quest that deserves our attention and the Piggy 18 team should be applauded for the time and passion they have put into the project. A job well done!
Overall
89%User Review
( votes)Pros
- 200 screens of eye candy
- 30+ high quality SID tracks
- Clever puzzle elements
- Killing everything in sight is not the way to make progress
- Good story narrative towards the end
Cons
- Difficulty is too high even for Easy setting.
- The extent of respawning enemies is ridiculous
Physical Cartridge Release: Available via Protovision
Game Screenshots:
Video Link:
wow – that green tree screen is magnificent
Currently working through this game now. It’s clearly in a league of its own. The graphics, story, and music are all AAA+. The game is really hard. I had to bust out the C64 Mini for this one so I could use save states. In any event this is a strong candidate for best new wave C64 game yet.