Alley Cat

The Good
Simple, undemanding fun

The Bad
The darned clothesline, may it wither and die

The Bottom Line
Gameplay

Quite a lot of fun, fast-action minigames, where our kitty jumps around with no moment of rest. It certainly brings back memories of all those Tom & Jerry shorts and gives you a chance to relive the slapstick from the hero's point of view. While sometimes the chaos can get a little frustrating - especially annoying are all the flying objects which can knock you off the clotheslines at the most inopportune time - all in all the experience is fun and charming.

What a pity, though, that once you complete the final errand, which can be done after mere minutes of play, you're back to repeating the whole process all over again. This isn't really a long-term game; instead, it's meant for a few minutes' relaxation.

Control

Controlling your feline is quite difficult, since it has a tendency to make huge, uncontrollable leaps (or - alternately - jump shorter than you want it to). The hardest part must be the clothesline - getting into a window is a bit confusing, and you'll end up falling off more often than not; good thing it doesn't cost you a life.

Difficulty

Alley Cat doesn't attempt to be a frustratingly hard joystick-breaker - the easiest skill level is simple to beat even for people without lightning-fast reflexes. The hardest level, though, is other thing... but that's just what you'd expect.

Graphics

Alley Cat is a typical child of its era: do not expect a lot of colors or hi-res graphics. But even those CGA visuals, while not beautiful, at least are functional - simple and not confusing.

Music/Sound

PC Speaker all the way, but what'd you expect? Thankfully, it doesn't frustratingly beep in your ear all the time, and - if you're in a good mood - you might even consider leaving it on to complement the frantic gameplay.

Scope/Longevity

Just a few minutes of play. Rinse and repeat. As said above, this is a relaxation game and not an epic.

The Good
This was one of the first games I played that has Tweaked Pc Speaker sound effects. It really amazed me. When you "die" you can hear a real "Me-oooow" out of your Pc speaker, I loved it! Just like the music. It was very cool and it gave the game more life. Also the different scenes of the game. It was a very small game but you could do a lot of different things... A Masterpiece!

The Bad
Uh... :-)

The Bottom Line
A nice cute kitty kitty game. Do what Real Cats do. Very cool Game!

The Good
Most games that are this "old" don't run very well on newer machines, or don't run at all. This game, however, ran perfectly and was a true testament to early gaming.

I loved the cat concept (I'm a cat lover, myself) and the objectives and obstacles that you needed to negotiate were right-on for an alley cat, such as avoiding larger and more territorial toms and navigating your way from housewives who don't like you.

There were several mini-games included, and you accessed these by sneaking your way into open windows. These were entertaining and again, very, very cute.

I also found the game comical. It didn't take itself too seriously and I replay it constantly for the sheer entertainment value of it all. There aren't many more games that feature cats as a protagonist and I think this should be a glaring hint to developers ;-).

The Bad
It's hard to say, because I always remember that I need to evaluate games within their proper era. For its time, I think it did a wonderful job. The only thing that I found annoying was the sound, but again, that's just a time-period thing.

The Bottom Line
Fun, cute, and good for all ages. Sometimes the controls got clunky, but that's forgivable due to its nature.

The Good
Pc-speaker music is good. (It almost has a feeling of many instruments... which is quiet hard to do with Pc-speaker)

The game is easy to learn.

The game is just so GOooooooooooooooood!

The Bad
When the dog catches the cat the animation and sound are quiet bad. But it's not a big problem considering the game is as old as I am.

The Bottom Line
You play a cat and try to manage odd tasks. Try it now!

The Good
Everything -- what's not to like? It's challenging, it's beautifully drawn, it's smooth on a 8088, it has funny sounds and it's SO DARN CUTE!

The Bad
Possibly the annoying higher levels, where the dog is pretty much constantly on the screen.

The Bottom Line
Be there, or be square! (Then again, it may be the opposite, but you never know...)