Montezuma's Revenge

The Good
Montezuma's Revenge is rarely credited for being as innovative a game as it was. A platform/adventure, there are obvious Mario-esque elements first tried out in this game. The levels were sprawling and fun to explore and the graphics were very good for the time.

The Bad
The controls were extremely difficult; however, what platform game from this era moved well?

The Bottom Line
The dawn of platforming.

The Good
Very solid title for 1984 year. It's possible to run it in 16-color mode but it was not so straightforward (I think machine in DOSBox needed to be setup as PCjr, no Tandy/EGA support). But it's worth it, in 16-color it looks so much better than in CGA. The game was quite revolutionary, 100 interconnected screens, between which you can move freely around. I think it was first such title. Gameplay was fun, albeit the game is a bit hard.

The Bad
I stated it in 'Good' section already. The game can be a bit hard. I tried to setup controller, it was quite sensitive, no problem to die every moment. Plus, sound was only PC speaker. Pity that the game didn't use PCjr 3-way sound.

The Bottom Line
Challenging arcade title, first of its kind, which has its place in gaming history. If you're patient and don't mind a bit harder difficulty, it's really recommended. Personally I kept it in my archive to play it on HTPC on big TV with controller.

The Good
The SMS version pleasantly opens with a vastly coloured title screen playing some Indiana Jones theme remix, followed by a little cutscene with the “Mexican Hat Dance” tune, and finally a text introduction of the current level, which also hints what is different from the previous level, with little gimmicks now and again, especially the parachute. The real challenge is the next level will always be familiar to you, and at the same time it won’t be.

Even with the same colour scheme being used through the levels, the details are eye-catching and just the right amount to keep the screen interesting and give the right amount of visual feedback during the gameplay. Even the sprite animations are decently fluid and don’t look stiff in any frame.

The Bad
Quality of the visuals and gameplay are apparent. Audio cues on the other hand get boring after a while, especially when collecting the treasure and hearing the “La Cucaracha” jingle time and time again. Even though this game is set in Mexico, the game makers could have at least tried to put more tunes like “Besame Mucho”. No matter, what you hear is what you get, turn off the sound if it becomes a pain.

The Bottom Line
This was quite the interesting port of he game. Those who played the computer and early console versions of the game might not recognise this conversion. Panama Joe really stands out among the fictional archaeologists next to Alabama and Nevada Smith. If you want the best experience in Montezuma’s Revenge, the Master System port does it best.

The Good
I liked the way the levels are designed. This is not a form of game I'm familiar with and I found that the levels got very hard very fast. This is not a game I could rush into, I had to stop and think my way through them and plan ahead.

The Bad
The penalty for getting something wrong is losing a life. You start with five but it's very easy to lose them all and be put back to the beginning. This is typical of an old game of this type but it's very frustrating nevertheless

The Bottom Line
I haven't played many games of this type and, after a while I remembered why. The puzzle element sucks you in and it's fun for a while, but having to continually replay the early levels because you mistimed a jump in a later level turns the game into an exercise in endurance and perseverance.