Download Oscar

Fudge 123 2024-12-20 0 point Amiga version

A bit of a disappointing game,seeing as this is a reworked Trolls game that is no easier to play that it was before the make over,Trolls was ok but had many issues which Oscar inherited.

So there's no shooting so that means jumping onto enemies to kill them,which can hurt your health if you don't nail them 100%,there didn't seem to be any health pickups,i played 3 levels and completed 1,each level took almost half an hour if you don't run out of replay/credits.

Some platforms limit your upward movement so you have to find a way around to get on top of them,walls that look like they are just part of the background which are actually in the foreground,so you have to guess what is just for decoration and what is really a dividing pillar or wall,also the levels seem compacted or squashed as it is more a collection of platforms and some water or shafts,and falling down something that looks like it goes somewhere,only to find it's a bottomless pit is annoying!

Pick ups mostly are for points or a bonus of some kind,and multiple kinds of enemies just seem to be right in your way all the time,so the fluidity and rhythm/pacing feels stunted,and there's no in game music,which again adds to the feeling of either they rushed this whole thing out,or they were trying to out do Zool 2 and imitate Sonic,but failing to better either game.

There seemed to be hidden rooms with blocked off doors,i have no idea if i could have got into them,but did i need to collect all the items or bonus pick ups to open the doors?

There are some nice graphics and some clever tricks used as the water sections that have a reflective top and a magnified look underwater,a well observed design in the genre themed levels,such as the Aliens level,but the lay outs and general gameplay feel confused,hard to navigate and this adds to the frustrating level design and game play logic of many of the levels.

Zool 2 got this largely right,more free form levels/gameplay and it flowed well,adding new game mechanics to navigate parts of a level such as light tubes and pillars to jump off,i only played 3 levels and it was mostly ground based,which although contemporary with Zool 2,Oscar doesn't seem to take risks or have confidence to push the platform genre that far.

I seem to remember this title was the lead on an A1200 Commodore Amiga pack which was when they used to bundle a set of games and box it up with the machine,seeing as this was a leading title in a pack it feels even more like a game that should have been much more fun to play and less a chore at times.

goldilox 2015-03-19 2 points DOS version

I want to see how it compares to the Amiga 1200 version. Thanks for the upload!