Cute & Cuddly Gaming
Thalamus released Creatures in 1992, and Philip Watts of WJS Design programmed it. Yes, he of Leander and Ork, two decent scrolling games you should definitely check out.
What these sad creatures didn't realise was that evil demons already lived on this new planet. And they are a bad-tempered bunch, too! Needless to say, they should have been happy where they were because everyone had been captured and awaited a cruel and bloody fate. You are Clyde Radcliffe; your breath stinks terribly, but your job is to rescue all your simple-minded friends from these fiends! Good luck, you'll need it.
What an insane story, so let's look at an authentic screenshot I took with my phone...
Actually, this is quite sadistic!
Clyde is the cutest thing and has a rapid-firing weapon, which is handy because many of the baddies annoyingly take multiple hits. Power-ups are available. I love the 'wriggler', but there are many others to choose from. However, your superpower is the funniest weapon of all. Hold the fire button to breathe bad breath on anything that gets too close. A bad-breathed hero must surely be a first?
A good tip for Creatures is to not rush. Enemies can take more than a few hits, which is a bit weird and often feels OTT. Try to kill what's already on the screen before moving on and being overrun by evil, cute critters. That's a simple and obvious tip, but there ya' go. Take it or leave it!
Controlling Clyde is a cinch thanks to great joystick controls and fantastic level designs. The monsters come in all sorts and manage to bring a smile to this ugly mug of mine, thanks to great attention to detail and cruel personalities. End-of-level scenes are particularly cruel (but funny), but employ a harsh time limit before a fellow Fuzzy Wuzzy meets their bloody death at the hands of a sadistic demon!
Wait! It's not screenshot time. Oh, no, let's jazz this up with a video recording...
Sexy Pixels & Smooth Audio?
Creatures looks absolutely stunning with lush, vibrant aesthetics, a beautiful colour palette, and intricate, breathtaking details. The sprites are as adorable as they are delightfully evil, and they never fail to impress; every frame feels alive and full of personality. The visual quality genuinely blows you away, which makes the push-scrolling aspect such a shame. While that technique works perfectly for something like Rick Dangerous, this game cries out for smooth, proper scrolling. Wow, that lets down the whole experience :(
The audio is excellent, with a theme tune that has you bobbing away to its funky beats. The sound effects are making use of the DMA hardware - if you're lucky enough to own an Atari STe? They are ace!!!
Let's break up the silence! The shock of that push scrolling means we have another screenshot...
The CryptO'pinion?
Creatures is enjoyable with well-balanced gameplay and a sadistic sense of humour. However, it was originally designed as a scrolling platformer, and a scrolling platformer needs to SCROLL. It sadly falls short compared to other versions and feels like a rushed port. Maybe I'm too fussy? Tell me!
Don’t get me wrong, Creatures is totally worthwhile. It has a humorous theme, good controls and audio. However, it's a shame they didn't make full use of the Atari STe. Or even push the STfm like so many other companies did with their platformers. I'm rather disappointed in WJS and Thalamus.
Help Clyde and grab this game for floppy & hard drive.