Hard 'n' Heavy

Looks familiar...

Hard 'n' Heavy follows on from Giana Sisters in true fashion with more Mario-esque levels to run and jump through. The official commercial release was poor with awful flip-screen scrolling that ultimately ruined what might have been a great conversion. Sure, flip might work well with some platformers, like Jet Set Willy, which would have been horrendous with scrolling... But Hard 'n' Heavy needs scrolling!!

That's where the bad lesson ends and the good news begins, as Peter Putnik has developed a version that features smooth-as-silk scrolling thanks to the Blitter lurking inside every Atari STe. And also most other earlier models (incl. later STFM models which had a Blitter or at least a hungry socket).

Hard 'n' Heavy obviously looks and feels similar to Giana Sisters, so if you didn't like that game, then you may as well start looking elsewhere right now. Interestingly, the physics exaggerates the Giana experience, making it feel more like we're floating, and it took me a few goes to master. It's pretty surreal. Okay, there are 25 levels of shooting the baddies, destroying blocks to find all the bonuses, and even access to hidden levels - if you can. Also available is an incredible two-player feature, with various game types.

This is superb, and I'm sure a Giana Sisters fan will love what is more of the same with a few extra bells and whistles. Peter has done well to transform that pathetic commercial game into something it should have been all along. Make sure you play it on a real computer to experience the silky-smooth movement.

I prefer Giana Sisters, but this Hard & Heavy upgrade is downright marvellous. Highly recommended!!

- Download Hard 'n' Heavy -