Cute & Cuddly Gaming
Creatures was released in 1992 by Thalamus and programmed by Philip Watts of WJS Design. 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 it is your job to rescue all of your simple-minded friends from these fiends! Good luck, you'll need it.
What an insane story, so let's view an authentic screenshot taken with my phone...
Actually, this is quite sadistic!
Clyde is the cutest thing and is equipped with a rapid-firing weapon, which is handy because many of the baddies annoyingly take numerous 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. Press and hold the fire button to breathe bad breath over anything that gets too close. A bad-breathed hero must surely be a first?
A good tip for Creatures is to not rush. The enemies can take more than a few hits which is a little weird and can often feel a little 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. It’s the kind of visual quality that genuinely blows you away, which makes the push-scrolling such a shame. While that technique works perfectly for something like Rick Dangerous, this game really 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 of the mark compared to other versions and appears to be 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 for floppy & hard drive.
