Cud Lee's Quest

A cuddly platformer?

I remember playing this quirky platformer by Robert Dytmire many years ago. I enjoyed its alternative style as it features some rather "odd" mechanics which are very weird. But stop - wouldn't life be boring if every platformer played as you expected? With that in mind, Cud Lee (geddit?) was originally aimed at a younger audience with interesting child/tutor features by design. But I also think there's something quite charming about this so should appeal to all.

The aim is to fight our way through the hoards of baddies to rescue captured Pixies at the end of each level. It sounds easy but you better watch out for a range of enemies who are happily roaming through the screens. It's like a weird dream and this mechanic I adore. They are literally wandering the screens going about their business - whether you can see them or not. These suckers love to jump and many are really tough and can even fire weapons. It's madness!!

The joystick controls are the first thing that hits you because everything feels very low-grav with super-weird movements. Collecting power-ups is a good idea to increase speed, jumping abilities, weaponry, and extra lives. Keys will unlock doors and some walls can be climbed like Zool because of "strange knobby things". What a weird game.

Yes, it's weird. I say that a lot because, well, it's weird! Let's see the first screenshot...

Gotta love the baddies and their freaky jumps but watch out for the little blue guy's arrows!!

Aesthetics?

Graphically, this is no Hoog or pretty much anything else from the Atari ST's PD library. Backgrounds are a boring black and the environments aren't anything much to write home about. However, it's got a certain charm with the character sprites being the best thing. Plus their numbers are huge and I found that detailed and styled with buckets of humour.

The sound effects are made from a mix of chip with samples. This mash works really well but the 'WORRR' when something dies is quite pathetic. So pathetic that I loved it to bits. Hey, it's a PD game... Come on!

Never has such a weird platformer been played by me! There's that weird word again! It's screenshot time...

Weapons are great and can be powered up to kill these hopping crazies with great efficiency!!

The CryptO'pinion?

Cud Lee's Quest is crudely entertaining and I think that's the point. I am unsure it will appeal to everyone because it's hardly a conventional platformer. What I love is the freedom we're given and the speed at which to explore a strange world. Also, the ability to float (err jump) with such great efficiency through the screens is utterly superb.

Genuinely, one of the silliest and most compelling platformers so why not have yourself a daft hour? Enjoy it!!

Grab the disk image if you're tempted?