Indiana Jones?
While trolling through the immense archives on
Atari Legend, I stumbled upon a platformer called Nowe Przygody Gilberta. I thought
that name was gobbledegook until I translated the Polish text into English.
Gilbert's New Adventure was developed in GFA Basic by
Adamsky who supports the Blitter and DMA audio!
Whatever the storyline, we appear trapped in a labyrinth of rooms with locked doorways and treasures to collect. Think something "roughly" similar
to Manic Miner, Treasure in Cave, Montezuma's Revenge...
Gilbert's New Adventure looks like an 80s old-school platformer, which
immediately appealed to me. Upon loading, we're greeted with an amateur
image of Indiana Jones, taken from the ZX Spectrum. Don't look at it for too
long and hit the spacebar for a helpful screen depicting the items and
objects within the game.
Yes, I said helpful and here is a screenshot to prove that fact...
Ahem...
Never have I known so many words to contain a 'Z'!! Let's
translate...
Polskie Klucze
Polish might be completely alien, but that key is quite obvious. Starting at
the top/left and moving sideways:
wall, hammer, red key, loose stones, treasure, blue key, another type of wall, parachute, green key, spikes, a red-key door, ladder, fire, a blue-key door, teleporter, energy drink, and finally, a green-key door.
As you can see, it's simple stuff with walls, ladders, and tools. The rest
is basically colour keys for corresponding doors plus a few dangers.
However, there is a teleport pad too... but... more on that one later!
Let's step back in time and take a look at the opening screen from this game...
The status bar shows energy, cash, and also any collected
items.
Gameplay
Immediately beginning my first game - I was hooked. I don't mind sounding
like an old man reliving his youth but, that's exactly what happened. The appearance is terribly bare, so unspoilt by pointless
glam. This innocent structure uses
small blocks and feels like it was dragged kicking and screaming out of
1982.
The controls are dead easy: left/right to walk, up/down to jump and use ladders, and the spacebar will activate a teleporter. However, this simplicity wasn't good enough for Adamsky who decided to alter things. To diagonally jump, use the Insert key (to jump left) and the Clr Home key (to jump right).
Gilbert's task is to collect treasure whilst scouring the rooms for items that could help him along the way. We are free to explore all rooms but watch out for tricky routes and blatant pitfalls - like fire pools and deadly spikes. Dangers like these instantly kill our intrepid hero. Oddly, there are no monsters but the emphasis is on treasure hunting so having baddies aimlessly wandering might have gotten in the way?
Every screen has rudimentary puzzles like a hammer to bash through loose rock, differently-coloured keys for specific doors, and parachutes to prevent falling to our death. A few screens have a teleport pad but the destination is cycled between several screens. Blindly exploring could leave you stranded without a necessary item. Transporters made exploration quite confusing and felt unnecessarily disjointed.Are you ready to guide Gilbert through the rooms to fill his pockets with treasure and escape?
Hey, this room looks familiar yet I can't think why heh.
Graphics and Sounds
Nowe Przygody Gilberta is a simple platformer without zany aesthetics. In
fact, back in the 80s, I'm sure it would still have looked as dull as
dishwater compared to others. However, many homebrew games are made by
someone who couldn't draw, so it's perfectly understandable and also suits the
aged theme.
I've played games like this on the ZX Spectrum, simple screens made of
8x8 bricks and nothing close to the graphical quality we're used to seeing
in Fire & Brimstone or Ghouls & Ghosts. I
can imagine how disheartened you feel by the screenshots? Don't be,
this is a platformer for gamers who care nothing for glam.
The audio features DMA sound effects but, not many which is odd considering the effort already made. You shall hear something when landing on your feet, an "ugh" after falling but, little else. Sadly, there's no background music which is a shame because a chiptune would have compensated for the lack of effects.
I know, it's like a near-silent ZX Spectrum platformer but without the colour clash...
Using a parachute is the only way to go down in this room.
The CryptO'pinion?
Adamsky has created a platformer with all the aspects of a wonderful old-school treasure hunt. Ignoring the modest appearance, each room is superbly designed and requires thought before blinding running off. This humble puzzle aspect adds much to the exploration and is thus addictive and enjoyable.
However, the game is hampered by having one life thus forcing you to restart from the beginning each time. As you know, I did not like the transporters which increased my frustration, especially with only having one life. Plus there are minor niggles like using ladders which is too slow compared to our other movements.
Moaning aside, believe it or not, I have tremendously enjoyed Nowe Przygody Gilberta. It's far from perfect and that's a shame because it could have been great with more thought. I'd say 70% - close but no cigar.
Greetings to PP for adapting a new version that features unlimited energy!!
As you can see, this map is incomplete because of the dreaded transporters.
One day I'll return and finish this if there's enough interest.
This is a thumbnail, click here to download the high-resolution image!