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HAHAHAHA! Oh! No no! It was not YOU I laughed at, it is this hilarious game called "Viz" - you just HAVE to check it out! It has much of the same humour as for example Monty Python and Mr. Bean. A humour you either laugh yourself to death off or don't find any funny at all (or maybe don't understand). Anyway, let me tell you about the soft floppy one...
Based on a comic strip:
Viz was originally a comic strip in the UK in the 1990's. Cheaply made and not very famous at all. Although it has much of the same British humour as for example Monty Python and Mr. Bean (I already said that... anyway...), Viz is more adult targeted and does include some nudity and some nasty words including the F-word! (GASP!)
Well, maybe not famous, but still a computer game was made out of this comic by the legendary Virgin Games! (Golden Axe, Silk Worm, Goal! etc.)
The Comic Strip Characters:
The screenshot above says "Choose your player" and those are the characters you can choose to control in this game. The characters are: (from left to right) Biffa Bacon, Johnny Fartpants and Buster Gonad.
The Race:
What you do in this game is racing. The three characters you can choose from are the competitors. The goal is simply to get to the goal first. The game has 5 levels. Sadly it is a very hard game to complete, you only have three lives during the race and it is very easy to lose them. There are MANY objects and persons during the race and that will try to hinder you (and your competitors) to reach the goal. That is ofcourse the fun of the game but can be frustrating at times. If you should loose, you will start from level 1 all the time, you won't get a second change. You also have to start from level 1 if you get second or third place. You ALSO have a time pressure, the time is short so every second counts during the race.
Before every race level begins, you will try to get "tokens" that can help you on your race. It is a nice touch in the game because each of the characters has their own kind of tokens and the "token stages" are just as much a part of the game as the racing levels themselves.
Now I will tell you more about the three characters you can select from and their specialitites:
Biffa Bacon:
Biffa is a though brutal guy. He somehow reminds me of Mort Walker's Beetle Bailey since you can't see his eyes.
The three characters has two kinds of "token stages" each and here are Biffa's:
1. (screenshot above) You need to drink up as many huge glasses of beers that you can. The beer glasses will slide at the bar table and you need to drink up ALL the beer glasses that will slide to you. Every glass you drink you will get a token off. If you are too slow and one of the beer glasses will slide past you, a token will be removed. The total amount tokens you will stand left with when the time runs out you can use during the race.
(Nice boobies on the TV)
2. The other token stage for Biffa is too punch back all the hard wall bricks that are being thrown against you. The bricks will come against you on three levels: against your head, your stomach or your feet. You must try to punch them back at the correct levels. Every brick you punch, you get a token off. If a brick hits you, you lose a token.
During the race, you simply use your tokens by clicking your joystick button. There are two ways to use the tokens: 1. You simply press the the button. 2. If you hold the button a second (until you hear a sound) then clicking it, you will use two tokens for a better speciality. And here are Biffa's two specialities:
1 Token: Will punch away bricks and other objects that could hurt your character during the race.
2 Tokens: Biffa will make a "fight cloud" (you know, famous in comic strips and cartoons) and he will run MUCH faster in a couple of seconds.
Johnny Fartpants:
I don't have much to say about Johnny, but he farts A LOT! And that is his "gift" in the race.
Here are Johnny's token stages:
1. (screenshot above) In this stage, Johnny must blow up balloons by farting in them. Don't blow them too weak or hard. You will get a token from every balloon.
2. (screenshot above) Johnny must fart as HIGH as he can up in the sky. The higher he flies, the more tokens. If you can fly so high that you can see on the other side of the wall, you will see one of the funniest sights you will EVER see. Believe me, it's HILARIOUS and worth to watch! Always a surprise in this game.
Johnny's specialities:
1 Token: A little fart that can make you fly over an object including a fence or a hole etc.
2 Tokens: A LONG flying fart, you will fly far and fast. Maybe the best speciality in this game.
Buster Gonad:
For some reason, Buster has some... UNNATURALLY HUGE testicles. Both helpful and harmful for Buster in his race.
Buster's token stages:
1. (screenshot above) This one is so funny you won't believe it. Buster is going to flatten pancakes with his testicles. A token received for every successful pancake he flattens.
2. (screenshot above) Use Buster's testicles to bounce as high up as you can in the air.
Buster's specialities:
1 Token: Bounce over objects.
2 Tokens: Put the testicles in a wheelbarrow and Buster will run very fast in a few seconds.
Some of the game's nice touches:
Before I jump to the conclusion. I want to tell you that this game has many nice touches in it which makes it a very good game to play:
- The racing levels may be the main attraction in the game, but the token stages are just as important and fun to play in the game and gives the game good variety and replay value.
- During the race, a news reporter will introduce the competitors. And while the race is on, he will say A LOT of funny unforgettable lines on the TV. If you play this game with some friends, those who watch the game can read everything he says below.
- There are loading times between each levels, but as the game loads, a so-called "top tips" will show up. Read them while the game loads: The "top tips" are hilarious and there are many of them. This may not be the funniest one, but here is one of top tips that will show up on screen while loading: "If you have bought a goldfish but you don't have a fishbowl, simply place it in an empty corn-flakes package."
- There are MANY funny things that happens while you run in the race. One of my favourites are the tall angry park owner who gets pissed-off when you and the others runs through his park. He chases you (and the competitors) and says: "Get the f**k out of my park you f**king twatbastards!" Too funny!
Conclusion:
Viz surely is something of it's own. It is the kind of game that was never ment to be the most famous game. And that is too bad, because it's hilarious. Though the game itself is too hard to complete, the strongest side of Viz is the humour, you will never get tired of it's humour, it's lot of it here too and that is the charm of this game, undoubtly!
My experience with this game is that EVERY person I have showed this game too has laughed off it, success every time. Viz is underrated and shouldn't be forgotten, it MAY be the funniest Amiga game ever made! Maybe, that's for you too decide. Viz is underrated...
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Great cartoonish graphics and funny face expressions, but at certain levels the graphics are WAY too dark! It could have been brighter.
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Great theme tune and lots of good music in every level. Not much sound in the game, better then nothing but could have been improved.
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Like "Shadow of the Beast", the game is WAY too hard to complete, almost impossible. It could have been so much easier.
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| The humour is the heart of the game. Though the game is almost impossible to complete, the humour is the reason you want to put the Viz disk in your Amiga over and over again. Viz is always there for you to bring a smile, a laughter and maybe even a laughter tear on your face. |
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