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As years roll by, some games get better and better. Hoi, subtitled "Let’s Play", is one such example. Published in 1992 when software houses released Sonic-wannabes month after month, Hoi took a refreshing look at platform games. The thing the game had in common with SEGA’s hedgehog were the spikes on the back of a cute little dinosaur, the game’s protagonist. In Hoi a single level has you swimming, playing Simon, test your skills while jumping on disappearing platforms, catch fish while steering a huge clog and driving a pram in a Moon Buggy-section. It is the huge variation in gameplay that makes the game different from others.
The background story is all too common to other platform games. The dragon, aptly named Hoi, is actually a male Saur living on a far utopian planet. For some evolutionary reason, female Saurs are separated from males by a zone called ‘The Madlands’. Only the strongest male Saur can make it through. Get Hoi through this zone and he can found a happy family.
The Madlands are divided in levels that have different themes: Nature, Construction Yard, Jetpack-flying stage, Water and a final over-the-top stage that pretty much summarizes the state of the European Rave and mega demo scene in 1992.
Each level is awash with neat graphic effects common in Amiga mega demos that appeared in the late Eighties and early Nineties: stars appearing in graduate-filled colour backgrounds, objects shattering in pieces when falling on a ground, colours getting dark when entering caves and so on. It is as if the programmers came up with a game after getting the mega demo effects in place. As a result, for the average games player the levels may look ‘artificial’ structured and just an excuse to move from one special effect to the other.
Graphics-wise, Hoi can best be described as ‘empty’. Each level is huge and the game being able to run on an unexpanded 0.5Mb Amiga means sacrifices are being made. Occasionally you see a tree or meet a sprite, but for the most time you have to admire the nicely graduated copper backgrounds. This emptiness adds hugely to the game’s atmosphere: it oozes serenity, making you aware you are probably at this very moment the only person in the world controlling a cute little dragon in a huge playable mega demo.
The programmers have not cut back on the music. The intro, which can be skipped, has a funky tune and each level is accompanied by a suitable composition. The tracks are slowly built up and result in a musical climax after a couple of minutes. Again it is so rich and different it makes the game stand out from the crowd. It is only a pity the tunes start over again every time Hoi dies. Since this occurs often, the death-tune that gets played then can become quickly irritating.
Which brings up the gameplay. Let us get the bad things out of the way first: You start the game with nine lives. Now this number would be sufficient for most platform games, but in Hoi only a joystick maestro with a good ability of memorizing patterns will be able to finish it to the end.
A number of factors contribute to the high difficulty level. First of all, Hoi is a Saur that does not want to hurt anyone. He does not bite, breathe fire nor jumps on enemies’ heads. The only thing he does is running away when something animate approaches and not without reason: any touch is lethal. Hoi is vulnerable for lots of things. If he touches something spiky, he dies. If he falls from a height that is too high, he dies. Memorizing the pitfalls and spots where animated sprites appear is the key to progress further into the game.
Hoi’s longevity also depends on the player’s ability to adapt to the quirks caused by the game engine. The eight-way scrolling seems to move its own pace, the Saur often has to make ‘blind jumps’ not knowing whether a platform is underneath, collision detection is sometimes too harsh and when the Saur stands on a platform that starts moving horizontally, he has to walk along with it to avoid falling off. Yes, Hoi is rocking hard.
Eventually Hoi will reach the end-game credits and the path to it will be jolly good fun. But do not expect wanting to play the game again for the first couple of years – in the end, the quirks in the gameplay have cost you too much frustration.
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Reviewed by
Tim Janssen on January 18, 2007
Read 6641 times. |
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Looking like a mega demo disguised as a game, Hoi keeps the player surprising with neat graphical effects in each of the four levels. The sparse use of background graphics and sprites oddly enough add to the game’s atmosphere.
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Funky and lengthy intro music, no in-game sound effects but unbelievably rich toe-tapping compositions in each level. It is a shame the lengthy tunes start over again when you lose a life. Death-tunes that are being played when Hoi dies can quickly become irritating.
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The game’s slow pace takes time getting used to and gameplay quirks like the questionable collision detection may put most players off. Perseverance is rewarded with steadily improving levels and variation in gameplay. However, it is questionable you will ever want to play the game again after finishing it. You probably do not want to relive the blood, tears and frustration.
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| For anyone who is bored of standard platform-game fare on the Amiga, Hoi is a nice little gem accompanying good graphics and ditto sound but has a rough gameplay edge to it. |
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