Cheesy is a 1996 platform game developed by British studio CTA Developments and published by Ocean Software for the PlayStation. It was released in Europe in 1996 and Japan in July 1997, by Jaleco. The game follows an anthropomorphicmouse of the same name, who's captured by Doctor Chem, a mad scientist who wants to experiment on him, at Rock Castle. After being unintentionally freed by Ailen and a UFO, a rodent sets a goal of escaping the place. The game's goal is to collect ingredients for a teleportation spell to escape the castle, by navigating it, battling against monsters and all sorts of creatures that will come in his way.
Initially, Cheesy was developed for the Atari Jaguar, as one of the system's upcoming titles. The project was moved to the PlayStation, due to several factors relating to the difficulty of developing on Atari's console and its failure both commercially and critically, along with a false advertisementof being a powerful 64-bit console. The game received negative reviews from critics, cited for its poor controls, graphics and inconsistent game design, but the music was praised.
Gameplay
Gameplay of the first level in Cheesy, where a titular character must navigate through the shelves.
In Cheesy the player controls the a mouse, who was captured and imprisoned by a mad scientist inside a dark castle. Until alien appear and try to attack him, with the main objective of the game being to escape from the castle by collecting ingredients for a special teleportation spell. While battling against aliens and all sorts of creatures that come in his way.[2][3]:4
Throughout the game, the player may find power-ups in the level that can help him along the way. Chessy's head grants the player an extra life and heart for extra health. Mini-UFOs with the word "SAFE" will give checkpoints, where they will start a level from that point if they lose a life. While cheese pieces will give an extra continue if 100 of them are collected.[4][3]:11
Game's plot and events are presented through an animated FMV movie clips (cutscences).[5] They can be turned off in the options menu.[3]:6
Plot
Two days before the events of the game, on a night of a silent moon. At the rock castle of the mad scientist called Doctor Chem, caught the mouse named Cheesy, who was thrown into the cage for the subsequent experiments on the rodent that the doctor prepares. Since then, a mouse has lain in the cage, tired; he hears about the spells, specifically a special teleportation spell along with its mystic ingredients. Eventually, when Cheesy was about to get to sleep, suddenly an alien with a UFO appeared for its "secret mission". Shortly after its appearance, the cage had shaken, and Chessy had been freed[4][3]:4-5 as a result of the conflict between the alien and the UFO.[4]
After Cheesy was freed, he witnessed the aftermath of a battle between an alien and a UFO, where the alien lost and dropped his robotic arm gun that shoots laser beams. Cheesy picks it up.[4] Mouse soon begins to scavenger hunt for ingredients after he finds a book of spells. Once he finds them all, he throws them into the pot. Cheesy jumps into it to find that after being teleported and landing, the floor is filled with mousetraps around him. Activating one after another, presumably killing the rodent.
Development and release
Cheesy was developed by British studio CTA Developments.[6] Originally the game started as a project intended for the Atari Jaguar, which was first announced in May 1994 as one of the upcoming titles for the Jaguar by Ocean Software and was originally scheduled to be released around the fourth quarter of 1995,[7][8] but the game was moved to the PlayStation, due to several reasons, including a commercial and critical failure, as well as a false advertisement of being a powerful 64-bit console and the system's limitation.[6] The game was first showcased to the public at various trade shows such as E3 1996,[9] before being released in Europe by Ocean on 25 October 1996,[10][a] and was later published in Japan by Jaleco on 24 July 1997.[1][4]
Gina Jackson seved as a producer, John Scott was a programmer, Richard Cheek was a graphic and game designer, and Steve Cowell as a sound designer.[3]:13 The music was done by Zero-5composers Dave Newman and James Veal,[11][3]:13 while Ocean Software designed its manual and provided the playtesting.[3]:13Cheesy was the last game to be developed by CTA Developments, as the studio was disbanded a few months after the release of the game. Many members, including both founders, have moved on to other projects.[4]
Cheesy received mixed to negative reviews from critics since its release. The game was cited for its controls, graphics and inconsistent game design, but the soundtrack received praise.[17]
In a retrospective review of The Boar Reece Goodall, criticized the game's controls as "both sluggish and over-responsive in equal measure" comparing it to Super Mario 64. Along with constant game mode shifting design of the game shifts from 2D to 3D style, alongside its "claustrophobic level design". Critic has also panned the game's depressing atmosphere that matches with soundtrack, thinking "Presumably the developers weren’t aiming for such a bleak atmosphere".[18]
↑ Ripper, The (May 1994). "Europa!". GameFan. Vol.2, no.6. Shinno Media. pp.132–134. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
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