Tom & Jerry (1989 video game)

Last updated
Tom & Jerry
Tom & Jerry 1989 game cover.jpg
Developer(s) Magic Bytes
Publisher(s) Magic Bytes
Series Tom and Jerry
Platform(s)
ReleaseMay 9, 1989 [1]
Genre(s) Platform
Mode(s) Single-player

Tom & Jerry (also known as Tom & Jerry: Hunting High and Low) [2] is a 1989 platform game developed and published by German company Magic Bytes. [3] [4] [5] It is the first video game based on the cartoon of the same name, [2] and was released in the United States and Europe, for Amiga, Atari ST, and Commodore 64 computers. [2] [6] [7] [8]

Contents

Another game with identical gameplay, Tom & Jerry 2, was released in Europe later in 1989. Tom & Jerry 2 (also by Magic Bytes) was published for the same systems as the original game, plus the MSX, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum. [5] [9] [10]

Gameplay

Tom & Jerry is a platform game. [3] [11] Playing as Jerry, a mouse, the player travels around five rooms in a house to search for cheese. The player has a time limit to consume all the cheese and must also evade Tom, a cat who wants to harm Jerry. If Tom grabs Jerry, the player loses 30 seconds of time. The player loses if the time limit runs out before all the cheese can be consumed. [2] [12] [4]

As in the cartoon, Jerry can use a variety of items against Tom. This includes bowling balls and vases that can be dropped on Tom's head from a shelf, and banana peels which can be laid on the floor for Tom to slip. Reaching a shelf requires the player to jump on a sofa, propelling Jerry into the air. The player can also activate a radio or television to distract Tom. To evade Tom, the player can also enter mouse holes which lead Jerry through tunnels, played as a continuously scrolling sub-game. While in the tunnels, the player must evade bombs that are thrown inside by Tom. The player can also collect cheese in the tunnels to restore lost time. The tunnels connect to each room in the house. [2] [12] [4]

Reception

Several critics declared the game a disappointment, [13] [2] [15] and Andy Smith of ACE stated that fans of the cartoon would be disappointed with the game as well. [13]

Tom & Jerry received praise for its graphics, particularly on the Amiga, [12] [15] [6] [3] while reviewers for Zzap!64 found the C64 version to be graphically superior. [4] The Games Machine considered the C64 version to be the worst, criticizing the "bright garish backdrops" and stating that Jerry is depicted as being nearly as big as Tom. [2] Amiga User International (AUI) was critical of the graphics and sound. [14] Some critics stated that the Amiga version had superior music over the C64 version, [2] [4] although Mark Heley of CU Amiga-64 opined that the Amiga version contained a poor imitation of the Tom & Jerry theme music. [3]

The gameplay was criticized by reviewers who found it to be boring and repetitive. [12] [3] [15] [4] Gordon Hamlett of Your Amiga stated "there isn't actually any point to the game and I mean that quite literally. There is no scoring at all involved so you never know how well you have done." [11] AUI criticized the "weak game design". [14] The sluggish controls were also criticized. [3] [15] [11] [7] Tom Malcom of .info wrote that trying to move Jerry "is like trying to swim through Jello: it can be done but it's more hard work than fun." [15] Smith described the game as being nearly unplayable. [13] Heley described the gameplay as a bad combination of "very dull" and "very difficult." [3]

Tom & Jerry 2 received criticism for reusing elements from the original game. [5] [9] [10] Carsten Borgmeier of Amiga Joker criticized the lack of improved control, and considered the sequel to be a clone of the original. [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Paradroid</i> 1985 video game

Paradroid is a Commodore 64 computer game written by Andrew Braybrook and published by Hewson Consultants in 1985. It is a shoot 'em up with puzzle elements and was critically praised at release. The objective is to clear a fleet of spaceships of hostile robots by destroying them or taking them over via a mini-game. It was later remade as Paradroid 90 for the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST home computers and as Paradroid 2000 for the Acorn Archimedes. There exist several fan-made remakes for modern PCs. In 2004 the Commodore 64 version was re-released as a built-in game on the C64 Direct-to-TV, and in 2008 for the Wii Virtual Console in Europe.

<i>Atomix</i> (video game) 1990 video game

Atomix is a puzzle video game developed by Günter Krämer and published by Thalion Software, released for the Amiga and other personal computers in late 1990. The object of the game is to assemble molecules from compound atoms by moving the atoms on a two-dimensional playfield.

<i>Bone Cruncher</i> 1987 video game

Bone Cruncher is a puzzle video game for the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, and Commodore 64 first published by Superior Software in 1987. It uses the "rocks and diamonds" mechanics of Boulder Dash. An Amiga version was released in 1988.

<i>Time Bandit</i> 1983 video game

Time Bandit is a maze shoot 'em up written for the TRS-80 Model I by Bill Dunlevy and Harry Lafnear and published by MichTron in 1983. It was ported to the TRS-80 Color Computer and Dragon 32, but enjoyed its greatest popularity several years later as an early release for the Atari ST. It was also released for the pseudo-PC-compatible Sanyo MBC-55x with 8-color display. Amiga and MS-DOS versions were ported by Timothy Purves.

<i>Welltris</i> 1989 video game

Welltris is a puzzle video game, developed by Doca and licensed to Bullet-Proof Software. It is an official game in the Tetris series. Adaptations were made by Sphere, Inc., for Spectrum HoloByte, and by Infogrames. It was released for MS-DOS compatible operating systems in 1989. Ports for Macintosh, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, and Atari ST followed 1990, then ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 1991.

<i>Short Circuit</i> (video game) 1987 video game

Short Circuit is a video game based on the 1986 film of the same name. It was developed and published by British company Ocean Software, and was released in Europe in 1987, for Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64 (C64), and ZX Spectrum. It was published again in 1989 as a budget re-release.

<i>Yogis Great Escape</i> (video game) 1990 video game

Yogi's Great Escape is a 1990 platform game based on the 1987 movie of the same name. It was developed by British studio PAL Developments and published by Hi-Tec Software as a budget game. It was released in Europe for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Atari 8bit and ZX Spectrum.

<i>Cloud Kingdoms</i> 1990 video game

Cloud Kingdoms is a puzzle game published by Millennium Interactive for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS in 1990. The player controls Terry, a green bouncing sphere, on a quest to recover his magic crystals that have been stolen by Baron von Bonsai. To do so, he must travel through the eponymous Cloud Kingdoms, avoiding enemies and hazards while collecting all of the crystals within the game's time limit. The game was developed by Dene Carter at Logotron, with sounds and music composed by David Whittaker.

<i>Ballistix</i> 1989 video game

Ballistix is a video game created by Martin Edmondson for the Amiga and Atari ST and published by Psyclapse in 1989. It was also converted to a number of other home computers in the same year and the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 console in 1991. It is a fictional futuristic sport involving directing a puck to a goal by shooting small balls at it.

<i>Jack Nicklaus Greatest 18 Holes of Major Championship Golf</i> 1988 video game

Jack Nicklaus' Greatest 18 Holes of Major Championship Golf is a golf-simulation video game developed by Sculptured Software, and published by Accolade beginning in 1988. It was released for the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, Commodore 64 (C64), MS-DOS, Macintosh, MSX, Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), PC-88, Sharp X68000, and Game Boy.

<i>The Real Ghostbusters</i> (1987 video game) 1987 video game

The Real Ghostbusters is a 1987 shoot 'em up arcade game developed and published by Data East in the United States. It is loosely based on the animated series of the same name. In Japan, Data East released it as a non-Ghostbusters arcade game under the title Meikyuu Hunter G. In 1989, Activision published The Real Ghostbusters for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.

<i>Ace</i> (video game) 1985 video game

Ace is a combat flight simulator video game published for the Commodore 64, VIC-20, and Plus/4 in 1985 by Cascade Games. It was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Amiga, and ZX Spectrum.

<i>P-47: The Phantom Fighter</i> 1988 video game

P-47: The Phantom Fighter is a 1988 horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed by NMK and published by Jaleco. Set during World War II, players control a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft to face against the Nazis, who are occupying multiple countries around the world. Its gameplay involves destroying waves of enemies, picking up power-ups and new weapons, and destroying bosses. It ran on the Mega System 1 hardware.

<i>Ghostbusters II</i> (computer video game) 1989 video game

Ghostbusters II is a 1989 action game based on the film of the same name. It was published by Activision for various computer platforms. British studio Foursfield developed a version for Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum, which also got ported to the MSX by New Frontier. It features three levels based on scenes from the film. Dynamix developed a separate version for the DOS, also based on the film. The non-DOS versions were praised for the graphics and audio, but criticized for long loading times, disk swapping, and the final level. The DOS, Commodore 64 and Amiga versions were the only versions released in North America.

<i>The Running Man</i> (video game) 1989 video game

The Running Man is a 1989 beat 'em up video game based on the 1987 film of the same name. It was developed by Emerald Software and published by Grandslam Entertainments for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.

<i>Terminator 2</i> (computer game) 1991 video game

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 action video game developed by Dementia and published by Ocean Software. It is based on the 1991 film of the same name, and was released in Europe for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, and ZX Spectrum. It is a sequel to The Terminator, itself based on the 1984 film of the same name. The game features several gameplay styles such as driving, fighting, and puzzle-solving.

<i>Judge Dredd</i> (1990 video game) 1990 video game

Judge Dredd is a 1990 platform shoot 'em up video game based on the character of the same name. It was developed by Random Access and published by Virgin Mastertronic. It was released in Europe in 1990, for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. Critics found the gameplay repetitive.

<i>Pink Panther</i> (video game) 1988 video game

Pink Panther is a 1988 video game based on the character of the same name. It was developed by German company Magic Bytes and published by Gremlin Graphics. It was released in Europe for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. Pink Panther was criticized for its control and difficulty, although the Amiga and Atari ST versions received praise for their graphics.

<i>Red Heat</i> (video game) 1989 video game

Red Heat is a beat 'em up video game based on the 1988 film of the same name. It was developed by British studio Special FX and published by Ocean Software. It was released in Europe in 1989, for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64 (C64), and ZX Spectrum.

<i>Cover Girl Strip Poker</i> 1991 erotic video game

Cover Girl Strip Poker, alternately titled Cover Girl Poker, is a 1991 erotic video game based upon five-card strip poker and originally developed and self-published by Emotional Pictures; it was released for the Amiga, DOS, Commodore 64, CDTV, and CD32. Cover Girl Strip Poker is the original Danish title; it was retitled Cover Girl Poker outside of Denmark in the rest of Europe, and the title was subsequently reverted to Cover Girl Strip Poker for the European CDTV and CD-ROM DOS releases. Emotional Pictures was a subsidiary of Danish company InterActive Vision A/S.

References

  1. ↑ "[CSDb] - Tom & Jerry +3 by Transcom (1989)". Commodore 64 Scene Database. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Tom and Jerry". The Games Machine. United Kingdom. September 1989. p. 83.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Heley, Mark (August 1989). "Tom & Jerry". CU Amiga-64. United Kingdom. p. 47.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Tom & Jerry". Zzap!64. United Kingdom. September 1989. p. 74.
  5. 1 2 3 Zimmermann, Bernd (January 1990). "Das war Käse, Magic Bytes!". Aktueller Software Markt (in German). Germany. p. 150.
  6. 1 2 3 Malcom, Tom (July 1990). "Games For Your C64". .info. United States, Canada. pp. 4, 56.
  7. 1 2 "Como el gato y el ratón: Tom & Jerry (Amiga)". Micro Hobby (in Spanish). Spain. December 1989. p. 32.
  8. 1 2 "Tom und Jerry (Amiga)". Power Play (in German). Germany. July 1989. p. 48.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Borgmeier, Carsten (December 1989). "Tom and Jerry II". Amiga Joker (in German). Germany. p. 63.
  10. 1 2 Ladoire, Frank (December 1989). "Tom & Jerry 2 (Amiga)". Génération 4 (in French). France. pp. 6, 46.
  11. 1 2 3 Hamlett, Gordon (September 1989). "Tom and Jerry". Your Amiga. United Kingdom. p. 55.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 Rawlins, Mike (August 1989). "Tom and Jerry: Downhill all the way". Amiga Computing. United Kingdom. pp. 20–21.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Smith, Andy (July 1989). "Tom and Jerry". ACE. United Kingdom. p. 54.
  14. 1 2 3 "Tom and Jerry". Amiga User International. United Kingdom. September 1989. p. 96.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Malcom, Tom (November 1989). "Games For Your Amiga". .info. United States, Canada. pp. 4, 61.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.