Viz: The Game

Last updated
Viz: The Computer Game
Viz The Computer Game BoxArt.jpg
Publisher(s) Virgin Interactive
Platform(s) Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, IBM PC
Release1991
Genre(s) Racing
Mode(s) Single-player

Viz: The Computer Game (also known in-game as "Viz: The Soft Floppy One" and "Viz: The Game" on the box cover) is a single player racing game based on the Viz adult comic which was released in 1991 by Virgin Interactive. The game's music was composed by Jeroen Tel.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Gameplay

Characters Johnny Fartpants, Biffa Bacon, and Buster Gonad compete in a series of five races around the fictional town of Fulchester for some unnamed prize. The races are run in the park, Fulchester High Street, a building site, the beach and a nightclub. The race commentator is Roger Mellie, who provides irreverent chat throughout the game, and many of Viz's popular characters pop up to help or hinder the contestants.

Before the race, each character has the chance to earn tokens by playing a minigame which then can be used during gameplay to give him a temporary advantage. Biffa is able to punch his way through some obstacles or gets into a fight with himself boosting his speed. Johnny can use his "pump power" to jump over small obstacles or to take off and fly a short distance. Buster can use his "unfeasibly large testicles" to jump over small obstacles or put them in a wheelbarrow and gain a burst of speed.

Each contestant must stick to his race lane; otherwise, the referee from Billy the Fish will hurl bricks at the errant racer temporarily stunning him. The courses are set so that each character cannot help running in and out of each other's lanes. If the character is hit, he loses a life. If he loses three lives, it's race over for the human player - the AI characters have unlimited lives.

Reception

Although the game received mediocre reviews in the gaming press, with the Commodore 64 version coming under particularly heavy criticism for what was perceived to be excessive loading times, the game did sell very well, particularly for its adult humour which was seldom seen in video games in 1991. The Spectrum version of the game went to number 2 in the UK sales charts, behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles . [1]

The One gave the Amiga version of Viz: The Computer Game an overall score of 68%, expressing that it "isn't such good value for money ... £19.99 buys you a standard obstable course, a few bonus screens and a handful of jokes." The One furthermore expresses that the bonus games are "good fun" and "accurately capture the characteristics of the comic, but underneath the glossy exterior there lurks nothing more elaborate than a basic chase game ... there just isn't enough substance to justify the price." The One also criticises the absence of other characters from Viz such as Billy the Fish. The One concludes that "As a game all this is most likely to appeal to exactly the sort of people who aren't allowed to buy it - kids. Adults should consider sticking their nose in a Viz book instead." [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Viz</i> (comics) British adult comic magazine

Viz is a British adult comic magazine founded in 1979 by Chris Donald. It parodies British comics of the post-war period, notably The Beano and The Dandy, but with extensive profanity, toilet humour, black comedy, surreal humour and generally sexual or violent storylines. It also sends up tabloid newspapers, with mockeries of articles and letters pages. It features parody competitions and advertisements for overpriced 'limited edition' tat, as well as obsessions with half-forgotten kitsch celebrities from the 1960s to the 1980s, such as Shakin' Stevens and Rodney Bewes. Occasionally, it satirises current affairs and politicians, but it has no particular political standpoint.

<i>The Krypton Factor</i> British TV game show (1977–1995, 2009–2010)

The Krypton Factor is a British game show produced by Granada Television for broadcast on ITV. The show originally ran from 7 September 1977 to 20 November 1995 and hosted by Gordon Burns.

<i>Wacky Races</i> (1968 TV series) American animated television series

Wacky Races is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in association with Heatter-Quigley Productions. It aired on CBS as part of its Saturday morning schedule from September 14, 1968, to January 4, 1969. The series features 11 different cars racing against each other in various road rallies throughout North America, with all of the drivers hoping to win the title of the "World's Wackiest Racer". The show was inspired by the 1965 comedy film The Great Race. This was the only non-game show produced by Heatter-Quigley; the show was intended as a game show in which children would guess the winner of each race, and those who answered correctly would win prizes, but CBS dropped these elements during development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bully Beef and Chips</span> Comic strip from The Dandy

Bully Beef and Chips was a British comic strip, created by Jimmy Hughes. It first appeared in 1967 in the British comics magazine The Dandy. In 2007, a set of Dandy comics, scripts and storyboards created by Hughes, including material from Bully Beef and Chips, was sold at auction for £180,000.

<i>B.C.s Quest for Tires</i> 1983 video game

B.C.'s Quest for Tires is a horizontally scrolling video game designed by Rick Banks and Michael Bate and published by Sierra On-Line in 1983. Versions were released for the Commodore 64, IBM PC, Atari 8-bit computers, ColecoVision, ZX Spectrum, MSX, and Apple II. Based on the comic strip B.C. by Johnny Hart, BC's Quest for Tires is similar to Irem's Moon Patrol from the previous year. A wheel-riding caveman is always moving forward through horizontally scrolling levels, and the player jumps or ducks as obstacles approach. The game's title is a play on the contemporaneous film Quest for Fire.

<i>The Adventures of Bayou Billy</i> 1989 video game

The Adventures of Bayou Billy is an action game released by Konami for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in 1989 and in the PAL region in 1991. It is a revised version of the 1988 Family Computer game Mad City (マッド・シティ), which has been modified with many graphical changes and an increase in the game's difficulty level. The game employs three play styles that were popular at the time: beat 'em up, light gun shooting and racing.

<i>Sunset Riders</i> 1991 video game

Sunset Riders is a side-scrolling run and gun video game developed and released by Konami as an arcade video game in 1991. It is set in the American Old West, where the player(s) take control of bounty hunters who are seeking the rewards offered for various criminals.

<i>Fun House</i> (American game show) Childrens television game show, 1988–1991

Fun House is an American children's television game show that aired from September 5, 1988 to April 13, 1991. The first two seasons aired in daily syndication, with the Fox network picking it up and renaming it Fox's Fun House for its third and final season.

Billy the Fish is a long-running cartoon strip in the British comic Viz that first appeared in 1983. Created by artist Chris Donald and writer Simon Thorp, Billy the Fish is, like many Viz strips, a lampoon of British comics – in Billy the Fish's case, that of football-themed strips such as Roy of the Rovers. The cartoon was adapted into an animated film by Channel 4 in 1990.

<i>Smut</i> (comics) British adult comics magazine

Smut was a British adult comics magazine that was launched on 1 May 1989.

A*mazing is an Australian children's television game show that aired between 16 May 1994 until 1998 on the Seven Network. It was famous for a relatively large and elaborate maze/obstacle course that was part of the show's studio set. A*mazing was hosted by James Sherry for the entire run of the series. A*mazing was produced at Channel 7 in Brisbane from 1994 to 1996 and then at Channel 7 in Perth from 1997 to 1998.

<i>Metro-Cross</i> 1985 video game

Metro-Cross is a platform game released in arcades by Namco in 1985. It was ported to the Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Family Computer, and ZX Spectrum.

Buster Gonad is a cartoon character in the British comic Viz. The strip involves the surreal adventures of "the boy with unfeasibly large testicles". During a storm, Buster's gonads were zapped by cosmic rays which enlarged them to an enormous size, so that he needs a wheelbarrow to carry them around. As a result, they are impossible to conceal and are therefore out on open display for everyone to see and marvel at.

<i>Back to the Future Part III</i> (video game) 1991 video game

Back to the Future Part III is a video game based on the film of the same name. The game is different from LJN's Back to the Future Part II & III video game released for the NES. The game was released in 1991 for the Genesis, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Master System, and the ZX Spectrum. Each version of the game is more or less identical and all are loosely based on the popular film of the same name. The game was developed by Probe Software and published by Image Works and Arena Entertainment.

Ivor Lott and Tony Broke was a British strip which originally appeared in the comic book Cor!! on 6 June 1970, before moving to Buster when the two comics merged in June 1974. The comic strip lasted until the final issue of Buster on 3 January 2000. The comic was originally drawn by Reg Parlett and later continued by artists such as Jim Crocker and Sid Burgon.

<i>Slalom</i> (video game) 1986 NES game

Slalom, originally released as VS. Slalom, is a skiing sports video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo in 1986 for the Nintendo VS. System in arcades. It was then released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in August 1987 and in Europe later that year. The player races in a series of downhill slalom skiing runs while navigating past flags and obstacles before time expires. It was developed by Tim and Chris Stamper and its music was composed by David Wise.

<i>Shrek Smash n Crash Racing</i> 2006 video game

Shrek Smash n' Crash Racing is a kart racing video game released in November 2006. The game is based on the Shrek franchise. Players have the option of playing one of twelve Shrek characters, using racing and combat skills to defeat other racers. It was released for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, and Game Boy Advance systems. Shrek Smash n' Crash Racing was the final game based on a DreamWorks Animation film to be released on the GameCube.

<i>Shonen Jump</i> (magazine) Defunct North American manga anthology

Shonen Jump, officially stylized SHONEN JUMP and abbreviated SJ, was a shōnen manga anthology published in North America by Viz Media. It debuted in November 2002 with the first issue having a January 2003 cover date. Based on Shueisha's popular Japanese magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump, Shonen Jump was retooled for English readers and the American audience, including changing it from a weekly publication to a monthly one. It featured serialized chapters from different manga series and articles on Japanese language and culture, as well as manga, anime, video games, and figurines. The premiere issue of Shonen Jump also introduced the first official English translations of One Piece, Sand Land, Yu-Gi-Oh!, YuYu Hakusho, and Naruto.

<i>JumpStart Advanced 1st Grade</i> 2002 educational video game

JumpStart Advanced 1st Grade is a personal computer game created by Knowledge Adventure. It replaced the previous JumpStart 1st Grade released in 1995 and updated in 2000. As its name suggests, it was made to teach first grade students. From 2003–2008, it was distributed as the "Fundamentals" disc in a 3- or 4-disc package of the same name, though recently a factory error caused many JumpStart Advanced 1st Grade packages to instead contain JumpStart 3D Virtual World: Trouble in Town going by the same name.

<i>Jaco the Galactic Patrolman</i> Japanese manga series by Akira Toriyama

Jaco the Galactic Patrolman is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from July to October 2013, with the eleven chapters collected into a single volume by Shueisha. It follows Jaco, an extraterrestrial police officer that has come to Earth to protect it from an evil alien attack.

References

  1. "Archived copy". www.ysrnry.co.uk. Archived from the original on 31 October 2000. Retrieved 14 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Hamza, Kati (May 1991). "Viz: The Computer Game Review". The One. No. 32. emap Images. pp. 95–96.