Hunchy
Everyone wanted a cut of Ocean’s success with Hunchback, but not everyone
wanted to pay Century for its licensing rights. Fortunately, physical
deformities are in the public domain, and so a spree of look-alike, play-
alike, sound-alike games were released. Give the hunchback the affectionate
nickname of Hunchy and the legal department reports we’re good to go! (… as
long as one of the other rip-off artists doesn’t have the balls to sue us for
infringing on their infringement 8)
This hunchback runs along the crennelated top of a castle’s ramparts, jumping
over pits and spear-thrusting guards and dodging fireballs. I don’t know if
it’s that they negatively effect gameplay or if they’re just difficult to
implement, but the original game’s frequently-dropped elements of the pursuing
guard and the swinging-on-ropes were omitted here also; in their place however
are some new elements to delight, confound and complicate, including heart-
shaped bonuses to collect and a rippling moving platform (a magic carpet?),
providing safe passage (provided you are a precise jumper) over otherwise-
impassable fiery pits. Also, though it doesn’t have any impact on gameplay, it
must be noted that the masses of billowing clouds scrolling along the
background are quite easy on the eyes, a refreshing contrast to the typical
stark black backdrop.
Were Mr. Micro threatened with litigation for the unauthorized use of hunched
backs? Perhaps it was just the laziness of code re-use? Either way, this title
ended up enjoying further success down the road refashioned with new sprites
into the game one letter different, Punchy… a clone of a clone.
Hunchy