Head Over Heels

"Fantastic platform game, way ahead of its time"

Achieving your goals alone is all well and good, but as Cher and Sonny would say, ''It takes two baby, to make a dream come true''. Partnership can always make things simpler, and it sure as hell makes things more fun (Cher and Sonny never looked sad, but then, nor would you if you had their hair). Head Over Heels works on this ''two is best'' principle. Controlling a pair of cute doggies, you must escape a prison and then save four vast worlds in order to complete the game. This was arguably one of the most impressive games of the 8 bit era (it was originally released on a variety of platforms including the Spectrum, Amstrad and this C64 version) and would be a great game to port to the GBA. Still, it's not impossible to get hold of, and it truly is a classic, incorporating elements of both the platform and puzzle genres.

The characters are a pair of dogs, named ''Head'' and ''Heels'' (the title is a clever play on words. See?). Each character has their own unique ability, and you must make them work together in order to beat the game, as many areas are restricted to one character alone. There are a wealth of puzzles to solve to get through the game, usually revolving around these abilities. For example, if you need to jump high to progress, you would have to use Heels to enter that area. Frequently switching between the two characters is a major feature here, but one which quickly becomes instinctive and adds extra atmosphere to the game.

Had it been released as a simple single-character platform game, this would still have been good, but the extra playable character added a whole new dimension and gave extra scope for puzzle elements to be included. This is a move which has since been much-copied and continues to be included in games released today (Primal springs to my mind). It really does work though - the possibilities in any game are doubled when a new character is introduced so long as this is done well, and in Head Over Heels - the first game to include two playable characters co-operating to get through the levels - it is achieved superbly. Truly uniquely, the characters could even be combined to form one super-character - Head could stand on top of Heels to get into the higher parts of the levels.

The levels were taken on one room at a time. Only the room you were in was visible on screen at any time, with the doors clearly marked so you always knew where you were going. The layout of the ''worlds'' was very complex. All sections of the game were excellently detailed considering the era and extremely limited graphical capabilities, and moving around was a cinch. The game is exceptionally easy to master with great replay value, as it's just so much fun!

If you have the opportunity to play this superb game, then do so. It has undeniably been a leading influence on many later releases and would be a great lesson in early gaming. I just hope it gets the re-release it deserves!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/17/03, Updated 07/17/03