Chuck Rock

"An Abysmal Excuse for a Platformer"

Ah Chuck Rock, one of two games I got when I found a Super Nintendo waiting Christmas morning for me all those years ago, back at the start of the 90's. I remember trying to play it, and not getting very far. Eventually, it got lost in my mandatory dirty room that everyone below the age of ten must have (or else...). Now we fast forward to the future, where the game randomly pops back into my memory. Interested in pulling it out to see how well I can do with my exponentially improved gaming skills, I dug out my SNES and the cartridge, which had been discovered during a move. I popped it in hoping for an excellent experience in nostalgia. At first, that's what I got. But then, as I still kept getting killed, I began to realize just how flawed the game was. My repeated deaths were nothing on my part, but a culmination of elements that shot up the difficulty level. Aka poor design. Allow me to explain.

First, lemme get the story out of the way. Some dinosaurs kidnaps Chuck's wife, so he goes to rescue her. And, ummm...that's it. Yeah, that's it. A superficial excuse for the character to go wander around some levels. Not particularly bad, as many games are like that, including some very good ones. Just a bit unimaginative and cliched. So, if you're looking for games with epic storylines, you'll be disappointed here.

Second, and most important element to any game, is the, of course, the gameplay. Any good game should have some excellent gameplay, right? Chuck Rock fails at this. Or maybe the more appropriate term, excuse my use of internet language, would be "PHAIL!" At first, it all seems nice and everything, but you quickly will start to pick out the flaws. Let me explain....

The controls are rather basic. You move around, jump, and whack enemies with Chuck's obese stomach (or kick if you're in mid-jump). You can also pick-up and throw rocks to make platforms to access various areas or to crush enemies. All fine and dandy, right? Hardly, the first cracks appear here. The collision detection is awful for Chuck's attacks. Often you'll take damage when you try to attack an enemy, as well as fail to kill the enemy. This especially causes problems in boss fights, as you only have five hits before you die. On the other hand, bosses require many hits to kill, I'm going to say ballpark 10-20. Also, collision detection for jumping isn't that great either. You'll land on something painful you didn't touch, or miss a platform you nailed the edge on. And when that happens, you either have to climb all the way back up, take some damage because you landed on an enemy or trap, or both.

This leads me into my next point: level design. It is rather horrid, to say the least. While generally linear, there are lots of little out of the way places where you can go nab some points. Considering there is no high score list and racking in points helps in no way whatsoever, this is utterly pointless. You'll also often find yourself making near impossible jumps, requiring you to get all the way back up and/or take damage for failing them. And failing many times on a jump gets down right frustrating. There's also some points where you have to go and find rocks to make a tall enough platform to climb up. You'll often get harassed by enemies during these parts, each hit making you drop the rock, since hitting foes with a rock is slow and pretty inaccurate. Or you'll pick up a big, heavy rock and be forced to make a long, slow, boring trek to the drop site. Couldn't they just put the rock closer? Oh, and don't drop the rock into, say, thorns or water. You'll loose it. Permanently. Good game, Chuck! You're stuck and have to hit the reset button!

Other tid-bits about the gameplay. You have five hits before you die and do not heal between levels on a stage. This can be very frustrating, as you have three lives that must last the whole game. And considering the poor, glitchy designs, well, all I can say is good luck. You'll really, really need it. You CAN heal, however, by grabbing hearts, though they are often out of the way or in a dangerous location. Also, the boss battles are unimaginative. They follow the exact same pattern for the whole fight, no matter how many times you smack them in the head. As a result, they are very predictable, and only difficult because of, you guessed it, crummy collision detection. I died more to bosses because I had to hurt myself to land a hit than because they were difficult. This way very annoying at the last boss, as the detection was purely awful against him, and he had like 20 hits to kill him. And lastly, this game is pathetically short. Assuming you don't run out of lives, you can clear it in under an hour. And that's taking your time too.

Graphics? Vibrant and colorful, at least initially. However, they quickly become lackluster as everything starts to look the same. Chuck's design looks like a truck driver in a grass skirt. Most of the enemies are supposed to be dinosaurs. But they don't look like dinosaurs, but more like reptilian aliens. ...Alright, some do, but not many. On the bright side, each new level usually looks different, so the design does stay somewhat fresh. But enemies all start to look like at least three others in the game, so most of the artwork seems uninspired.

When it comes sounds, at least they won't get on your nerves. They're alright. Music isn't memorable in any way or particularly interesting. The sounds themselves, however, are ok at first, until you hear them recycled forty times. Yeah, the enemies have maybe ten sounds effects they can all use. How bland! This will start to make the game a little stale as it goes on. After all, if all the enemies look the same and sound the same, then they must be the same! Well, not exactly, but they share enough of the same behaviors to make them similiar enough.

Replayability? What? You'd actually WANT to replay THIS? The only reason would be to get a better score, but who are you going to compare it with? Once you beat this game or get tired of it, I'd recommend selling it on eBay for a few bucks (assuming you're not emulating it). Someone might buy it if you're lucky. The game's relatively linear level design and glitchy game engine makes it one you will want to put down. For good.

In closing, if you really want to play this game, then don't. All it will do is disappoint. And if you still do, then emulate it. It's not worth a penny. So you have to play, make a run through it, and then set it aside. Otherwise, you should simply just avoid it. Don't waste hours of your life trying to beat this game. And if you decide to play Chuck Rock, don't say I didn't warn you...

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 10/19/07

Game Release: Chuck Rock (US, November 1992)