Zzap


Huxley Pig

Publisher: Alternative
Machine: Commodore 64/128

 
Published in Zzap #72

Huxley Pig

Huxley is a pig who dreams of flying - not by sprouting wings but by piloting an aeroplane! Pretty unlikely, huh? Well Huxley's daydreams are particularly vivid, three of them being subgames in this computerization of the porky TV character.

Before each dream, Huxley must gain inspiration from an appropriate toy (e.g. an aeroplane for flying) and set of clothes. Starting in his bedroom, Huxley explores his large four-storey house. Unfortunately, the place is infested with creepy crawlies which zip across the floor, reducing Huxley's points on contact. Huxley can dodge them by jumping over them or onto some furniture. Larger pests include Horace the Rodent (who won't let you past unless you find him a spanner), Sidney the Snake (whose bite reverses your joystick controls - until you find the first aid box), and Sam the Seagull (who steals any toy Huxley is carrying). Even worse, guarding the door to the toyroom is Vile Vincent the Vampire Pig! You need a cross to get past him. As you'd expect from some so porcine, Huxley always carries a large plate of sandwiches (hopefully not ham!). If the plane is even empty Huxley dies, so frequent visits to the kitchen are in order.

When Huxley has found the toy and clothing he can return to his room for a daydream (the subgames). The first is 'Huxley Airways', a horizontal scroller with Huxley's plane avoiding other planes and balloons while collecting hearts. 'Pizza Pizza!' involves guessing the four ingredients of a pizza, 'Mastermind'-game style. Finally, 'Speedboat' is another horizontally scrolling section with Huxley's boat avoiding boats, turtles and logs while collecting tuna fish.

Obviously, Huxley Pig is geared to the same age group as his TV audience, so sort-of-cute graphics are accompanied by extremely simplistic gameplay with the total absence of any violence whatsoever. As with Alternative's previous children's TV licences, there's an easy/hard mode, but even the latter won't prove any challenge to experienced players. Younger Huxley fans should find it quite fun, if repetitive, while everyone will be amused by the 'flatulent' theme tune!