Platform and ladder games for the Arc have been terribly thin on the ground up until now. It's good then, to see one of the better Amiga versions being ported over. Mad Professor Moriati puts you in the shoes of said scientist and you must close five of your equally mad laboratories to preserve your sanity.
Each laboratory is inhabited by a suitable collection of weird and wonderful denizens, including man-eating floppy discs and dancing flowers. Some enemies can be stopped by throwing spanners at them, but much more effective is the deadly Virus Killer which stops anything dead with just one splurge.
As usual in this type of game, there are a number of puzzles that have to be solved in order to complete each level. Most are quite simple, although it helps if you have a sense of humour. Having finished the game myself, I can reveal that blackcurrant jam can improve your eyesight and cereal will keep you warm!
Graphics are of the 'small 'n cute' variety, especially in the case of animation. The aforementioned dancing flowers strut their stuff and skeletons shake, rattle and roll as they walk by.
The backgrounds to each level are filled with an impressive array of spinning cogs, flashing lights and general science laboratory regalia.
Humour creeps into the animation, particularly when you pause to take a break. Mad Moriati stops for a while, wipes his glasses, and then knocks impatiently on the monitor to wake you up.
The sound of knuckles on glass is a nice touch and it certainly made me sit up and pay attention.
Mad Professor Moriati is yet another excellent Amiga conversion from the keyboard of Shaun Hollingworth/Krisalis.
This game doesn't exactly stretch the Arc's capabilities too much, but is welcome nonetheless.