Previous Next

The last time I came across anything from the once-great Odin, it was a pathetic effort called UFO, a game that is probably best forgotten by all concerned. Now the legendary scouse programmers have returned with a couple of games, On The Tiles, and Scary Monsters (reviewed elsewhere) which show signs of their former glory.

On The Tiles is light years away, in subject matter at least from the likes of Nodes Of Yesod and Robin Of The Wood, those jolly arcade adventures for which Odin are best remembered. For starters, the game is all about cats.

Sounds a bit wimpy, right? Then how about this: it's a game all about prowling cats staking out their territory, battling against owls and hedgehogs, spitting at frogs and giant fleas, scouring the rooftops in a desperate quest for kippers.

Still sounds a bit wimpy? Well, I can't help that - it wasn't my idea. But let's skip right on to the gameplay, and hope that things hot up a little here.

Play begins in a scrolling cityscape of crappy sidewalks, dark buildings, walls, fences and distant high-rises. It's just after midnight, and the streets are deserted. Deserted by humans, that is - there are hordes of wildlife practically falling over themselves as they go about their nocturnal perambulations. Hopping frogs, fleas the size of hamsters, snuffing hedgehogs, pigeons, owls... there are even some of those horrible miniature dogs.

Our cat wends his way through all this animal traffic, eating up the pigeons and making short work of the dwarf dogs (Yeh!) for valuable energy points, and avoiding or spitting at the rest of the zoo. Hedgehogs are deadly, while fleas and frogs merely drain energy reserves. But the owl is the one to watch for - a sudden flapping noise announces its arrival, quickly followed by its swooping form as it dives straight for the cat, pursuing it relentlessly.

If it wasn't for the owl, the whole business would be a piece of cake. The cat has nine lives - of course - and can deal easily with most bugs and beasties, leaping gracefully from wall to window to roof, munching fishbones on the way. When all four fish on the first level have been found, running off the playing area to enter left or right will take the cat into the next street, where the number of fish increases, as do the predators.

The owl makes all this very difficult, however, appearing at precisely the wrong moments, and once it's embarked on its hunting it's almost impossible to shake off until either fowl or feline is dead.

All this action is beautifully animated, and the cat is probably one of the most realistically animated creatures I've seen on a computer screen. Whether prowling, running, leaping or even standing still, everything it does is fluid and natural.

The game is challenging too. The six levels are progressively tricky but not so impossible that you give up entirely. A lot of forethought and strategy is called for, as you plan the cat's movements through each level, and some fish on subsequent levels can only be reached if the cat enters at roof-top level from the previous screen.

And there are some nice little touches, like the dancing mouse on the information display, and the boots and buckets which rain down from first-floor windows. There's also another cat, and your moggy will only survive a cat-fight if it has sufficient energy.

But the game is also pretty irritating, particularly if played with a joystick. Quite unnecessarily, the stick can only be used for running and jumping, while spitting (an activity which is demanded frequently) is operated by the space bar. And there's no high-score table.

These flaws shouldn't spoil your enjoyment too much, and the game really deserves to sell moderately well. But it won't, because after the likes of Barbarian and the rest of the tits 'n gore brigade On The Tiles is going to seem a mite tame. It's the sort of pleasant entertainment which would have gone down well on a budget label, but is going to make no waves at all in the mid-price range.