The One


Titus The Fox

Author: Jools Watsham
Publisher: Fox Hits
Machine: Amiga 500

 
Published in The One #43

He's furry, he's fast, he's lost his fiancee, he's...

Titus The Fox

Titus is a fox, and a fairly energetic one at that. His life is going quite well - until his fiancee is kidnapped by some evil bandits while on an assignment in the Sahara desert in search of the desert fox for Fox & Locks magazine. Now you must take the role of Titus and go in search of your beloved one.

This entails going through fifteen levels of fighting thugs, fish and other meanies, while collecting energy bonuses and secret codes, which allow you to skip onto a further level.

As in The Blues Brothers, there are traps and enemies lurking around every corner and you'll have to contend with rising platforms, secret rooms and impassible gaps, all of which require different means to pass them.

Titus The Fox

You can explore all levels thoroughly, returning to the same position more than once (just in case you forget something). Make your way to the end of each level, simply by... surviving!

1

Titus isn't actually armed with anything, but he's got a great throwing arm. By picking up various items that are left lying around, you can in turn throw them at the enemies. Some objects bounce back to you, so it's a good idea to hold onto these as long as possible.

2

In every level there's a padlock and a lamp to be found (there are sometimes more than one of each). The padlock acts as a restart point and the lamp rewards you with a code which enables you to go straight to this point at a later stage.

3

Titus The Fox

The Egyptian level is one of the better ones. It has a few handy gadgets, the best of which is the magic flying carpet. This enables you to fly from a great height and glide safely to the bottom, killing a few of the bad guys on the way.

4

Another is the bouncy ball (this also appears on other levels) which returns to you after you've thrown it and allows you to use it as a trampoline - which is useful when you can't jump high enough to reach a platform.

5

A part of the Egyptian level involves speeding around an array of pipes. Follow the numbers and you should reach the end safely. Take a wrong turn and you'll be boiled!

Verdict

Titus The Fox

As soon as you clap eyes on this, you'll immediately see similarities with The Blues Brothers and Rick Dangerous. The graphical style is that of the former, and the gameplay bears some resemblance to the latter. The main character, Titus, is brilliantly animated, both when running and when standing still (giving you the "C'mon, what are you waiting for?" look). Other sprites are equally as impressive in look and animation.

The in-game tunes are great, giving a real sense of atmosphere which, coupled with the spot effects, make the overall sound brilliant. Despite the little furry creature's speed, he's easily controllable - and, if you're a real wimp, you can slow him down.

The speed does lead to some very tricky moments though, especially when you need to judge the pin-point positioning of landing on a ledge. Titus' biggest strength though is in the amount of thought that's gone into the game design

The fact that almost every object can be used in so many different ways, the sheer variety of transportation available to the cunning little fox and just the intelligent layout of each level makes the whole thing such a joy to play.

Titus The Fox is a very playable and fun game and is an excellent follow-up to The Blues Brothers. Titus looks set to become the Delphine of platform games.

Jools Watsham

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