Big Nose The Caveman - Atari ST Review
5If you want to see a full playthrough of this game then it is available in the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6yduS1SqzQ
My first memory of Bignose the Cavemen wasn't actually when it was called Bignose, It was actually called Dinobasher, being released for the Sega Master System and was being reviewed in the latest issue of Sonic the Comic and got a pretty average score. It seems that a lot of reviewers gave it an average score which prompted Codemasters to pull the game away from release despite it being ready to ship. Naturally many years have passed and I have since picked up a reproduction cartridge of that very game, but I was naturally surprised when I saw this one being played on Atari Crypt's channel as I didn't even think to look for a home computer port. It was probably the name change that threw me off guard. Big Nose the Caveman was released in 1991 by Codemasters for the NES, Amiga and of course this Atari ST version. There was also a Game Gear version in development that probably went the same way as the Sega Master System edition.
Bignose is a 2D platformer where you simply have to get to the end of the level and defeat the boss before the time runs out. Bignose's only really attack comes from his caveman club, however I will say that in its initial form it is virtually useless. You have a cripplingly short attack range and more often than not you will be killed before you have a chance to swing. As a result one of the most difficult enemies in the game is the first enemy to see because of the creature's nature to run quickly. Apart from this the game does play very well with the joystick with Bignose being very responsive to your movements.
Thankfully there are two weapon upgrades which allow you to throw projectiles. Collecting these are a virtual requirement to progress in the game, particularly as this also gives you an extra hit, because otherwise you would have to deal with a one hit death.
Graphically I wouldn't say that Bignose represents the best visuals on the ST. The sprites are drawn well and smooth enough, complete with some solid scrolling. The best sprites are reserved for the big dinosaur bosses at the end of the stages. Overall the game looks alright, but it does suffer a lot from repeated assets, yes bosses are repeated and some levels look awfully similar at times.
The level design isn’t particularly great. Sometimes in the level I can hit the ceiling, despite there not being one there. The oddest design is in the cave levels where not only do you have to go down a pit to progress – every other drop in the game kills you by the way; there’s also a section in level 12 where you can actually get stuck on a screen. I’m not sure if this is a bug, but I found out the only way to progress is to hit a particular block earlier on in the level to make the screen shake. But nowhere does the game tell you to do this or give you a hint.
My biggest pet-peeve with this game is something which happens with a lot of platformers back in the day and it now thankfully a dead practice. That is the timer. Now in the early levels you will have plenty of time to get to the end and defeat the boss, But once you get past level 5 you will virtually have to run through every level spraying bullets (or coconuts or whatever they are supposed to be), hoping that everything dies in your path, just so that you can do it in time. I can't tell you how many times I died on the boss simply because I decided to be cautious. In fact the timer is so bad that the final level (14) I swear is impossible to beat without losing a life. Why? Because this level is one of two auto scrollers, so you can’t even rush the level and when you get to the boss there’s only 24 seconds left which isn’t nearly enough. Thankfully the timer resets after death.
I was actually impressed with the length of this game, I was under the impression when I got to the end of the first island that I was at the end of the game. Turns out that I was completely wrong, the game just carried on, albeit some of the levels looked awfully similar and the bosses do tend to repeat, but content wise there is enough here to keep you entertained. It's not easiest title either, the lack of the life bar means that you will have to be careful.
Overall Bignose the Caveman is distinctly average, it’s annoying in many respects. It feels like a smaller low budget game, that doesn’t do anything horribly wrong, but at the same time there are noticeable problems.
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