CarVup (Amiga) - A Playguide and Review - by LemonAmiga.com
46CarVup is a platform collect 'em up, with some shooting elements, released by Core Design in 1991. The game is based on a Jaleco arcade game, and seems to be jolly and fun in all the right places. The Lemoners played this game in 2021, and this is footage from my attempts.
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Production Notes:
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Captured: 7th July 2021 (try 1), and 13th July 2021 (try 3)
Narrated: 18th September 2022
I had played CarVup before it came up in the games competition in July 2021, but probably didn't get very far. So the footage recorded during the competition was the furthest I ever got with this. It was annoying because it is so easy to wander into an enemy whilst falling or jumping, and there is not much which can be done sometimes. Not sure if I made it to the next world after the gardening levels. Some players said the game is too easy but not sure about that. I recorded two tries because one try didn't last long enough to make a review out of it.
Editing was fairly easy, although I missed out a magazine advert I found for the game, which I forgot to add into the review. The 'Z' key feature did come up in the competition, and I found the same secret in the Lemon cheats section, and added it in. The Play Blackpool footage came from 2014. It seemed fitting to show this video, especially after the Dizzy 4 review; when the LemonTube channel was at the height of it's fame, and when the retro scene had it's first big revival. Nothing quite matches the feeling of those events today. It seems crazy that this game has been on the review list since that time, so 9 years. The Amiga has too many hits to cover!
Danscore:
Amiga plstformers come in many shapes and sized, and this one plays a bit like a platform pacman game with some enemies. The simple concept works well, and CarVup is colourful and cartoony. There are even some story board panels in there, so share some good cheer. Gameplay is fairly straight forward, although running into enemies by mistake as they rush in from the sides is a common problem. And whoever designed the brakes to be on the Z key instead of 'Down' on the controller needed to have this changed. The difficulty curve starts very welcoming, but after some time it gets harder, and this is where the retry factor comes in. Yes, it is very tempting to have another go, just to get a bit further, and yet sometimes not quite making it. So the game feels sometimes rewarding but also frustrating in equal measure. CarVup has good title music but nothing in the game itself, but the sound effects seem quite zany. Overall, yet another charming game with playability and some fun. But it can also feel random, and there is no easy mode so that players can experience the whole game. I'd give this 7 out of 10.