On the Tiles Longplay (C64) [50 FPS]
48Developed by Odin Computer Graphics and published by Firebird in 1987.
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Taking on the role of an alley cat is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when developing a computer game. However, that is exactly what you do in "On the Tiles".
The game is divided into multiple scrolling screens and the objective is to collect the fish bones located in each area, as well as fighting off rival cats. Each area has a feline foe to dispose of and the eyes of your pussy portrait blink green and red if the cat is still active in the zone; once disposed on the eyes turn solid green to let you know that the area is clear.
A big challenge is finding parts of the background scenery that can be jumped on to reach higher ledges. The fact that everything is coloured grey means that there is a considerable amount of trial and error before you learn exactly what constitutes a platform and what doesn't.
To make things more difficult, there is a whole host of critters out to get you. Hawks dive from the sky, whilst frogs, hedgehogs and killer fleas stalk the streets. Coming into contact with some of these is fatal, resulting in a loss of one of your nine lives. Other enemies, such as the frogs, drain your kitty's life energy if you get too close.
Energy management is an important part of the game. Moving, turning or attacking (spitting) costs energy and you die if you run out. Catching mice or birds will replenish your pussy's power, as will collecting fish bones, but it's all to easy to run out at inopportune moment.
Some screens contain massive bulldogs that block your path. Although these are chained up, you cannot touch them and must find a way around.
Based on the above, you'd be right for thinking that the game is hard and you wouldn't be wrong, it's extremely tough. Perhaps part of what makes it so difficult is the fact that certain parts of the background allow you to enter new screens, but there is absolutely no signposting that this is the case. You also have to rotate the cat so that he is facing toward the back of the screen before attempting to move to a different area, pushing up on the joystick has no effect by itself. It's possible to walk through gaps in fences, open doors, or hop over walls. Once you realise it's possible to do this then the game start to makes more sense, even if it doesn't make it any easier.
On the graphics front, sprites are well drawn and all are extremely well animated, especially the player's cat. The backgrounds look like they're out of a game from 1984, but this is probably because it's set at night and the dull grey background is meant to simulate the lack of any light source.
The in-game music is catchy, although it does become somewhat repetitive as the game progresses.
This isn't a bad title from Robert and Keith Tinman, but is ultimately too difficult to be fun. However, it did afford me the opportunity to use much feline-related onomatopoeia in this review, so for that it scored bonus points!
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