HOCUS POCUS by Apogee

Reviewed by Nick Tucker
System Requirements:  386sx, VGA (256kb memory) 580k conventional memory

Music Support:  General MIDI, Roland Sound Canvas, Wave Blaster, Sound
                Blaster, Pro Audio Spectrum, Sound Man 16, Adlib,
                Gravis UltraSound

Sound FX Support:  Sound Blaster, Pro Audio Spectrum, Sound Man 16, Gravis
                   UltraSound, Sound Source

Reviewed on:  486dx2/66, 8MB Ram, Gravis UltraSound Max (w/ 1meg DRAM)

I've played many of Apogees 2D games with nice background graphics, like Halloween harry, Commander Keen, Monster Bash, etc. All of them are more less the same type of game with different graphics and storyline. You collect the keys and points, and beat the level, not a whole lot to it.

Hocus Pocus is the same, yet different. The first thing I noticed when playing the game is how good the music really is. There are not many games that have MIDI music done this well. It brightens up gameplay for me immensily as music is probably my first basis on whether or not I will like I game when I play it.

Sound effects were done rather well, too. After playing the game some and then having friends over while I play the game, there is not a sole person that has not laughed when you collect all the crystals or a key, and Hocus is saying 'ya-hoo, ya-hoo' over and over. It makes you want to repeat it, just for the sake of saying it. Nice addiction there!

The background graphics are probably better than the foreground graphics in this game. On the final stage you will see different views of a castle (probably Hocus's homeland). What is rather neat about all the graphics is how real they actually look. I have not seen this good of quality of realism and quality and quality.

The same, you are still running around in a 2D enviorment collecing keys and this time 'crystals' to advance to higher levels. The quality of graphics for a game like this will blow you away as well. Everything is very neatly designed, and looks real.

Controls are about the same as other Apogee games. Control makes you jump, Alt shoots, and you use the arrow keys to move left right. You can also shoot up by pressing ALT-up arrow, or just look up or down by hitting the up arrow and down arrows respectively.

One flaw to game the play in my opinion is even though all the bad guys look different, they basically all shoot the same type of weapon, and it seems that no matter who you are fighting, you can use the same stragey against almost everyone.

Also, if you are familiar with or use to be able to control Commander Keen rather well, especially while your in the middle of a jump watch out. Hocus controls a bit differently if you are trying to move while you are in a jump. Keen would literally be 'taking time' to jump in the air, while Hocus, if you jump and then want to go another way while in the air, he will instantly switch to that direction. An example of this would be, you are getting ready to jump over a pit, and its a rather long jump. You start to jump with Keen, if you realize you can not make it, you pretty much have no choice but to try anyway because he will not turn around in mid-air fast enough for you to make it back, (depending on how far you jumped before realizing it), of course his ability to grab the wall if he can reach the top of it from where he hit compensates for that problem. With Hocus, if you realize you are jumping into trouble, he can jump back to where you want him instantly. However, its makes it tough for people that use to play and were good at Commander Keen to get use to the controls. In due time, it'll come to day, not really a fault, just a bit annoying.

Finally, I wish there was a way to make Hocus shoot faster. Sure, you can get the lighting bolt, and be able to shoot 2x as fast as normal, or the white potion, which gives you unlimited for a certain amount of time. What I am talking about is everytime I hit the fire button, I want him to fire. Its not like I am having to reload a shotgun or something, yet he has to wait for each of his shots to hit the enemy before he can shoot again. Maybe it would give you a bit of an unfair advantage if you could shoot faster, but that can be gained back by making the enemies stronger, perhaps?

All and all, if music is one of your favorite parts of a game, this game will be next to perfect for you. Great graphics are pretty much everywhere these days, only those that stick out will have a chace. The backgrounds in this game speak for themselves. In order to play this game you are going to have to have some quick reactions and be able to solve very simple puzzles. One note, however, if you are the type that has played many 2D "get the key and get out" type games, and are tired of them, this one is still the same idea with better graphics and better sound. You be the judge on whether or not that is enough to this game.

This review is Copyright (C) 1994 by Nick Tucker for Game Bytes Magazine. All rights reserved.