THE MONTY MOLE COLLECTION REVIEW

First Impressions

Warning!

This review will contain heaps of gaming nostalgia and call backs to a simpler, more civilised and innocent era of gaming. This is the oldest school of gaming goodness and Monty Mole himself is one of the platforming retro royalty from the 1980s. Along with others such as Dizzy the Egg, Jet Set Willy and Rick Dangerous (if you remember these, you lived through an awesome era).

Initially releasing in the 1980s on the humble Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad systems of that era, It’s hard to believe these games over 40 years old now and damn that makes me feel so old. Monty was a big part of my life growing up during the golden age of gaming with his various adventures, and this collection brings back so many memories and sparks so many emotions.

Case of point, the Achievement list of this retro collection will test your platforming prowess to their utmost limit if going for the full 1000G, as this is very old school platforming where the slightest mistake will cost you dearly and the frustration factor is very high. So, prepare yourself.

Plot

Monty the Mole only wanted a quiet life, however when faced with a severe cold winter he found himself having to steal coal to survive. This in turn lead to a strange series of events where he found himself leading a life on the run as a wanted international criminal across all of Europe.

This rather bonkers set up was the work of Peter Harrap, who was inspired by the 1984 mining strikes occurring in the UK of that year. Something which was a very big deal back then and it’s crazy to think something as serious as that lead to the creation of a true computer gaming icon and a timeless series of games such as these.

Gameplay Overview

Think the Souls games are hard? Think Elden Ring is a challenge? Then get ready for the 1980s grandfather equivalent that puts the ‘T’ into tough. There’s no room for error or even forgiveness in these unforgiving games. Made by developers who were obviously evil and enjoyed torturing their players with games that punish you with the slightest error or mistimed jump.

Once the title boots up, you’re presented with a perfect recreation of the original Monty Mole tune, obviously inspired by British culture with a modern updating of the classic Monty Mole design from the original cassette tape case (for our younger readers, please go and ask your parents what a cassette tape actually is). Pressing ‘A’ then shows you the complete collection in chronological order. The whole package inspires some of my earliest and fondest gaming memories and even to this day, feels very British in design and execution. When you move across the ‘shelf’ from left to right and highlight any of the games to play, you’ll be treated to a sample of the ground-breaking (from circa 1990s of course) music from that title, along with a short synopsis of the game’s title, format, year of release and description. Pressing ‘A’ on the selected game will allow you to start a New Game or Load Game if you’ve previously played it and made a save game. This insta-save feature is a welcome addition to the titles as they were intentionally made to break joysticks back in the 80s with their sharp and often unforgiving difficulty curve, more on this later.

Starting with the original game, the simply titled ‘Wanted! Monty Mole’ which you can play on either the Spectrum 48K, Commodore 64 or Amstrad version, you can see the ‘Jet Set Willy’ design and architecture from the get go. We then have Sam Stoat: Safebreaker which apparently is a spin off featuring a side character from the original game’s lore only on Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Followed by the sequel to the first game in the form of Monty On The Run, again with all three formats available. Next, we have my personal favourite of the original trilogy and the game that first introduced me to the character, the amazing Auf Wiedersehen Monty on Spectrum, CBM 64/128 (boasting updated graphics and sound to make use of the upgraded memory of the year). Finally, we have a rare gem in the title, Moley Christmas, which was originally only available as a exclusive seasonal spin off title given away on the cover of a computer magazine from that year.

Each title can be paused at anytime using ‘Select’ which also brings up a menu containing the usual ‘Resume Game’, ‘Instructions’ (which shows each games basic control scheme), ‘Save Game’ (use this often), ‘Load Game’ (use this even more often), ‘Options’ (for Audio Volume, Force Mono Audio toggle on/off, Scaling to fit the TV screen or stretch the game out, widescreen style, Border for a classic CRT border from back when these games originally came out, and finally CRT Filter on/off, which as the name suggests shows the games in all their original CRT glory (which looks terrible on a modern TV let me tell you) and finally Exit To Main Menu, does exactly that.

So all in all, a pretty comprehensive package for the relatively small amount paid. My only niggle is that they didn’t also include the final game in the Monty Mole saga, Impossamole, which is one of my all-time favourite games. This was probably due to that title being developed my Core Design and not the British Company Gremlin Graphics (who only published it). Which was also released on the new generation of machines like the Amiga and Atari ST in 1990.

As a final note, a pixellated Monty occasionally runs across the bottom of the ‘shelf’ that can actually be interacted with, which is a nice little touch and also an easter egg of sorts if you figure it out.

Each game requires pixel perfect platforming skills, and back in the 80s there was no such thing as unlimited respawns or checkpoints so many of us ‘old skool’ gamers earned our hi-scores through blood, sweat, tears and also much profanity. Fortunately, this collection developed lovingly by Imagine Software has been updated to include a ‘save anywhere’ feature and boy, are you gonna need it. The rule of these games is definitely ‘save more, save often’.

And a new handy feature called Rewind allows you to reverse the gameplay ‘Prince Of Persia’ style with the left trigger which is a welcome inclusion and helps keep the swearing to a minimum.

As with so many games of this type from ‘back in the day’ it’s often hard to tell what parts of the levels are safe and what will insta-kill. Moving enemies are the easy one, but even I was often caught off guard by some of the background sprites which killed poor Monty upon contact. Even moving from each single screen to the next in each game also presents a challenge, as rushing onto the next screen with often get Monty killed or flattened from an unavoidable hazard cleverly placed upon entering. This is where the Rewind feature comes into its own. New gamers will find this very unfair, but the whole point of these games was trial and error. Dying to one of the many hazards on reach screen will also reset Monty back to the exact spot where he entered that screen too.

There was initially a bug that locked you on the main menu when exiting some of the games or inputting a hi-score, making you hard reset the game and reload. Fortunately, the developers have been listening to feedback from the community and have not only responded but also addressed the problem with an speedy update to the title. Which shows how much they want this to be a valued product.

Presentation

I played all the games with the classic retro CRT filter on for added authenticity. To say the graphics look dated in this modern age is an understatement, however you wouldn’t by a collection like this for modern graphics and ray tracing with 4K fidelity. Each game is exactly how I remember it, right down to the basic controls, ridiculously awkward jumping ability and bright almost neon aesthetic. All presented to a ear jangling, thumping mono set of background midi music from the gaming music legend Rob Hubbard. Each game has its own, unique soundtrack and each screen is packed with simple, but often crazily imagined sprites which makes you wonder what the developers were into in the roaring 80s. Obviously the C64 and Amstrad version of some of the games boast a better colour palette and improved graphics over the humble Spectrum version. But it was lovely to be able to revisit all versions as, originally, you would have normally only bought one copy for your chosen system.

The Bottom Line

Despite the nostalgia rose tinted glasses I played while playing all the games in this collection, part of my brain was constantly reminding me of how old these games are and how far gaming has come. Obviously, we wouldn’t have the platforming masterpieces of today, without the originals such as these and the ingenious developers and programmers who performed almost miracle work with the limited abilities of 1980s hardware and software.

£6.99 is the asking price for a good amount of content and an amazing, but very outdated, collection of classic games. Highly recommended if you grew up with titles such as these and retro systems, however your kids might not understand the attraction.

Now if you excuse me, I’m off to die another hundred times on the first screen of Wanted: Monty Mole. For fun, no less!