Commodore 64 conversion written by Jon Steele, and published by Ocean Software in 1983.
Tangerine Oric-1 & Atmos conversion written by Philip Hulme, and published by Ocean Software in 1983.
Acorn Electron and BBC Micro conversions written by J.M. Dyson, and published by Superior Software in 1984.
Dragon 32/64 conversion written by Béla S. (Bill) Barna, and published by Ocean Software in 1984.
Commodore VIC-20 conversion written in-house at Ocean Software, with no details ever disclosed. Published by Ocean Software in 1984.
MSX conversion by Paul Carter, and published by Ocean Software in 1984.
Sinclair ZX Spectrum conversion by Christian Urquhart, with loading screen by Frederick David Thorpe, and published by Ocean Software in 1984.
Amstrad CPC conversion written by Christian Urquhart for Ocean, and published by Amsoft in 1985.
Unofficial conversion for IBM-PC compatibles written by Robert Schmidt, and published by Fireball Software Ltd. in 1988.
Another unofficial conversion was written for the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A by Joe Morris, and published by Retrospect Games in 2021.
Cover artwork for the Ocean Software release by Bob Wakelin.
Also written for the Atari 8-bit computers by Steven MacIlwee for Ocean Software, but was unreleased. A prototype is available online, but the year of conversion is not indicated.
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INTRODUCTION & GAME STATUS
I would hazard a guess, that one of the earliest gaming memories for any 80's child would have been Hunchback, or any of its unofficial variants, since it was an arcade classic ported to almost every imaginable 8-bit home computer during the first half of the decade. I certainly got to experience Hunchback on the three main 8-bit platforms of my childhood, but principally on the Commodore 64, since that's what I, and most of my friends had in our area.
As an arcade game, it is a very uncommon one, as proved by the Arcade Museum website, where the game ranks a 5 out of 100 in popularity, and it has no KLOV/IAM score at all. At Lemon64, the C64 version has a score of 7.2 from 124 votes, which is quite possibly more than you could have ever expected. The original archived World of Spectrum website had a 5.7 score from 32 votes in 2017, and now at Spectrum Computing, the game has a score of 5.9 from 7 votes. At CPC-Power, the score is 12.33 out of 20.00, while the review at CPC Game Reviews has a measly 3 out of 10. The score at Generation-MSX is 3 stars out of 5 from 21 votes, and the last rating I was able to find from the usual websites was for the Atari 8-bit prototype, for which 7 Atarimania voters have given it a score of 5.4 so far.
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HISTORY, DESCRIPTION & REVIEW
Believe it or not, Hunchback, the arcade game, has one of the most important roles in gaming history. Not only did it serve as a suitable common ground to give all the 8-bits the first fair chance to get the game programmers' hands on an arcade game not in the consoles' game catalogues, but it also served as an establishing platform to properly get certain highly revered gaming legends their mark on the scene: Bob Wakelin, Christian Urquhart and Frederick David Thorpe, to be more specific.
It was also the first licenced arcade port that Ocean struck a deal on, which was a rather simple deal to make, because the company responsible for Hunchback, called Century Electronics Ltd., was from Oldham, a town near Manchester, where Ocean Software were based at. As a quick rundown of things, Century Electronics had developed a thing called Convertible Video System (CVS), which was basically an arcade motherboard system, which could use interchangeable program modules. The CVS was available from 1981, and did about a dozen or so more or less lacklustre games for the system before going bankrupt. The only notable success Century Electronics had with any of their published games was Hunchback from 1983, which could perhaps be explained with the simultaneous home computer versions' development deal that Ocean were able to get.
But the game itself is a rather good one, if a bit simplistic. Hunchback is a flip-screen platformer, in which you control Quasimodo as he tries to save his lady love named Esmeralda from the prison tower at the end of a long line of castle walls. To complete this heroic task, he needs jump over various kinds of obstacles, and avoid getting hit by flying arrows and fireballs. At the end of each screen, there is a bell with a pulling rope hanging from it, which signal your reaching the end of the screen to the game, and give you bonus score, with a chance of bonus lives with accumulated bells.
Still, the game is largely unknown outside of the European home computer enthusiasts, since it was never big enough to be converted to the likes of Atari 2600 or Nintendo and Sega's 8-bit consoles, and I can't fathom a reason why. It is good enough to easily join the ranks of Mappy, Dig Dug, Moon Patrol and Jungle Hunt to earn a reasonable exposure to American and Japanese audiences, but as it is, Hunchback is mostly remembered for being one of the earliest memorable games from Ocean Software. Hunchback's importance in gaming history is, however, indisputable, and should be mandatory for any retrogamer to check out.
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LOADING
Oh, bloody hell, what did I get myself into this time? I mean, it's one thing to dig up all the loader variants for three or four different platforms' tape releases, but now we have 10 platforms with possible cassette releases, and their potential re-releases. Well, let's see what we have here...
Acorn BBC Micro v1: 1 minute 58 seconds
Acorn BBC Micro v2: 1 minute 53 seconds
Acorn Electron - Ocean: 2 minutes 9 seconds
Acorn Electron - PIAS/Superior: 3 minutes 53 seconds
Amstrad CPC - Ocean: 3 minutes 23 seconds
Amstrad CPC - Amsoft: 3 minutes 32 seconds
C64 - Ocean (ROM loader): 5 minutes 59 seconds
C64 - Ocean (Pavloda): 1 minute 41 seconds
C64 - Select 1: 2 minutes 27 seconds
Dragon 32/64: 3 minutes 8 seconds
MSX: 1 minute 26 seconds
Oric 1/Atmos - original: 3 minutes 32 seconds
Oric 1/Atmos - alternative: 5 minutes 21 seconds
VIC-20: 2 minutes 7 seconds
ZX Spectrum - Ocean: 4 minutes 45 seconds
ZX Spectrum - Select 1: 4 minutes 8 seconds
Phew! That's a lot of tapes right there, and I'm not exactly certain that's all that is available. But from the evidence we have here, many of them were surprisingly quick to load, the quickest ones clocking at well under 2 minutes. The fastest of the lot is the MSX version, followed by the alternative C64 Ocean release using the Pavloda fast loader scheme, and the two BBC Micro tape versions. The slowest three are the original C64 version using the basic ROM loader method, the similarly uncomfortable alternative Oric version, and Ocean's original Spectrum release.
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| Loading screens where available. Top row, left to right: Acorn BBC Micro & Electron, Amstrad CPC (Amsoft + Ocean) Bottom row: Oric, VIC-20, Dragon 32/64, Sinclair ZX Spectrum. |
Being the early classic that Hunchback is, it is understandable that most versions didn't really worry about having a nice loading screen. As you can see, some versions went completely without one. Conversely, the Acorn and Amstrad machines had two different loading screens, one for each publisher. I was pleasantly surprised to find the Oric version has a fairly respectable loading screen, with the focus almost entirely on the game title logo. Also, the Dragon 32/64 version features a predictably blocky, yet colourful loading screen, which starts flashing in various other colours once the loading has stopped. Still, the Superior Software release for the BBC Micro probably has my favourite loading screen, even though the F. David Thorpe screen on the ZX Spectrum is arguably more iconic.
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PLAYABILITY
Just because Hunchback only requires you to move left and right and jump, it doesn't mean the game would be completely similar for all versions. In fact, the differences are surprisingly vast. When you analyze the original ARCADE game, Quasimodo walks rather slowly, taking almost 9 seconds to cross a screen with no stopping. Jumping is accurate enough, but the game is designed to be a little bit too demanding on the pixel-perfect jumping, since there really is not much of leeway for jumping and landing, particularly in the swinging rope screens.
Then, there are the hazards to worry about, starting with projectiles flying across the screen from right to left and left to right, sometimes even both ways. The game starts with a single fireball coming at you from the right side of the screen, repeated after the previous has disappeared through the left end. As you make progress, you will also find arrows flying through the screen, and eventually there will be multiple projectiles swooshing in the air at once, even different kinds, and they will also fly in slightly differing speeds at two altitudes. Thankfully, the game allows for enough breathing space to start a new screen, so you have at least some time to react to the randomly appearing arrows and fireballs.
The other hazards are barely jumpable gaps in the wall, knights occupying similar gaps that poke their pikes at various paces, a large gap with a swinging rope (which I kind of mentioned already), and a rare occurrence of a series of four bells with non-swinging ropes hanging from them over a similar gap to the prior. Last hazard to mention is the knight climbing up from the bottom left corner of each screen, which kills you upon contact, although you rarely need to actually worry about him. Despite the seemingly clunky and slow controls, the game is actually amazingly well balanced, and gives you the feeling that any mistake you make is your own doing.
Obviously, the ARCADE version uses a joystick and a fire button to control Quasimodo, but the home conversions are not so clear. The versions that have a strict joystick-only policy are the DRAGON, TI-99 and ATARI (prototype) versions. The AMSTRAD and MSX versions go with a non-disclosed agreement on using both cursor keys and a joystick; the MSX version jumps with the Space bar, and the CPC version jumps with the COPY key in the middle of the cursor keys. The two ACORN versions, MS-DOS, ORIC and VIC-20 versions are strictly keyboard-controlled: the BBC MICRO version uses CAPS for left, CTRL for right, and RETURN for jump (or Z, X and COPY, depending on the release); the ELECTRON version uses Z, X and DELETE; the ORIC version uses the cursor keys in an odd manner due to the placement of the cursor keys on the keyboard - left and down keys represent left and right directions, and up key jumps. The DOS version uses the two Shift keys and Space bar, and the VIC-20 version goes with <, > and Z. Only the C64 and SPECTRUM versions have optional joystick and keyboard controls, which are selected before entering the game. The C64 version's keyboard controls are the same as on the VIC-20, and the SPECTRUM keys are Q, W and Symbol Shift.
The way I see it, there are not that many points to consider in the comparison of playability of Hunchback. From the important ones, first, the amount of screens you must cross in order to reach the end. Second, whether there are any collision detection problems or differences in Quasimodo's controllability in general. Third, variations in gameplay speed. Then, if there are any notable differences in hazard timings, and how it affects gameplay.
Hunchback was originally structured to feature 15 screens on the castle walls, and a final hurdle to clear the room inside the tower from the bells while dodging randomly flying arrows. As far as I know, none of the home conversions feature this special room, although I cannot say for sure, since my lack of skills will not allow for a clarification. That said, Ocean Software made a sequel, Hunchback II: Quasimodo's Revenge, which had the game start from a room that looks almost exactly like the final room in the original arcade Hunchback. Most home conversions have 16 screens, with the last one being the one with the tower in it. The two ACORN versions and the unofficial DOS conversion differ from the norm by having only 12 screens, and the ATARI prototype seems to have 14.
The three versions could be otherwise considered an easy way through the game, but the levels have been slightly redesigned to make them more difficult to get through due to projectile timings and slightly awkward collision detection. The DOS version works a bit better, but it doesn't follow the original level structure even as well as the two ACORN versions do. Speaking of collision detection problems, the VIC-20 and DRAGON versions have the worst rope-jumping mechanics - the former being particularly improbable due to the character-block-based movement, as if the game was written in VIC's BASIC language in a day. Which it probably was. The SPECTRUM and AMSTRAD versions' collision detection isn't exactly accurate, either, but at least the rope sections have been made easier to handle by extending the ropes' swinging range enough. The ORIC version has more problems with you getting over the projectiles and the pike-poking knights, and it also has the bell-ringing rope at the end of each screen a bit too high, so you cannot just walk to it - you need to jump, and rather oddly, you can also jump past the rope and wiggle behind it.
The C64, MSX and prototype ATARI versions have the least problems with collision detection, but in turn, they all have their own problems. The ATARI prototype gets practically impossible after the 5th screen, when the wall changes colour, when the arrows start coming from both directions at hyper-speed. I gave up after the 7th screen. The MSX version has a boosted difficulty level from the first screen already with two fireballs coming at you at once, the ropes seem to repel your attempts at grabbing them, and the later pike-poking knights poke their pikes very randomly. The only problem I can think of with the C64 version is that when you get to the screens where arrows and fireballs start flying from behind you, they usually come as soon as the "Get Ready" text disappears and you're supposed to start moving, so it's a reaction game at best, and a gamble at worst, when you don't know if the projectile is going to come higher or lower.
Now, since there is not all that much going on in Quasimodo's repertoire of actions, I took it upon myself to measure his walking speed on all available platforms, based on his performance in the first screen of the game, as it has the least amount of hazards to avoid or overcome. The list is approximated, but accurate enough to give you a sense of the differences.
4 seconds: VIC-20
4.5 seconds: AMSTRAD, TI-99
5 seconds: DOS, ATARI proto
5.5 seconds: BBC MICRO, ELECTRON
6 seconds: DRAGON
6.5 seconds: SPECTRUM, C64
8.5 seconds: ARCADE, MSX
10 seconds: ORIC(*)
I have to mention the ORIC version specifically for one (*) unique feature: jumping makes you move faster, so basically, just walking through a screen would probably take over 11 seconds, but there is no such screen where you can actually do so. If you jumped through a screen, it would take you less than 8 seconds.
One of the most important gameplay elements in the ARCADE original is the possibility of steering Quasimodo in mid-air. Oddly, there are less home conversions, which allow the same thing, than those which don't. This element is only featured in the C64, MSX, SPECTRUM and the prototype ATARI versions. That leaves the AMSTRAD, ORIC, VIC-20, TI-99, DRAGON, DOS and the two ACORN versions without this gameplay element. However, the AMSTRAD version sort of compensates this by having a longer jumping arc.
Another thing you might consider a compensation of sorts, is that the AMSTRAD version has no finishing screen, and the game loops straight from the beginning without you noticing anything, unless you keep an eye on the minimap. The compensation part of it might be, that it's the fastest version to finish. However, I cannot really consider this too much of a problem, since some of the versions are practically unfinishable.
Finally, I would like to point out a couple of things of lesser importance, but worth mentioning. The TI-99 and ORIC versions only require the player to collect four consecutive bells to get the Super Bonus, while all the others require five. Also, the starting number of lives in the ARCADE version could be altered between 3 and 5 lives by using the dip switches, so the home conversions have the starting number of lives somewhat inconsistent. The ACORN versions, DOS, MSX, SPECTRUM and VIC-20 versions start with 3 lives; the ATARI prototype, AMSTRAD, DRAGON, ORIC and TI-99 versions start with 4 lives. Only the C64 version gives you 5 lives to start with.
There are plenty of specific things that are sure to make or break a game here. Taking into consideration the potential collision detection problems, relative speeds of projectiles, the randomness or formality of the poking knights and Quasimodo's jumping abilities, these observations should already determine the placings of each version quite clearly.
1. ARCADE
2. COMMODORE 64
3. MSX
4. AMSTRAD CPC
5. SINCLAIR ZX SPECTRUM
6. TI-99/4A
7. ACORN BBC MICRO / ELECTRON
8. ATARI 400/800 PROTOTYPE
9. IBM-PC COMPATIBLES
10. ORIC 1/ATMOS
11. DRAGON 32/64
12. COMMODORE VIC-20
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GRAPHICS
I suppose part of the reason why nobody I know talks about Hunchback with any awe and nostalgia is, because there was never anything particularly impressive about the game. Not in gameplay, not in sounds, and certainly not in graphics. But since this is a common part of the comparison, we do need to find out how much worse can it get from the original.
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| Title screens. Top row, left to right: Arcade (x2), Commodore 64, Dragon, MSX, VIC-20. Middle row: Oric 1/Atmos (x2), Atari proto, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, TI-99/4A. Bottom row: Acorn Electron, Acorn BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC, DOS (x2). |
Despite the surprisingly different title screen design in the ORIC version, that one has the most content, and it also gets the title logo very close to the original. For the new content, you get three variations of the screen area showing the title logo - one with a black background and full yellow logo, and two half logos with red-on-green and green-on-red, which keep flashing between themselves for a while before hitting the attract mode. While the logo is shown in its normal form, Quasimodo, Esmeralda and the Bells are introduced below the logo. Concerning the logo, the SPECTRUM and MSX versions get it pretty close to the original, except it keeps to one solid colour.
As for the rest of them, it's a very mixed bag. The C64 version has a rather good approximation of the title logo flashing in all available colours, but not much else apart from some basic text. The DRAGON title screen is built from lego blocks, and is required to be viewed for a while, until a text "Press any key to start game" appears, replacing the large "Presents" text. The two ACORN title screens are entirely text-based, as are the AMSTRAD and VIC-20 title screens, but I have never seen a title screen as scarcely ornated as the VIC-20 Hunchback title screen. Must be a record of sorts. The title screen in the ATARI 400/800 prototype is a bit ugly, but still has more character than any of the strictly text-based screens. The unofficial DOS conversion has two title screens: a picture screen and a text screen with a few different fonts and colours. The picture is fine, but clearly not F. David Thorpe material.
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| In-game screenshots from the arcade version. |
Just for the sake of getting the graphical comparison even more difficult than it needs to be, Quasimodo's walking animation features 4 different frames. Let's see about the other versions.
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| In-game screenshots from the Commodore 64 version. |
One thing that's actually better on the C64 than in the original is, that there is no slowdown whatsoever in any of the screens, no matter how much action happens on the screen. In the ARCADE version, the rope sections in particular slow the game down considerably, but I'm not entirely sure, whether that's an emulation-related issue or something you experience in the actual arcade version, so I'm kind of forced to let that issue hang on as unsolved.
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| In-game screenshots from the Oric 1/Atmos version. |
I'm not familiar enough with the ORIC computers' capabilities and quirks, but it seems as if there are more quirks here than capabilities. The wall colour is solid, except it changes between blue and red upon each death. The colouring of the fireballs, arrows, ropes and even the guards' pikes all change according to Quasimodo's vertical location, as they draw some attributes from his clothing. Evidently, there is some form of attribute clash to be seen here, but it's a bit different from what you see on the ZX Spectrum. The ORIC version also exhibits inconsistency with the bell colours, but it's a minor complaint compared to the extremely long screen changing speed and slow walking animation, which only has 3 frames. Finally, it is missing the short but sweet intro animation sequence.
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| In-game screenshots from the Acorn BBC Micro and Electron versions. |
The two ACORN versions are similarly animated to each other, and look just about the same in most ways. Again, Quasimodo's walk has only three frames, and the wall colour is constantly red. There seems to be no cumulative Super Bonus feature in the game either, which I think I might have forgotten to mention in the previous section, but that's the least of the Acorn versions' problems. There is no screen with four bells in the middle, either, and the intro animation sequence is missing from both versions, as well.
The only two things you can tell the two Acorn versions apart are the little marking of the current part of the wall at the bottom left corner in the ELECTRON version, and the second thing you cannot even see in a screenshot, which is the screen change after completing one screen. In the BBC MICRO version, the old screen is push-scrolled off by the new screen, like in most other versions, while in the ELECTRON version, the new screen is revealed by erasing the old one from right to left.
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| In-game screenshots from the Commodore VIC-20 version. |
The VIC-20 version is pretty much as basic as you can get. Again, Quasimodo has three frames of animation, which is actually more than how it looks, and the wall is one solid colour throughout the game - this time the colour being light green mixed with dark blue. The animations are barely to be called that, as everything moves one character block's length at a time, which made it necessary to change the swinging rope to a rope that moves left and right. Since any excessive animation would have been unsupported by the low RAM requirement, the screen change was also made immediate, instead of going for a scrolling effect, and quite obviously, the intro sequence has also been dropped. So the only positive thing is the high speed of the game, really. I haven't been able to get through this version, nor do I have the interest to pursue this goal, but from what I've seen so far, the screen with the row of four bells over a chasm is missing. At least the VIC-20 version has the Super Bonus feature, unlike the ACORN versions.
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| In-game screenshots from the Dragon 32/64 version. |
Although the DRAGON version shares a problem with most other Dragon games, that being the harshly limited amount of colours on the screen, it does have better animation and more detailed graphics than the VIC-20 and the ACORN versions. Quasimodo's walk has 4 frames again, and the animation timings are closer to their original counterparts as well, than in the previous two versions. Not really a point for the game to recommend itself, but having an appropriate animation speed does make the game feel more worked on. Again, no intro sequence.
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| In-game screenshots from the Sinclair ZX Spectrum version. |
Another version to join the ranks of solid, single-coloured wall, is the SPECTRUM version. While all the characters in this version are unapologetically monochrome, Quasimodo's sprite in particular looks extremely nice, although I'm not sure whether he is supposed to be wearing high heels or not. But at least he has 4 frames of animation, which look surprisingly natural. Similarly to the ORIC version, there is some classic attribute clash on display here, but that is only to be expected from a Spectrum game of this age. Oddly enough, the map progression effect here was chosen to be a simple immediate screen flip, instead of a push-scroll, and possibly as a side-effect of this decision, the intro sequence was also dropped, although I also assume it was dropped to avoid more colour clash.
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| In-game screenshots from the Amstrad CPC version. |
We continue the single wall-colour versions with AMSTRAD, which at least has multi-colour sprites, albeit wide-pixeled ones. Of course, the CPC version shows its cheapness in many ways, such as Quasimodo's 3-frame walking animation and the immediate screen flip method of progression, possibly again resulting in a lack of an animated intro sequence. There is also some notable slowdown when there is more action on the screen. But sometimes, you can let go of the problem of a lack of details and animations, when the game speed is higher because of that.
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| In-game screenshots from the MSX version. |
The chosen single wall colour for the MSX version is blue. But that's pretty much the only simple graphical thing about it. Quasimodo's multicolour sprite looks excellent, apart from him not actually having a hunchback, and his walking animation has the usual 4 frames. His walking animation is so quick and slick, though, that I had to slow down a video I recorded of the gameplay to see the frames properly. Upon doing that, though, I found out that the animation of Quasimodo's feet is actually backwards in the game, but it doesn't matter in the correct speed. All the other animations are more fluid than usual, too: the screen's push-scroll, the guards' pike lifts and the rope swings all look superb here. Despite the boring wall colour, I find the MSX version's graphics the most to my liking from the original set of home conversions. It even has the intro animation rendered as close to the original as possible.
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| In-game screenshots from the unreleased prototype Atari 400/800 version. |
Surprisingly, the ATARI prototype starts off with the animated intro sequence, although it has been reduced to stay completely in the final screen of the sequence. Still, better than nothing. Quasimodo's walking animation has been reduced to only two frames, which makes it look entirely too silly, but I suppose it's because this was a prototype. Who knows, if Ocean had decided to actually push on with the release of the game, the animations might have been honed further. From what I have seen, the wall colour changes at least a couple of times during the game, but I haven't been able to get past the first change. There is no screen switch animation here either, but instead you get a black screen with a "Ready Player One" text at the top to mark the change of location. All in all, the ATARI proto version is not the worst-looking version out there, but it does feel a bit under-developed.
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| In-game screenshots from the unofficial IBM-PC version. |
The unofficial DOS version was based on the ACORN versions, so right off the bat, it is safe to say the DOS version is also missing the screens with four bells in a row. The intro bit is missing, as can only be expected, and Quasimodo looks just as little of his hunchback self as he does in the ACORN versions, and is animated with 3 separate frames, but at least the screen is push-scrolled properly - if rather too quickly - between the screens. The DOS game only uses CGA graphics, so four colours is all you get, and the wall colour is solid red-and-yellow.
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| In-game screenshots from the unofficial TI-99/4A version. |
Last, but not least, the TI-99 version looks very clunky in screenshots, with the monochrome sprites and all, but in action, the animations are fluid and speedy. Quasimodo walks with 4 frames, and although his walking isn't pixel-perfect, the other animations are. At least, as far as the game allows. For some odd reason, the rope moves back and forth similarly - although more fluently - to the VIC-20 version, but due to the more natural movement, it feels more logical here, somehow. Similarly, there is no push-scrolling between screens, just an instant switch, so following that logic, there is no animated intro sequence, either. This is perhaps rationalized with the sound effects, which we will get into shortly. Considering the advantages, perhaps the most unfortunate part about the TI-99 version is the lack of variety in wall colour.
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| High score tables and name entry, where available. Top row, left to right: Arcade, Commodore 64, Oric 1/Atmos, Dragon 32/64, MSX. Bottom row: Amstrad CPC, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Acorn BBC Micro, IBM-PC. |
There are some small bits here and there, which might be unique for certain versions, like the separate Get Ready screen in the ORIC version and the instructions screens that only appear in a few versions, but the fact is, this is one of those games that could only get you with quality over quantity. Thus, the top 3 - even top 4 is quite clear to list, as is the last spot, but the rest have to share spots. So, if you couldn't be bothered to read it all the way through, here's what you were missing:
1. ARCADE
2. MSX
3. COMMODORE 64
4. ZX SPECTRUM
5. AMSTRAD CPC / ATARI
6. ORIC / DRAGON / TI-99
7. BBC MICRO / ELECTRON / IBM-PC
8. COMMODORE VIC-20
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SOUNDS
In the ARCADE original, the main attraction concerning sounds was always the synthesized speech bits: "Game, System, Operational" when the game boots up, "Press, Start, Button" after inserting a coin, and two different sorts of "aeiaieiargh" noises when you die. There is no mentionable music - not even a proper theme tune in Hunchback, unless you count the brief clip of "The Teddy Bears' Picnic" (originally composed by John Walter Bratton in 1907) at the beginning of each game, which in the arcade version actually gets cut abruptly, followed by Quasimodo's bouncing noises. All the other sound effects could be copied from practically any other arcade game prior to that, but it's all been put together well enough with bells, tinny walking noises that resemble Pac-Man's "wakka wakka" noise, chain chiming sounds with the hanging ropes, very NES-like jumping "doing" sounds and short "swish" noises with the fireballs and arrows.
In the assumed order of publication, we have the C64 version next. The first sound you hear is a single-toned, yet full verse rendition "Teddy Bears' Picnic", although the last two notes are played in the wrong rhythm. Again, that's the only bit of music you get, but it's slightly better than what the original arcade version offers. The sound effects have been handled sparingly, as with no walking noise given for Quasimodo, the game is pretty quiet most of the time. Despite speech synthesis having been a thing on the C64 already in 1983, getting voice samples done for the C64 was probably thought unnecessary, as they focused their efforts on getting the gameplay as good as possible. So, the few things you hear in the C64 version are various bell sounds, a quick "swish" noise for the fireballs and arrows, a longer swishy noise for the swinging ropes, and a low rumbing noise followed by a splash for your death.
The only other version published in 1983 was for the ORIC computers. As usual, the game starts with a rendition of "Teddy Bears' Picnic", although here it has been restricted to the first phrase from the verse, and it has been rearranged into a major key version. More interestingly, though, the ORIC version of the tune is the first one to use three voices at once - two for the bass notes and one for the main melody. The in-game sounds are a bit jarring, as you get either a constant low droning when there's a fireball flying on the screen, and here, Quasimodo also makes a ticking noise when walking. The death sound effect is a descending boom coupled with a high-pitched beep, and the jumping sound is very similar to that in Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy. The rope swishing is a bit more tolerable here than on the C64, and the bells are as you would expect. The only thing actually missing is the sound effect for the flying arrows.
I have no real idea about the correct order of the 1984 versions' publications, so I'll go by the same order I used in the credits part. The two ACORN versions have oddly differing sets of sounds. There is no music at all in either version, so they're both already less interesting. In the BBC MICRO version, most of the sound effects are just different pitched bell noises, although the fireballs and arrows have a "psshh" sound. Quasimodo's walking makes a rapidly repeating, relatively low "bip-bip" sound, his jumps rather hilariously resemble those squeaky duck toys, and his death is always a falling beep noise which sounds like it's doubled.
For the cheaper ELECTRON version, they dropped most of the bell sounds, and all the sound effects are even more monophonic than on the BBC MICRO. The jumping, falling and bell-ringing sounds are very different, though, particularly the bell-ringing sound, which is more reminiscent of an explosion sound effect in old Spectrum games. Similarly Speccy-like is the sound effect for arrows and fireballs, which is an undescribable "blurt" sound that can only be produced by a single-channel beeper.
Next up, we have the DRAGON version. It's another version to start with the first phrase of "Teddy Bears' Picnic", although here, you get it in its proper minor key form, albeit in a single tone rendition. The sound effects are surprisingly well made, since they all are clearly there for different purposes: walking, jumping, ringing the bell and dying. Nothing more to it here, but it's plenty enough, and works surprisingly well considering the hardware.
So far, the VIC-20 version offers the least sounds, but even there, you get a similar rendition of "Teddy Bears' Picnic" as in the previous. For sound effects, I have only heard the bell ringing "ding dong" sound, a quick "tshp" when a fireball enters the screen, and a quick dropping beep when you fall down. As I've mentioned, I haven't gotten too far in the VIC-20 version, but considering the way the game progresses, I cannot imagine there being more sound effects than what I have already reported.
In a way, the MSX soundtrack is no more impressive than that of the previous two. The intro tune is the same length as in the DRAGON, VIC-20 and ORIC versions, now with a slight flanger effect included in the single tone. Quasimodo's walking sound is very muffled tapping, as is the jumping "booinnng" and the rope swishing. The fireballs and arrows sound like someone is dealing cards on a table, and even the bell ringing sound effect is an oddly restrained "dip dop" instead "ding dong". The loudest sound effect is a huge "DONNNGGGG" when you grab the swinging rope, which stands out like a sore thumb. But the oddest thing of all: there is no sound effect for any kind of death.
The SPECTRUM version starts off much the same way as the MSX version, although the intro tune has a more pronounced flanger effect, or whatever it is. Uniquely, though, that phrase of "Teddy Bears' Picnic" is played at the beginning of every single screen, which makes it get on your nerve much more easily. As for the sound effects, Quasimodo's walking sound here is a hyper-speed tapping noise, which feels a bit off, but at least it is funny. Jumping only produces a high-pitched "tick" noise. Reaching the bell plays not a "ding dong", which would be practically impossible on a beeper, but it's more like "deedoo". Another unique thing about this version is, that dying plays out a five-note jingle at a very low pitch. No sounds for fireballs and arrows.
Peculiarly, the AMSTRAD version follows the two ACORN versions' style here, in that there is no intro tune. It also follows the DRAGON version, by having no sound effects for the arrows and fireballs. The walking noise Quasimodo makes is two alternatingly pitched pip-sounds, and then you get the usual bell sounds and jumping "boing" sounds. There is also a sound effect for falling down, but it is much lower in volume than all the other sounds.
Next, I might as well go with the ATARI prototype, since there is no known production time frame for it. Surprisingly, this version has the most sophisticated arrangement of the first phrase in "Teddy Bears' Picnic", as it includes a two-voice chord harmony behind the main melody, as well as a specifically written "downwards-arpeggio"-type ending to the melody. Too bad the melody is in a major key, so it's not a completely faithful rendition of the tune. Quasimodo's walking noise here is similarly hyperactive as in the SPECTRUM version, and his jumping and dying sound effects are classic Atari blippy stuff. The bells sound pretty much as you would expect from bells sounding on an Atari. All the other sound effects are more interesting, though - if not in their style, then in their placing. The fireball and arrow sounds are their usual "tshup"-kind, but the sounds are played when they exit the screen, instead of when they enter the screen. Also, the rope screens have two alternating white noise sounds, which alternate according to the alignment of the fire down in the pit beneath the rope. There might be some more sounds later in the game, but I have yet to reach a screen with four consecutive bells, for example.
The DOS version shows its unofficiality in more ways than its graphics. Although the gameplay has been more or less derived from the ACORN versions, for the first time ever, there is an actual theme tune in the game, that plays in the title screen. Mind you, not the main menu, but rather the picture screen. The song is a single-channel beeper rendition of that age-old English folk song, "Greensleeves". As you start the game, you hear a three-note melody, which is like a bugle call kind of a thing. Yet another melody is featured as the Game Over jingle, which I'm currently unable to recognize, but it's five notes long, so it's not the easiest one to catch, either. As for the sound effects, you get a usual set of beeper-friendly sounds: a low booming "tap-tap" for walking; an ascending set of five quick notes for jumping; a long ringing sound for reaching the bell, regardless of whether you have any bonus score left or not; and a descending set of seven or eight quick notes for falling down. If it weren't for the fact that all of these sounds are produced by the PC beeper, this one could have been very enjoyable.
Finally, we have the TI-99 version, the most recent conversion of the lot. As it is such a recent conversion, and since the TI-99 could easily be equipped with a common speech synthesis module, the game was made to feature a few speech bits: "Press, Start, Key", "Ready to start?" and two different comments for Game Over: "Good going" for getting a high score, and "Try again!" after the score comment, if you get one. Oddly, though, there are no weird death utterings like in the original, so everything else is more or less notation-based sounds. "Teddy Bears' Picnic" also makes an appearance here, pretty much to the same extent as in the original version, only in a different visual setting: it plays after you have pressed the starting button, but before you see the level graphics. Considering the TI-99/4A is the first 16-bit home computer, the sound effects here have more resemblance to Atari 2600 than any other 16-bit computer. The only sound effect that is not made with a clearly pitched tone is your death, when Quasimodo falls down and turns into an ascending cloud of dust with a "puff"-noise.
I don't want to seem unfair, but none of the official home conversions really get the sound presentation of Hunchback all that good - only the TI-99 version has speech synthesis, thanks to its 16-bit architecture and speech synth module. Adding an adequate amount of other sound effects, we have found ourselves an easy winner of the home conversion sounds. In fact, I might actually prefer the TI-99 version over the arcade original because of its unexpected personality, but because they're different enough, I shall let them share the #1 spot. The C64 version has not only the fullest rendition of "Teddy Bears' Picnic", but also the most well-balanced set of sound effects. Next, the ATARI prototype and ORIC versions will share the next spot, thanks to their nice renditions of the intro tune, and sound effects with personality. The DRAGON and SPECTRUM version follow, then the MSX shares a spot with AMSTRAD and the unofficial DOS conversion. The last three are the two ACORN versions and the VIC-20, as you might have guessed.
1. ARCADE / TI-99
2. COMMODORE 64
3. ATARI / ORIC
4. DRAGON / ZX SPECTRUM
5. MSX / IBM-PC / AMSTRAD
6. ACORN ELECTRON / BBC MICRO
7. COMMODORE VIC-20
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OVERALL + VIDEO
Well, the comparison of Hunchback turned out to be the longest one since The Simpsons: Bart vs. Space Mutants from last year, which is only suitable, since it was also an Ocean game. In the case of Hunchback, though, I never expected it to be this troublesome to get through everything. Just in the nick of time, for better and for worse, here are the results:
1. ARCADE: Playability 12, Graphics 8, Sounds 7 = TOTAL 27
2. COMMODORE 64: Playability 11, Graphics 6, Sounds 6 = TOTAL 23
3. MSX: Playability 10, Graphics 7, Sounds 3 = TOTAL 20
4. SINCLAIR ZX SPECTRUM: Playability 8, Graphics 5, Sounds 4 = TOTAL 17
4. TI-99/4A: Playability 7, Graphics 3, Sounds 7 = TOTAL 17
5. AMSTRAD CPC: Playability 9, Graphics 4, Sounds 3 = TOTAL 16
6. ATARI PROTOTYPE: Playability 5, Graphics 4, Sounds 5 = TOTAL 14
7. TANGERINE ORIC: Playability 3, Graphics 3, Sounds 5 = TOTAL 11
8. ACORN BBC MICRO / ELECTRON: Playability 6, Graphics 2, Sounds 2 = TOTAL 10
9. IBM-PC COMPATIBLES: Playability 4, Graphics 2, Sounds 3 = TOTAL 9
9. DRAGON 32/64: Playability 2, Graphics 3, Sounds 4 = TOTAL 9
10. COMMODORE VIC-20: Playability 1, Graphics 1, Sounds 1 = TOTAL 3
For those of you who don't really like reading all that much, you might want to check out this accompaniment video to see all the versions in action, and make your own conclusions.
When Ocean struck the deal with Century Electronics, they set the Commodore 64 as their primary platform for the conversion job, and it really shows. That said, the MSX and SPECTRUM versions did their job very nicely as well, while the rest of the 8-bits merely hung on with the ride. It really is too bad the ATARI version never got finished, seeing as how well the prototype held up against the others. If I'm the least bit surprised about any of these, I'd say the AMSTRAD version felt too much like an underachiever, and the TI-99 version wasn't nearly as primitive as it looked. Considering the VIC-20 version only requires the smallest memory expansion (3kb) to work, it is also a surprisingly good game, even though I would never choose that one voluntarily from all the versions of Hunchback available.
Speaking of which, there were a few sequels made for Hunchback.
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FURTHER ADVENTURES OF QUASIMODO
There are plenty enough of clones of Hunchback to go around, which I will not be including here, since I'm already late in getting this blog post done before the end of October. So, let's get on with the actual sequels, since there are plenty enough of those.
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| Left: Hunchback Olympic (Arcade, Century Electronics, 1984) Right: Hunchback at the Olympics (Commodore 64, Software Projects, 1985) |
Actually, the first mentionable game was originally made for the arcades by Century Electronics in 1984, and it's called Hunchback at the Olympics. It's basically a Decathlon-clone, but with Hunchback-themed graphics and cutscenes. The only home conversion was published for the C64 through Software Projects in 1985, although it was worked on for the ZX Spectrum as far as to being advertised in 1984. HB's Olympics has the same problem that bothers me with most other Decathlon-type games, which is the lack of freedom to choose your event, coupled with the three lives that you will eventually lose upon three disqualifications. Oddly, the C64 version features some nice comical cutscenes that the ARCADE original doesn't have.
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| Screenshots from HERO (Arcade, Century Electronics, 1984) |
The only arcade-exclusive sequel that the International Arcade Museum website has knowledge of is called Hero, or HERO, not sure how the title is exactly supposed to be typed. The title is an abbreviation of "Hunchback Esmeralda Rescue Operation", which is a bit too silly, and considering Activision's H.E.R.O. was released around the same time, highly dubious. It was produced by CVS in 1984, and it is more of a maze action game, similar to games like Konami's Tutankham. Not particularly memorable, but worth checking out.
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| Hunchback II: Quasimodo's Revenge (Ocean Software, 1984) Cover art and screenshots of level 1 from Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. |
Ocean's chosen method of fixing the issue of missing tower sequence in the original Hunchback ports was to create a sequel starting from that screen. The game is called Hunchback 2: Quasimodo's Revenge, and it is structured more like the Donkey Kong games, which fits the game surprisingly well. Hunchback 2 was only released for the usual threesome of 8-bit computers in 1984, so there's a small chance I might actually turn that into another comparison later on.
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| Hunchback: the Adventure! (Ocean Software, 1986) |
Last, and perhaps the least memorable, Hunchback's final adventure was a graphical text adventure, simply called Hunchback: the Adventure. Similarly to Hunchback 2, it was also developed for the three usual 8-bits, and released as late as 1986. I have never bothered to try this out until now, and judging by the reviews from the time, as well as the scores over at the usual websites, it's not really worth the bother anyway. At least, it has some pretty nice graphics and music by the legendary Fred Gray.
Finally, here's a list of Hunchback-clones that I managed to find out about for this article, but couldn't bother to actually write about them, so I'll throw links to other websites for them instead:
- Punchy (CPC/C16/+4/C64/MSX/EINSTEIN/VIC20/SPE, 1983, Mr Micro)
- Quasimodo (Atari 400/800, 1983, Synapse Software)
- Hunchy (SPE, 1983, Mr Micro)
- The Great Wall (BBC/ELECTRON, 1986, Artic)
- Hunchy (C64, 1986, C+VG)
- Super Hunchback (GB/WIN, 1992)
If you know of any more Hunchback-clones worth mentioning, please leave a comment below. Next month, I'll throw in another classic from a different publisher, so watch out for that! Until then, thanks for reading, and enjoy your Halloween! ...or what's left of it.
Hey, just wanted to say that I've been reading your stuff for a while and really enjoy the in-depth reviews and the work that you put into them.
ReplyDeletethanks i enjoyed reading :) just to note, the arcade version of hunchback doesnt have slowdowns, it's a mame emulation issue: https://mametesters.org/view.php?id=5604
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