Subject: REVIEW: Fury of the Furries, CD32 version
From: [email-masked] (Steve Cutting)
Date: 24 May 1994 20:46:34 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews

PRODUCT NAME

	Fury of the Furries, CD32 version

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

	A single-player platform game with puzzles.

AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION

	Name:		Mindscape International
	Address:	Priority House, Charles Avenue
			Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 9PQ
			England

	Telephone:	+44 (0) 444 239 600
	Fax:		+44 (0) 444 248 996

LIST PRICE

	I don't know the list price, but I paid 69.99 Australian dollars for
it.  In the UK, you can get it for 19.99 pounds from mail order companies.

SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

	HARDWARE

		CD32 (PAL)
		Television or monitor
		Control pad (or Amiga joystick)

	SOFTWARE

		None

COPY PROTECTION

	None that's noticeable to the user.

REVIEW

	The manual tells the story of a race of small furball creatures
called Tinies.  Tinies look like tennis balls with eyes, and according to
the manual, they have a horrid sense of humour.  The Tiny King has
apparently been taken prisoner and been imprisoned in his own castle by a
Tiny with a particularly wicked sense of humour.  Yes, this is where you
come in. :-)

	When the game boots, you're shown a glitchy animated sequence
portraying all this, accompanied by some decent CD audio.  Once you're at the
title screen, you can start a new game or restart one of four saved games.

	The object of the game is simple:  take control of a Tiny and find
your way to the exit of each level.  Your Tiny can walk, run, and jump three
different heights.  As if that isn't enough, your Tiny is also able to
transform into any of 4 colours, each one having a special ability:

		Red    - eats through walls
		Yellow - shoots fireballs to kill nasties
		Green  - swings and climbs on rope
		Blue   - dives underwater

	Green is my favourite.  It's great fun swinging the little critter
back and forth on the rope, then letting go and watching him fly across the
screen and do a couple of somersaults before landing on the ground!

	Not all of the abilities are available all the time.  On some levels,
you may only have one ability, and on others, you might get all 4.  To make
it harder, there are force-field type things which enable or disable an
ability when you pass through them.

	You view the action from the standard platform perspective (side on),
and the levels scroll in all directions.  The game takes place over 8 areas,
with each area having 10 levels based on the same theme.  The levels are
full of all sorts of obstacles designed to reduce your Tiny to an ex-furball
before reaching the exit.  There's trees, water, spikes and loads more, and
of course the usual array of NASTIES.  You must make use of the various
abilities of your Tiny to negotiate these obstacles.

	As you progress into the game, the puzzle element starts rearing its
head.  As well as avoiding (or shooting) all the nasties, you also have to
start solving problems in order to reach the exit.  These puzzles range from
simple things, like finding and using keys, to more complex ones, like moving
blocks and finding secret entrances.  The puzzles rely on the correct choice
of abilities in most cases, and also require some pretty nifty joypad skills
on some of the later levels.

	Every 5 levels, your position is saved in Non-Volatile RAM.

DOCUMENTATION

	The booklet in the CD sleeve has instructions in English, French,
Dutch, Italian and Spanish.  It covers everything you need to know (not a
lot, really) and has some nice black and white drawings.

LIKES

	Great fun.  It's playable, cute, and best of all:  totally silly!
There's something distinctly warped about a 10-pixel high ball of fluff
letting fly with a Streetfighter-style fireball. :-)

	The game-saving feature means you can restart where you left off
instead of playing through all the levels again.  This adds a lot to the
longevity of any game in my opinion; if I can restart where I left off, I'll
keep coming back until I finish it (or go insane).

	The difficulty curve is just about right.  There's plenty of easy
levels before the brain mangling begins.

	The CD tracks on the intro and title screens are really good.
In-game music is only Amiga based, but the tunes are great.

	Although he's very small and not very colourful, your Tiny is nicely
animated and moves well.

DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS

	The in-game graphics are pretty dull; they'd look perfectly at home
in a 512K A500 game 5 years ago.  It doesn't look like any more than about 16
colours, definitely not 32bit CDROM stuff.  Static title and between-level
screens are more colourful though.

	The game doesn't use the full PAL screen.  If you force it into NTSC
using the boot-menu, it runs too fast.

COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS

	If you liked The Lost Vikings, you'll like this.

BUGS

	I've found a couple of graphic glitches here and there, but they
don't affect gameplay at all.

VENDOR SUPPORT

	An address and phone/fax number are provided for support.  I haven't
needed to contact them as yet.

WARRANTY

	Unknown.

CONCLUSIONS

	If you're looking to be blown off your seat with stunning visuals
and audio, don't buy this game, because there aren't any.  But do buy it if
you want a game to *PLAY*, because it's got more playability and lastability
than a lot of other stuff around.  An enjoyable blend of platforms, puzzles
and general silliness.

	My rating : 80%

This review is freely distributable.  Just leave my name in :-)
24/5/1994 Steve Cutting     e-mail: [email-masked]
-- Via DLG Pro v1.0

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