TOKI REVIEW - August 1993
| In some ways, this is still one of the ST's most accurate coin-op
conversions ever. As long, that is, as you stick a big cardboard panel over your TV screen
with a hole cut in the middle so that it looks like you're using a 10-inch portable.
Otherwise, the claustrophobic inside-a-postbox feeling that you get from the tiny area of
screen used to display the game is almost enough to completely annihilate any fun you
might be getting from it. It's a real pity that in order to preserve smooth scrolling of the beautiful and detailed graphics of Toki, the programmers have had to crush it into such a tiny hole. Because in every other way, it's a lovely game. You play an acid-spitting ape, recently transformed from a hunky prince type by an evil sorceror who's kidnapped your babe into the bargain. The only way to rescue both her and your own manly good looks is to traverse five levels of Amazonian terrain, slaughtering enough indigenous wildlife along the way to make even Prince Philip go 'I say, steady on, old man.' It's not an easy task, and it seems to be made psychologically even harder by the fact that you seem to have such a small space to manouevre in. Actually, this isn't just an optical illusion brought on by the aforementioned titchy screen area - the same problem was present in the original coin-op and in other conversions. There's not usually a lot of room for error in Toki, and it can make the game very frustrating when you get splatted by one of the unforgivingly mean nasties nine times in a row in the same place. Still, it's worth persevering - the graphics start off pretty and improve all the way through, and there's enough in the way of nice touches and visual rewards to make it worth the concentration and effort you'll need to expend to get anywhere. This is well worth a tenner. |
By The Hit Squad HIGHS Lovely graphics Small screen area |