Goonies

Copyright : US Gold | Reviewed by : Malc Jennings

Yes it?s another movie to video game conversion but this time by two not so well known software houses (Paragon Software & DataSoft) with publishing power provided by US Gold.

The story is that a youth club populated by less than average and slightly stupid teenagers is about to be shut down due to lack of funds and some of the families may have to move away from home, it?s not exactly a laugh a minute at home at the moment so they all go out on an adventure after finding a so-called treasure map. They soon land themselves in deep water when they come across 3 murderous thieves who have more than just ice cream in the freezer and pots and pans in the cellar. Not intent on getting out of there as fast as they can they try to find the stolen riches and save the day back at home, only the goons aren?t so far behind.

Trapped in a barn located in the middle of nowere you must find a way to escape without getting caught by the nasty men and that particularly ugly woman.

Graphics

The movies was aimed at certain younger generations only and when you watch it today you sort of think "why the hell did I sit down for 90 minutes watching this!?" and I?m sure that not many of us rushed out to buy the video game.

The graphics are bright and colourful but the animation in the main characters (you and your friends) is laughable, I have never seen anybody run or walk like they do. The levels are well designed and they will certainly have you thinking "how the hell am I going to get out of this" which I am sure is what the developers wanted you to think. You?ll also see one of the first nude scenes ever in a game which again is very funny, on the second level (screenshot to the right) you?ll see a guy taking a shower

Sound

As per usual the main let down is the in game sounds, you are treated to one sound only and even that is only a bleep when you change from one character to the other. We also get some music to play along to but it certainly doesn?t make up for the lack of "proper" sound.

Gameplay

Gameplay is as simple as possible but as brain teasing as ever, you have to get out of the building you are in without being seen by the nasty men/women that are keeping guard. You do this by circulating between friends and making each one do different things (e.g. flip a switch) and guide the rest to safety, but you still need to get the other guy out which is what adds difficulty to the game. It plays well and the controls aren?t difficult but getting the characters to move and jump the way you want is slightly harder than it should be.