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The 80’s was an era of some incredible memories. We had the birth of many amazing horror films, we saw the rise of heavy metal, and video games really started to take off. As a child of the 90’s, I missed out on many classics from that era, so I’m thankful many publishers and developers are bringing many of these titles to modern systems either with new collections or remakes. However, that doesn’t mean all the games from that time were pieces of art and, sadly, The Monty Mole Collection is one such case. Originally developed by Gremlin Graphics for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64, this collection includes the original trilogy of Wanted: Monty Mole, Monty On The Run, and Auf Wiedersehen Monty, along with three bonus games by the names of Monty Is Innocent, Sam Stoat: Safebreaker, and Moley Christmas (which was given away as a free games in copies of Your Sinclair magazines back in the day). Now, while it’s always awesome to see older games make a comeback and I’m all for game preservation, that doesn’t mean that every game aged well and this is one of those cases.
“I am a dwarf and I’m digging a hole!”
I feel my main issue with all the games in the collection is that they didn’t make the transition from their respective original platform to consoles very well. They aren’t broken by any means and are playable, but the games really feel more built for the original systems they were designed for instead of the Xbox, in this case. Well, I say ‘playable’ as there was a bit of an issue on Day 1: I couldn’t get the games to work at all. There was a bug, after I had installed the collection, where I couldn’t even navigate the menus at all and, when I was able to, I was only able to do it a few times before it bugged out and broke. Now, I’ll give the developers credit that they were able to push a patch out the next day and it fixed the menus, but that first impression was not one of positivity, I tell you what. But even with said patch, these games really do show their age and not in a good way. For example, the first game, Wanted: Monty Mole, sees you traversing a mine collecting pieces of coal and other trinkets while avoiding dangerous obstacles. Simple premise and I was able to quickly figure out what to do, but the controls really hampered my enjoyment. While the basic movement controls feel fine and all, the jumping never really felt good and always felt like it was acting on a slight delay or I never could hit the area I needed to jump to and ended up having to rewind multiple times until I got it right. I should preface this by saying I never played or own a ZX Spectrum or Commodore 64 so I don’t know how the controls were there, but on a controller, they just don’t feel right. Just about all my deaths in the game were from jumping, messing me up and resulting in Monty being hit by an enemy, falling from a great height, or falling in the water.
I will give the collection props for including a rewind feature, but this, too, is buggy. I’m not kidding when I had moments where Monty would move by himself, even when the screen I rewind to was where I wasn’t even moving at all. On a side note and to throw in a random fact that I have zero idea where to place anywhere else in this review, the game is apparently inspired by the UK miners' strike of 1984 to 1985, which I had no idea even happened until I was doing research into this series. I don’t know what purpose that serves, to be perfectly honest with you, as I didn’t really see any hints of said strike in the game, but it’s an interesting little tidbit I thought I share here. That fun little factoid aside, one thing I will say about this game, and some of the other entries, is that for its time? They are decent looking games. The color bleed effects on the ZX Spectrum titles are pretty cool and the artstyle is nice on each of the ZX titles (BTW, it’s pronounced Zed-Ecks, not Zee-Ecks). Truth be told, the ZX Spectrum was one of those PCs that, when I first heard of them via videos on Youtube, I was impressed what talented developers could do with it back in the day. The only exception to this being the Commodore 64 version of Wanted: Monty Mole. This is, quite frankly, the ugliest game I’ve ever seen, to the point where I couldn’t even tell what I was looking at most of the time and the sound was not the best either. In fact the sound in general is another sour point in this collection. At times, it’s annoying at best and ear-grating at worst, to the point where I had to lower the volume on my TV just so it didn’t make my ears bleed. This was really noticeable in the Commodore 64 version of Wanted: Monty Mole. However, I did enjoy the main title’s usage of Colonial Bogey March, which I feel many would recognize from the film Bridge Over River Kwai or Spaceballs.
The other games in the collection pretty much share the same feelings I had with Wanted: Monty Mole, for better or for worse. Auf Wiedersehen Monty, despite a pretty cool title, tasks you with traveling around Europe to collect money so Monty can buy a Greek Island to retire on. Neat concept but the problem was I couldn’t figure out what the heck I was supposed to do, even after reading the in-game instructions multiple times, and spent most of the time fighting the controls. Now, they aren’t quite as bad as Wanted but there were still some instances of frustration and, for some reason if you’re up against a wall or something, Monty will “spin” like Sonic. There were even times where I thought I could collect something, only for it to turn out to be an enemy, and there was one instance where I thought a nearby pile of coconuts were safe, only to see Monty die from touching them. But, in my eyes, the worst games in this collection are both Monty Is Innocent and Sam Stoat: Safebreaker. With Safebreak, you’re playing as Sam Stoat, where your objective is to find a bomb and a match, enter a house, blow the safe, and profit. Easy right? Well, Payday this ain’t cause this is honestly the most obtuse and confusing game I’ve ever played since Myst. There are zero instructions on what you’re even supposed to be doing and just trying to navigate the game is a game unto itself. I get that some games have to make the player figure out some mechanics on their own and I’m not asking for the game to hold my hands and all.
The other Sam Stoat game, Monty Is Innocent, tasks you with saving Monty by going to the governor’s office and finding a key. Unlike the other Monty mole games, this one is a straight-up maze title where you have to traverse it multiple times until you find the right key to unlock Monty’s cell. The main problem, outside of the maze format, is that this game is just ugly, even for a ZX Spectrum game, and the difficulty is insane. I swear I lost more lives on the opening screen thanks to how easy it is to be hit by the various enemies. I’m seriously not trying to be negative here as it’s great this series is getting a second chance and I’m all for game preservation. I’d also get it that if you grew up playing these games and you enjoyed them, you’d probably get a kick out of being able to play them on modern systems. If that person is you, then great! More power to you! But, as someone like myself who never played these games, I have to be honest and the truth is I don’t think these games aged well at all. What really disappointed me was the lack of anything historical in the collection. Yeah, you get the games ported to modern systems but that’s it. No magazine ads, no historical documents, nothing. It’s not even a full collection as it’s missing the games Impossamole and Monty: Revenge Of The Mole, though the later I can kinda understand as that was a fan game developed for a contest. Still, the lack of anything outside of the ability to make save states and the rewind feature really does make this a disappointing collection.
Now, is there anything about this collection I liked? Well, I mean outside of the game preservation, there are some things I did like about this collection. I like the general idea for each game, Monty Mole is a nicely designed character, and I do like being able to play these older games that are older than me, so that’s cool. I also do like how the games aren’t just simple copies of each other, like admittedly most sequels of the era, with small additions to the gameplay to justify its existence. I mean, you go from mining in Wanted: Monty Mole, to helping with a jailbreak in Monty Is Innocent, to becoming a world class thief in Sam Stoat: Safebreaker, to becoming a fugitive on the run in Monty On The Run, to finally earning cash to buy yourself an island in Auf Wiedersehen Monty. You can’t get more creative with sequels than that if you tried so I must commend the original developers for doing some cool ideas. Even the included Christmas game, Moley Christmas, has a cool premise of Monty bringing his games to programers which is another awesome idea and, if I’m using the phrase correctly, very meta. But do these positives mean I recommend this collection? Well, that’s the million dollar question right there and, frankly, I’m in two mindsets here. If you grew up playing these games and want to relive some childhood nostalgia, then I do recommend the collection. But, if you have never played these games and want to experience some old school gaming, then that’s where I’m hesitant to say ‘yes’.
“Disappointed!”
When I do game reviews, I approach all games with an open mind as I genuinely want to be surprised by something. I’m not one to outright bash titles or call anything the WORST game ever made. I may be disappointed by a game but never to where I’ll call it the worst. A few came close, let me be clear, but I still ended up enjoying them. In regards to The Monty Mole Collection, this is a case of there is some enjoyment to be had but, ultimately, I was left feeling disappointed. While just seeing the games brought back to a modern audience is great and is a step in the right direction for game preservation, this collection isn't really worth your time unless you grew up playing these titles and want to relive your childhood. For everyone else, I’d say wait for a decent sale as the current price of $8.99 USD feels just a little too high for how little there is on offer. I tried to look for something I liked about the collection, as I do with many games, but it was like being disappointed in a meal you worked hard on: Yeah, it looks good and there are some bits and pieces here and there that could be edible, but you end up feeling more disappointed than satisfied.
Thanks to the developer & publisher for a key in exchange for an unbiased review
