Harlequin
| Developer: The Warp Factory | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Gremlin | Sound: |
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| Year: 1992 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Platformer | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
8/10 | |
A very peculiar platformer. You play as Harlequin in the imaginary world of Chimerica, once idyllic but now left in ruins. I can’t summarise the goal better than the game’s manual:
You must find the four broken parts of Chimerica’s heart, take them to the level with bars, sheets and notes, and find the exit which has now become a heart.
There you go. Along the way, you destroy monsters by throwing hearts at them, fiddle with buttons, and pick up random items – just like any respectable platformer.
The surreal, sometimes eerie atmosphere and the ever-changing mechanics keep things fresh throughout. I appreciated the built-in save option and the ability to revisit previously explored levels. The music is lovely, although it does get on your nerves after a while. Press “F10” to switch to sound effects instead of music (might require a memory expansion).
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