Pink Panther
| Developer: reLINE | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Magic Bytes | Sound: |
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| Year: 1988 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Noun syntagma | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
3/10 | |
Help the Pink Panther rob vast mansions without arousing the suspicions of their sleepwalking inhabitants. You move across two planes, much like Premiere, and use various tricks to influence the sleepwalker’s movements, similar to Sleepwalker and Brat.
For example, the tinkling of your bell (joystick button + “up”, though it doesn’t seem to work all the time) will make your host turn. He’ll move from the first to the second plane. Conversely, a flick (joystick button + direction opposite to his movement) will send him back to the first plane, and/or make him do a half-turn (I still don’t get under what condition). If an obstacle appears in his path, use your inflatable accessories like a trampoline or a ramp. You can also use a cartoon-style black hole to stick to the ground in case your nemesis, Inspector Clouseau, starts chasing you…
The first few minutes are confusing, as you must perform the required actions without losing a single second and with no room for error. After dozens of failed attempts, you’ll manage to move a few metres before failing again and starting over. Confusion turns into frustration, which leads to utter boredom once you succumb to the temptation of looking up a walkthrough. Ironically, even the Pink Panther herself starts dozing off. You fix this by activating an alarm clock, at a sufficient distance from the sleepwalker, meaning you’ll have to leave him unsupervised for a few moments.
I almost forgot one last obvious thing that the game doesn’t explain: the panther can’t cross certain areas, which is why there are doors in the background leading to the other side. How do you get through these doors? Not a clue! Equipped with a manual and a solution, I’m still too thick to figure out how a door handle works.
As for the fourth image… No idea there either. Could it be the ending scene of the game, accessible by pressing a button from the first screen? A programmer’s joke? Good grief, no fewer than seven programmers seem to have been involved!
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