SPACE MOUSE 35th Anniversary edition - review

A review I posted on Steam with regard to SPACE MOUSE 35th Anniversary edition.




This is a good, solid, fun little retro game.

My first reaction to hearing about this game was "surely a game from a magazine listing from 1981 will be too simple to have enduring appeal", and the idea of someone selling a game that's from a magazine listing seemed... well, lazy.

For anyone who doesn't remember, back in the early 1980s when home computing was first starting to take off, computer enthusiast magazines would sometimes include game listings for you to key in and play. This was back in the days before they began to tape recorded media to magazine covers.

I remember typing in game listings - back in the early 1980s - and... well, I learned two things. 1) how to type accurately, and 2) that games you type in from magazine listings generally aren't worth the time they take to type in.

The other thing is - I wasn't playing on home computers in 1981. I was three years old, and there are Atari 2600 joysticks in my mum's house with my baby teething marks imprinted upon them. I was beating my parents at Space Invaders. The first home computer game I played was "Radar Rat Race" on C64, a clone of Namco's Rally X by HAL Laboratories. It came on a cartridge. Yes, more mazes and mice! It was quite good... but my ideas of what a home computer game from 1981 are, are - "very, very basic".

So this is how I came into SPACE MOUSE. No history of playing the game any time previously in its 35 years, and with the pre-conception that it probably wasn't going to be worth my time.

It turned out that my expectations were wrong.

The default version of the game that you get to play is the "NES ARR" version - i.e. the game as imagined if it were for the Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicon), and it's been given a few extra features and enough polish to make it feel as new as maybe.... 1985! The game also includes a few other versions, including the original PC-8001 version.

The basic game is - you control a little thingie that can only move left, right, and up, and you need to travel ever upwards through a maze-like level, while avoiding enemies that flow through the level in a predictable pattern - similar to those water flow puzzles you sometimes see. There is one power up, and it allows you to bust through walls for a short period of time.

I don't know whether that simple description does the game justice. Despite being so simple, reading the flow of enemies and the layout of the maze before you gives it challenge beyond mere twitchy arcade play - you're always looking for the best route as you traverse forwards, waiting for the perfect time to move.

The NES Arranged version adds a little complexity; music, nicer graphics, helpful messages to the player, keys and extra lives to collect, and a few little hidden secrets and mechanics. Also, you can ram enemies when powered up, to beat them and earn points. It really is a big improvement to the game.

The original developer of this game went on to work for Enix and Namco, before leaving the industry to become a medical doctor. I do wonder whether elements of SPACE MOUSE were combined with Dig Dug then inverted, to influence the creation of one of my favourite games - Mr Driller. It is all vertical scrolling to the goal while racing an ever-decreasing air supply, after all.

Overall: this game really exceeded my expectations and is a lot of good, simple fun. I recommend it.