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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