Manic Miner - GBA

A wise man once said, "It is a brave man that shall jump over the toilet in Eugene's Lair. For the long road to the Final Barrier is a road fraught with Mutant Telephones!"

Or maybe he didn't. It could quite possibly have been a dream. But when you're a mere seven years old these kinds of things can be expected. It was 1983 and the high-tech, sophisticated circuitry of the rubber-keyed Speccy 48k was on fire as it crunched the 0s and 1s that made up Matthew Smith's all-time classic Manic Miner.

Almost 20 years on and Miner Willy's explorative adventure deep into the earth's core can now be embarked upon again via the Game Boy Advance.

Featuring a twenty-first century visual and aural makeover, the GBA re-release of Manic Miner retains the tightly balanced platform basis and level design of the 1980s original, and adds 10 all-new stages. Purists will be pleased to know that this comes in the form of an Enhanced Game option, with the Original Game option available as well.

For those of you uneducated as to the proceedings in Manic Miner, the game structure is based around a series of platform-filled stages, populated by an array of hazards. Deadly assailants, such as fast-moving toilets, strange aliens and evil penguins, patrol set routes within each stage. Willy must negotiate platforms, avoid contact with the bizarre assailants, collect a number of keys and make it to the exit before a limited air supply expires.

This version is extremely faithful to the original, so will no doubt please Matthew Smith devotees everywhere. It also was, and still is, a great game, and therefore should appeal to the GBA generation who have probably never heard of the adventures of Miner Willy. more