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GAME REVIEWED: Chip's Challenge
RELEASED BY: Microsoft
PRICE: £??.??
REVIEWED BY: G-String
REVIEW: -
Made in 1992, I'm going back six years to review Chip's Challenge. This game is a puzzle game. You are Chip, a wee guy on the screen. Chip is willing to do anything for Melinda the Mental Marvel, more than anything, because he wants to join Melinda's exclusive computer club, the Bit Busters. Finally Melinda has offered him membership, but on one condition! Chip must find his way from one end of Melinda's magical clubhouse to the other, picking up cosmic computer chips along the way. If that sounds easy, then you've never been to Melinda's magical clubhouse. It's awesome inside, but tricky, and a little scary too (well it was back then). There are teleports, invisible walls, force floors, water traps, locked doors, and plenty of monsters. There's magic, mystery, and behind the scenes there is Melinda, keeping score on your progress and providing helpful hints. As you succeed in helping Chip move through each level of the clubhouse, Melinda gives you a secret password that allows you to return. And Melinda rewards perseverance. If she thinks Chip has tried long enough and hard enough on a level, she'll let him sneak through to the next level. But it takes a lot of perseverance to impress her. How big is the clubhouse? 144 levels is the rumour. But some claim that Melinda is still building. In any case, it defies dimensions so don't get lost.
The object of the game is to collect all the required chips in a level and then go to the exit. But that is easier said than done. The game is based on levels. Each level is made up of a series of squares. Each square is a place where Chip can move. The level could be made of any number of squares, the minimum is 23 X 23 which is 529. The level is basically a maze. A square can either be floor space, a wall, water, sand, dirt, or an invisible wall. Each square can only be occupied by one object. There are blocks, pop-up walls, buttons, doors, thin panel walls, toggle walls, walls which may or may not be there, force floors, bombs, fire, ice and of course, monsters and bugs which can occupy these squares. As Chip, you have to face Blobs, which squish whatever or whoever comes into their path, Pink Balls, which bounce of objects, Bugs, which follow the left walls, Fireballs, which turn right when they hit an object, Gliders, which turn left when they hit an object, Paramecia, which follow the right wall, Tanks, which stop when they hit an object or reverse when their button is pressed, Walkers, which bounce of objects in random directions, Spies, who steal whatever items you have in your inventory, and Teeth, which chase you, chattering all the way.
But don't despair!! The lovely Melinda has created tools to help our beloved Chip. He now has Question Marked squares which provide hints and tips and general advice. Coloured keys which open the same colour door (there are four different coloured doors, green, red, yellow, and blue. One key opens one door, after that it is lost, except for green keys which can be used over and over again.). Dirt stops the monsters from reaching Chip but turn to floor when he sets foot on them. Gravel blocks the monsters even when Chip is on them. Blocks can help Chip travel across water. Flippers, Ice Skates, Fireboots, and Suction boots allow Chip to swim, walk on ice, walk through fire and force floors. Teleports transfer Chip to another one. And Clone machines duplicate whatever is inside them.
The levels start off piss easy and then gradually get harder. I am currently on level 141 and I am stuck. My sister and I used to be addicted to the game. One night we spent four hours ploughing through the levels, we were sad deprived children in those days, who never dreamed about Lara Croft and Football. After about 20 levels you notice some sneaky things have been done to the levels. They seem impossible to do. I still can't do level 47 which is called Pier Seven. For a whole year I was stuck on Scavenger Hunt. It was impossible. Another year was spent on Spiral, kind Melinda let me skip it otherwise I'd be in a mental institute. Yes, those were the days of fun. the days of listening to Chip say "Bummer" as he drowned, cremated, was eaten or squashed. the days of listening to him zapping through teleports. Oh shit, I'm going all goo-goo now. Damn!
The Game has kept me entertained for six years. I was given it when I bought my first PC. I therefore think of it as a worthwhile game that will last for ages and ages, as it has already done so. The graphics are really simple as you will see in the screen shots. This game deserves the 466Kb it uses on every computer.
The game was created by Tony Krueger for the Microsoft Entertainment Pack series 4. The artwork was done by Ed Halley. I give credit to these guys for keeping me interested in computer games and for making me appreciate the old games. I'm not sure if you can still buy the game, you'd better ask Microsoft about it.
SCORE:
84% (I'd give it 100% if I was allowed!)
MINIMUM HARDWARE REQUIRED:
CPU: 386
RAM: 4MB
1MB HD Space
Windows
LINKS: www.microsft.com