REVIEW: Plok 1993 SNES
	By: Software creations Type: platform Players: 1 Difficulty: Hard

Our hero is a strange ragdoll-like creature with a fixation on flags who flings his detachable velcro limbs around to defend himself. And his name is Plok. Someone's been sniffing white powder at Software creations....
 
The game starts when Plok notices that his favorite flag has been ripped off and taken to the neighbouring isle of Cotton Island. After a set of fairly straightforward introduction levels set on Cotton Island, Plok retrieves his beloved flag and returns home to the island Acrillic. But once there -shock!- it turns out that in Plok's absence, a horde of fleas has overrun the island and has nicked every single one of his flags. Ach, das ist eine kollosale Konspiration! This, of course, means war, but the disaster is so horrible that even the UN army was too scared to come, so Plok has to clear up this mess on his own.
 
The levels on Acrillic form the main part of the game. To complete these vast levels, Plok must kill every flea infesting it and then head for the exit. It's not easy, though: the levels are very big and the fleas often hide out in the most awkward corners. Other enemies, and puzzles that involve having to "sacrifice" one of Plok's limbs to activate switches (thus gradually decreasing Plok's mobility and his chances in battle - not easy to run, jump and fight with the odd arm or legg missing-) make matters even more difficult. But, impressively, Plok's difficulty curve is well-dosed and it never seems too unfair. There is absolutely loads to see and do, and there's plenty of variety thanks to clever new gameplay elements that are gradually added as you progress through the levels.
 
Plok's token power-boosting pick-up are shells, and they look so lovely and chubby that you get a strange, compulsive urge to nab as many of them as you can. They also award extra lives and serve as ammo for a special amulet, so they're funcitional as well as pretty. Never has a small pick-up added so much to a game's experience.
 
A word about the graphics: they're very well done, with lots of color and attention to detail. The backgrounds, in particular, are something special. They often look like impressionist paintings (you know, those pastelly paintings that look like they're made up out of small dots), and manage to create a very special, sort of Meditteranean-vacation (or Mediterranée shop window) atmosphere to the game.
 
That's all very well, but the music steals the show even more than the graphics. I should probably stop falling in love with videogame soundtracks all the time, but when it's as good as this, it's difficult not to. All of the music is very well composed, and although there are a few upbeat and boppy tracks, the general mood it generates is a dreamy, layd-back and wonderfully relaxing (but sometimes spooky) one. Extra kudos must go to the boss BGM, which is absolutely brilliant: it has a superb beat and a great scary laugh cuts in a few times. Excellent stuff.
 
Of course, nothing can be absolutely perfect, and Plok does have some shortcomings: some of the levels get a bit long in the tooth and frustrating and sometimes Plok is just a teeny bit rusty to control. But the only serious flaw is that there is no save or password option at all. In a game this large and challenging, that is quite a serious shortcoming, but it doesn't completely ruin the whole game, so it can be forgiven.
 
It's obvious, after all, that Plok tries very hard to be a quality piece of software, and for a large part, it succeeds brilliantly. So, thumbs up to Plok. It's not perfect, but it's jolly good fun all the same. Platform fans, you know what to do. - Toasty 90%

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