Game Review: The Exploits of Fingers Malone (Commodore 16 and Plus/4, Mastertronic)

The Exploits of Fingers Malone (which I shall refer to by its shortened name of Fingers Malone for the remainder of this review) is the first Mastertronic game to be programmed by Doug Turner, who had previously produced an excellent conversion of Icicle Works for the Plus/4 (or Commodore 16 with 16K RAM expansion).  For this and indeed the later game Prospector Pete, Doug would also use British Software as his company moniker.

In the game, you will need to collect the money that has been stolen in recent bank raids, and use the keys to open the safe.  However, the bank raiders themselves are also on to you, and will want to stop you getting away with it.  The four raiders themselves are nicely animated on the title screen, and in a clear nod to another game, they are called Blinky, Sparky, Thingy and Wotsit, the latter even looking like a grey version of a well-known snack along the way.  It is a nice touch to show them here, and you can press RETURN to toggle the controls between keyboard and joystick.

Cracking the Safe

As soon as you start the game, the opening level gets you straight into the action with two of the bank raiders to face. To exit the level, you need to walk over all the platforms to light them up (and once you walk over them, they stay lit unless you lose a life) and you can walk over coins (which increase the money you earn) as well as keys.  The keys also increase your money by £5 a key, and opening the safe also gives you a hefty increase of your money too, by £10.  Effectively, the way to complete the level is to get all the keys, locate the safe and press fire when over the safe to open it, and once you have lit up all the platforms, head to the exit and press fire to exit the level.  That may sound relatively simple in theory, but in practice, a different matter entirely.

Heading to a Safe Place

There are on each level two types of ladder.  One will move you up to the next platform, and one will move you down.  You will soon find out which is which, although it should be said that the animation on them does allow you to work out which one is up and which is down.  Levels also have lifts too – if the platform is the same level as the lift, you can press up and down to move up and down the lift to another platform, and you also on one of the platforms (indicated by a blue button) the ability to call the lift too, which means you can then bring it to your level and move along – a nice way of resetting if you need.

In later levels, things get even more fiendish.  There are platforms which appear and disappear, and you need to time your run across to ensure that you can make sure you are not floating on air – or is it a life lost.  They can either disappear from left to right or up and down, so timing is key.  In addition, there are also some teleport switches which you can activate which will place you elsewhere within the level, quite handy when you want to get to other parts you cannot reach.  Oh, and watch out for the dummy switches, such as the one that drops a ten-ton weight on you when activated and you lose a life!

The Safest Way to Go

Often what might seem the quickest way is also the riskiest – with the raiders coming at you as they can ascend and descend the ladders as they move around.  Some are more prone to moving in certain ways and it is learning that which really does mean you get further.  There are however two things gamers will find frustrating in that if you lose a life, the whole level resets, meaning you cannot keep hold of any platforms you have walked over or keys collected, and in addition, sometimes the ladder movement is a bit too finicky, your character must be central to it rather than just adjacent to move up and down.  Some of the ladders are set so if you are at the edge of the platform, you are also central to the ladder, but a little bit more care is required in some instances.

Thankfully, you do get eight lives, and an extra life when you complete a level, and when your money totals multiples of £100 too – and if a level has three or four keys plus a safe to open, you can gain an extra live every third of fourth attempt even if you do not complete the level.  The only thing which would also be useful is the ability to start at the level you last reached, so you could at least continue from there and see more of the game as you play.    There is also a time limit on the level and running out of time loses a life – although any time remaining is converted to money to add on to your score too.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Fingers Malone do have splashes of colour with the palette well used – the ladders are distinct for moving up and down, and yourself as well as the raiders have nice little animations along the way.  The level design with the graphics means it is clear where to go and what to do, and certainly what adds to that are the sound effects, with distinct noises when you run over a platform, collect a key, move the lift, open the safe and a nice white noise crashing effect when you lose a life.  There is no music sadly, but the effects are at least an enhancement to the game.

Final Thoughts

The Exploits of Fingers Malone certainly is a well thought out if at times difficult game.  The platforms and ladders action, minus jumping, means that you need to think carefully about the route for each level, dodging the raiders, and collecting those all-important keys to open the safe.  There are fifteen levels too which means that it will be a considerable time before you get to see the later stages of the game, and you do get further each go which lessens the frustration of the alignment for the ladders somewhat.   A good little game overall.

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