Game Review: Jackle and Wide (MSX, Bulldog)

Jackle and Wide (or to give it its full title as on the title screen, Dr Jackle and Mr Wide) was originally created by Stephen Curtis. When you read the instructions on the cassette inlay, the plot is very reminiscent of a famous horror story. In effect Dr Jackle had created a transforming potion and had transformed himself into his alter ego, Mr Wide, who by all accounts is a completely evil man. The transformation undertaken must be reversed in some way. To do this, Dr Piquet, who is the rival, had created a formula, so he may have an antidote. Of course, like with all villains, this lair happens to be in the maze of sewers below Hyde Park in central London. So effectively, find your way there and get to the antidote.

Where The Streets Have No Name

Unlike the other versions, there is no loading screen to speak of, although the game does load quite quickly. The most basic of title screens appears, with options to select keyboard or joystick. Even if you do select the joystick option, you will mainly use this to move around and fire any objects and will still need to use the keys on the keyboard in the maze sections for being able to take, drop and list the objects that you find along the way. You do start in the maze, where there are a series of screens you can only move up or down between – there is no left or right movement here which makes it feel more like an unnamed street with plenty of hazards.

It is above ground that you will find the sewer entrances, marked with an underground sign as if they were disguised as a tube station entrance.  You may be tempted to go in straight away, but in fact this may not be a good move, as some of those sewers are full of rising water which can be detrimental to your energy on contact. If only there was a way to stop that. Also, one of the entrances to the sewers looks like it is blocked. Are you able to find something to get across the gap or even cut through the gap to where you need to go? You get the idea here. These are standard arcade adventure game puzzles that initially do seem a bit confusing, but there are some useful hints in the instructions and indeed on some of the screens, so do read them carefully.

Sewer Shenanigans

Once you have explored above ground, you will need to find the underground entrance where the door is open, and explore the sewer. These have to be explored in order, and you need to find the way out once you get in. Blocking your way are bubbles, spikes which can be shot with a certain object to increase your energy, and also beakers full of liquid which you should not attempt to jump over, or you will fall in with an instant game over. The enemies here do at least show themselves, although the lack of using hardware sprites here does mean that on some screens, the actions slows down to a crawl without any explanation why this is – for example if it was a screen of fog in the sewer, or it had an affect on you meaning you had to move slower, that would be forgivable to a degree, but it does not seem to have much flow here.

The first sewer has a wet and watery setting which can drown you, and you need to find an object to have in your possession from the labyrinth to avoid the water showing on screen rising up. It is worth noting that there are nine sewers in all to explore, and one of them you will not be able to reach unless you cut a way through to the entrance. To do this, and to use any object in the game, you have to drop the object at the point where it needs to be used, so no use object key as such. Pressing T takes an object, D drops and L lists the objects you have in your possession. You then have to press ENTER to exit after doing so, which is not mentioned and at first, I thought the game had crashed until I pressed that key. You may find that finding the right place to drop the object rather than knowing that you need to use that object to resolve the puzzle can mean it becomes a little obscure as to where it needs to be dropped.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

As an example of this, as you progress through the maze section, you will reach a quarry entrance with a rock blocking your way. Just how do you get past that rock? Well, not easily. Not unless you have a certain object in your possession and drop it by the rock.  The screen does at least give you some hints, saying “to the left” so dropping the object you need to the left of the rock will mean it gets shifted, and you can proceed through. Once in the quarry, you can locate not only the rusty old key which can be used to unlock a particular door, but also the final sewer as well. Is that where Dr Piquet is hiding with the antidote, you wonder? Well, there is only one way to find out.

As you do get further in the game, there is no score or percentage complete whatsoever. You have a timer counting down above ground and one with less time in the sewer sections, and also in the sewer, an energy bar in the bottom which depletes when in contact with an enemy. You can increase it here, but you will need to know what to fire and at which of those enemies in order to do this. Thankfully the energy is topped up when you enter the next sewer, so it does not at least become death by a few contacts but instead a fairer challenge. It still does take some time to explore and find your way out, but when you do, that sewer is closed and the next one opens so you know, albeit even if it is a linear quest, which one is next to go and explore. It is a double-edged sword – yes you know where to go, but what also about the freedom to choose the one you want to go down at first before then heading to the final sewer?

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Jackle and Wide are ported over straight from the ZX Spectrum, with the high-resolution graphics looking okay in the above ground maze, but become a bit of a colourful mess when in the sewers. The animation is not that good either, with a strange set of movements, more so for the crosses. Considering the MSX has hardware sprites, surely these could have been used instead to have a much cleaner look and feel – and indeed have more colour which would be more suited to the machine. The sound is hardly existent here either, and surely a nice tune playing would have added to the look and feel, especially as there’s a decent sound chip which could have been utilised. Some of those shortcomings do sadly smack of a simple porting job.

Final Thoughts

Jackle and Wide initially seems confusing as an arcade adventure, in terms of working out what the objects and the fact that to use them, you have to drop them in the right place. Get the hang of it, and you can go further in the game to a degree, although it should be noted that the slow downs on some of the sewer sections make no sense and hinder your progress. The whole game looks like a quick port over rather than take advantage of what the MSX would be able to offer, and that does mean that it looks and plays cheaply rather than be a more enjoyable experience overall. Once you do manage to complete the game, the replay value will be minimal too. Not that good to be honest.

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