Game Review: Manic Miner (Commodore 64, Mastertronic)

Manic Miner started life on the ZX Spectrum, and became an iconic game for that system, with so many game players attempting to crack all twenty caverns and get as far as they could, with its maddeningly addictive gameplay.  After the original Bug Byte release on the Spectrum and subsequent ownership of the game by Software Projects, it did not take long for Software Projects to realise a Commodore 64 version, which surfaced late 1983.   But would it succeed in being just as iconic here?  Only one way to find out, and, unlike the Software Projects version, loading on this re-release is thankfully a lot quicker.

The plot is that Miner Willy stumbles across a long-forgotten mind shaft in Surbiton, and finds evidence of a lost civilisation, complete with automatons who dug into the Earth’s core.  After wars underground, no one told the robots to stop working, so there is now a stockpile of valuable metals and minerals.  As such, Miner Willy now sees that as an opportunity to make his fortune by finding the underground store.  Naturally of course there are spiders, pansies, and slime (ie: collapsing platforms) and worst of all, the manic mining robots.

Blue Bum Notes

As the game loads and the title screen displays, a version of The Blue Danube plays, albeit with some notes sounding deliberately off.  Chris Lancaster explained that for this version, he was not sure whether to go slightly out of tune like the Spectrum version, and opted for a selection of that and a cleaner version, with different instruments.  The piano keyboard behaves the same way, showing the notes playing.  Leave the game on the title screen for a while and after the scrolling message has displayed, you will get a view of the screens to come, which gives you an idea of what you are letting yourself in for.

Central Cavern Conundrums

As ever, you start in the central cavern, the first of the twenty in all.  The aim of each cavern seems relatively simple: collect all the flashing objects on screen, and then head for the exit, marked normally with a square box that acts as the portal.  This portal flashes when all the objects are collected, and you need to reach there before the time runs out.  There is the air meter, which acts as a timer – if you run out of air, you lose a life.  You can also lose a life by colliding with any of the robots or static object such as the spiders or pansies or by falling too far from a platform as well – so the key is to avoid that where possible.

Cavern Collision

You will soon work out a suitable route to get through the cavern to head along the top, and collect the flashing keys.  This is where you will also note that the collision detection with the static objects is not always as good as it should be.  The collisions between Willy and the other robots as sprites are spot on, but you can sometimes be slightly left of a flashing object and still touch it, and the same goes for the static objects such as the pansies – you can hit them mid-jump without realising you are that close.  It can take some getting used to, particularly if you have played the Spectrum version, and once you do, you will progress further each time.

In the Hall of the Mountain King

Throughout the game, a repetitive rendition of In the Hall of the Mountain King plays.  Mercifully, you can turn this off with a press of the K key, and the L key turns the music back on (if you really must do so.)  You can also press A to pause the game too. You will find it easier and less distracting to play with the sound effects only, but you need to do this every time that you play.  As per the original version, scoring 10,000 points does reward you with an extra life, and you would need to get to around the seventh cavern to get to that total, so a reasonably fair difficulty curve and time to learn the level layouts and what best to do when.  The Spectrum review has listed all twenty caverns extensively, so please do refer to that if you wish to know what awaits you.

Platform Perfection

Being the platform game that it is, the same basic rules apply.  The slime are platforms which collapse under Miner Willy unless jumped off very quickly, and are easily distinguishable from the solid platforms throughout.  The platforms do require some precision jumping, and thankfully the collision with those to land on them properly is spot on, so if you do miss a landing, it is wholly down to you.  The conveyor belts normally take you in one direction but you can walk or jump against that if you need to.  The jumping arc animation and sound is also faithfully reproduced here, and knowing how that arc works along with the sound effect continuing as you fall is key to not losing a life too easily.

Python-Esque Playability

As well as the barbed sense of humour that the original level names have, with Attack of the Mutant Telephones being an obvious nod to the great Jeff Minter and a certain camel themed game of his, and Eugene’s Lair being based on Eugene Evans, one of the co-founders of the original Imagine Software, there is also the game over sequence, which thankfully is the same as the original – when you have lost all your lives, the screen flashes different colours rapidly, (with a high-pitched descending sound) and then  a foot from an extending leg starts moving downwards towards Miner Willy on a pedestal, and then compacted – all very Monty Python styled and with a real sense of humour.  Very silly, very silly indeed.

The playability certainly for the most part is there.  All the platforms and the way to get around each cavern is faithful enough, just marred by that slightly off collision detection between the static objects and Miner Willy.  What it does have is that same one more go factor, which does mean that you will want to go back and try again until you get to the final cavern or switch off in frustration, and with equal measure.  What made the game great in the first place is still here and certainly it was enjoyable even if I made the occasional same mistake repeatedly!

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Manic Miner are like the Spectrum original in that they are single colour for all the mining robots, the backdrops, and platforms.  However, because of the hardware sprites in use on this version, there is no colour clash to speak of, and although the colour choices can be gaudy – for example The Cold Room, it does at least resemble how it should be.  The sound, however, has not been improved on, just replicating the same off-key feel of the title screen’s version of the Blue Danube and the repetitive ten or so seconds of In the Hall of the Mountain King.  Granted it was early in the Commodore gaming era also, but better music was available even then and it did seem like a missed opportunity to use the SID chip a bit more.

Final Thoughts

Manic Miner is certainly, after all these years, still an addictive and fun game to play.  The lure of being able to get through all twenty caverns is very strong, and it may look and sound a little primitive, but the gameplay is all there, complete with that sense of realising you have made a wrong turn and fall to your doom and a life lost in the process.  The collision detection with the static objects is a little bit of a let down in part, but once you are used to how that works you can get around the caverns easily enough and soon make good progress.  It is a very worthwhile conversion, and one which, if you do not have a Spectrum, is more than adequate to sample the classic era of games on.

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