CJ's Elephant Antics is a platform

Platform game

A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...

 video game developed by Genesis for the Commodore 64

Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...

 with conversions made for the Commodore

Commodore International

Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore Business Machines , the U.S.-based home computer manufacturer and electronics manufacturer headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania, which also housed Commodore's corporate parent company, Commodore International Limited...

 Amiga

Amiga

The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...

, Atari ST

Atari ST

The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...

, ZX Spectrum

ZX Spectrum

The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...

 and Nintendo Entertainment System

Nintendo Entertainment System

The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...

. All ports were handled by Genesis with the exception of the ZX Spectrum version which was handled by Big Red Software

Big Red Software

Big Red Software, also known as The Big Red Software Company Ltd, was a computer game developer set up in the UK in 1988 by Paul Ranson. It was bought out by, and merged with, Eidos Plc in 1995 along with Simis and Domark forming Eidos Interactive....

. The computer versions were published by Codemasters

Codemasters

The Codemasters Software Company Limited, or Codemasters is a British video game developer founded by Richard and David Darling in 1986...

 in 1991

1991 in video gaming

-Notable releases:*Microprose creates Civilization, Sid Meier's most successful game .*Electronic Arts releases James Pond 2 and Road Rash for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, starting a series of games that were popular in the 1990s....

. with the NES game arriving in 1992 as part of the unlicenced compilation cartridge Quattro Arcade. The player controls a baby elephant by the name of Columbus Jumbo on his way home to Africa.

Story

After being captured in Africa for the purpose of being put in a zoo, turbulence hits the plane transporting CJ to England causing his cage to open, he grabs a nearby umbrella and leaps out of the airplane while somewhere over France. After landing CJ realises he will have to make his way back home to Africa on foot.

Gameplay

CJ's Elephant Antics is a typical platform game of its era, apart from the elements usually associated with its genre the game also has a higher than normal emphasis on jumping from one small platform to another. CJ can jump by pushing up, has an unlimited amount of peanuts he can fire as projectiles, and a limited number of bombs thrown by pressing down on the controller, an umbrella also opens to slow down his descent when dropping from heights. The game also includes the option for two players to take part simultaneously in a co-operative fashion, though like many platformers of this era there are inherent problems in keeping both players on screen at once; CJ deals with this by only scrolling with player 1, and killing player 2 every time he leaves the screen; this system forces the players to move carefully in synchronization throughout much of the game.

Levels

Elephant Antics has a total of four levels each of which includes an end of level boss fight. The levels throughout the game are all countries that CJ must traverse to reach home, the levels are France, Switzerland, Egypt, and finally Africa. There is also a bike riding bonus stage that takes place between levels in which the player must avoid hazards and collect balloons this mode is however missing from the Spectrum and NES versions.

Items

Bombs - collecting these increase the amount of bombs you are carrying.

Invincibility Pill - Makes CJ invincible for a short time (absent from the NES version)

Cakes and Bananas - Collecting these give you points.

Fizzy Drink - Gives CJ a temporary speed boost (NES version only)

Map - Appears after each level boss is defeated, collect this to finish the stage.

Critical reaction

On release the 8-bit computer versions of CJ's Elephant Antics achieved consistently positive reviews from all major publications of the time receiving a 94% from Zzap!64

Zzap!64

Zzap!64 was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 . It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact....

, a 93% from Raze, 85% from Your Sinclair

Your Sinclair

Your Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated, was a British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum.-History:...

, and 81% from Crash

CRASH (magazine)

Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published from 1984 to 1991 by Newsfield Publications Ltd until their liquidation, and then until 1992 by Europress.-Development:...

. CJ's Elephant Antics was also numbered #55 in Crash's retrospective top 100 ZX Spectrum games feature and #34 in its public voted Spectrum top 50 of all time.

Reviews for the 16-bit Amiga and Atari ST versions were much more inconsistent and ranged from 83% in Amiga Force

Amiga Force

Amiga Force was a video games magazine launched towards the end of 1992 by Europress Impact. It lasted for 16 issues before going down with its publishers. The first issue of Amiga Force went on sale around September 1992. The magazine would switch to monthly release soon after. Amiga Force showed...

 to much lower scores such as the 63% it received in Amiga Power

Amiga Power

Amiga Power was a monthly magazine about Amiga computer games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and ran for 65 issues, from May 1991 to September 1996....

Influence

After its success CJ's Elephant Antics had a small but noticeable amount of influence on contemporary 8-bit micro platform games of the time, with many game designers borrowing its bomb feature, not least Codemasters themselves who made a good few games which were seen as CJ clones such as DJ Puff's Volcanic Adventure and Stuntman Seymour, both noted for their similarities to CJ by contemporary reviewers. This influence did not manage to sustain for any serious length of time and was in the end quite short-lived.

Sequels

CJ's Elephant Antics was well received when released and so spawned two sequels, CJ in the USA for most home computers and CJ Elephant Fugitive for the Game Gear.

There were also a further three games intended to be released that ended up being cancelled, the Master System version of CJ Elephant Fugitive, CJ in Space and CJ's Island Antics (working Title CJ's 4th). CJ's Island Antics was not developed by the original CJ team but had instead been outsourced by Codemasters to another team.

Though the 3rd game in the series CJ in Space was never commercially released the 4th game did see a partial release in Germany for the C64 as a free cover game with one of CP Verlag's digital magazines under the name "Jimbo"

Credits

Commodore 64 Version

Coder and Original Idea - Dave Clark

Graphics - Jonathan Smyth (Jonathan Temples)

Musician - Ashley Hogg

Commodore Amiga and Atari ST Versions

Coder - Ashley Hogg

Graphics - Jonathan Smyth (Jonathan Temples)

Musician - Allister Brimble

ZX Spectrum Version

Big Red Software - R. Fred Williams, Pete Ranson