Monty on the Run
Encyclopedia
Monty on the Run is a computer game created by the software house
Gremlin Graphics and released in 1985 for the C64
, Spectrum
, Amstrad CPC
and Commodore Plus/4
, written by Peter Harrap for the Spectrum
with music by Rob Hubbard
.
On the run from the authorities
after his intervention in the Miners' strike, Monty the mole
must escape from his house and head for the English Channel
and freedom in Europe
. In traditional platform game
fashion, along the way he needs to collect various objects and solve puzzles to complete his escape. Before the game, five objects must be chosen to form Monty's Freedom Kit. Choosing the wrong items will leave the player unable to pass certain screens. This also acted as an anti-piracy measure, since the objects were only given numbers onscreen meaning the player had to refer to the accompanying manual. The final screen sees Monty boarding a ferry to France. This was then the starting point for the follow-up Auf Wiedersehen Monty
.
The game has a sense of British surrealness similar to Manic Miner
and Jet Set Willy
- in gameplay it is more similar to the latter. Enemies patrol every screen, water is deadly to the touch and Monty runs the risk of being squashed by the many pistons.
version was produced by Micro Projects Ltd, joint owned by Anthony Clarke and Jason Perkins, with graphical input by Mark Rodgers and music by Rob Hubbard
.
The music for the Commodore 64 version is regarded as one of the best computer game scores for that platform. The main game theme was, according to Hubbard, inspired by "Devil's Galop", the theme tune to the radio serial Dick Barton
. It was rated #1 on Skytopia's list of The All-Time Top C64 Game Tunes .
released a significantly altered version of Monty on the Run exclusively in Japan
for the Family Computer Disk System under the name of Monty no Doki Doki Daisassou.
The game itself bears very little resemblance to the original version, for instance, Monty Mole has been replaced with a human (who bears a striking resemblance to Peter Sutcliffe
) on the run from prison and now has to escape through various Aztec
-like temples.
The only real association the game does have with the original is Gremlin's copyright and the familiar "in-game" theme playing on the title screen.
Like many Famicom Disk System titles, Monty no Doki Doki Daisassou is little known outside of Japan as the game was never ported to cartridge for a Western NES
release.
#158 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column, as part of the Mastertronic
MEGA Pack of 10 games previously released in Europe. The reviewers normally gave a game a rating from 1 to 5 stars, but they gave this game an "X" for "Not recommended", stating "It crashed every time we tried to play it".
Software house
A software house is a company whose primary products are software.- Types :There are a number of different types of software houses:*Large and well-known companies such as Microsoft, SAP AG, Oracle Corporation, HP, Adobe Systems, Apple Inc...
Gremlin Graphics and released in 1985 for the C64
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...
, Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
and Commodore Plus/4
Commodore Plus/4
The Commodore Plus/4 was a home computer released by Commodore International in 1984. The "Plus/4" name refers to the four-application ROM resident office suite ; it was billed as "the productivity computer with software built-in"...
, written by Peter Harrap for the Spectrum
Spectrum
A spectrum is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continuum. The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a prism; it has since been applied by...
with music by Rob Hubbard
Rob Hubbard
Rob Hubbard is a music composer best known for his composition of computer game theme music, especially for microcomputers of the 1980s such as the Commodore 64...
.
On the run from the authorities
Policing in the United Kingdom
Law enforcement in the United Kingdom is organised separately in each of the legal systems of the United Kingdom: England & Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland ....
after his intervention in the Miners' strike, Monty the mole
Mole (animal)
Moles are small cylindrical mammals adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They have velvety fur; tiny or invisible ears and eyes; and short, powerful limbs with large paws oriented for digging. The term is especially and most properly used for the true moles, those of the Talpidae family in the...
must escape from his house and head for the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
and freedom in Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
. In traditional platform game
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...
fashion, along the way he needs to collect various objects and solve puzzles to complete his escape. Before the game, five objects must be chosen to form Monty's Freedom Kit. Choosing the wrong items will leave the player unable to pass certain screens. This also acted as an anti-piracy measure, since the objects were only given numbers onscreen meaning the player had to refer to the accompanying manual. The final screen sees Monty boarding a ferry to France. This was then the starting point for the follow-up Auf Wiedersehen Monty
Auf Wiedersehen Monty
Auf Wiedersehen Monty is a computer game for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and MSX. Released in 1987, it is the fourth of the Monty series, following Monty is Innocent, Monty on the Run and the successful original Wanted: Monty Mole...
.
The game has a sense of British surrealness similar to Manic Miner
Manic Miner
Manic Miner is a platform game originally written for the ZX Spectrum by Matthew Smith and released by Bug-Byte in 1983 . It is the first game in the Miner Willy series and among the pioneers of the platform game genre. The game itself was inspired by the Atari 800 game Miner 2049er...
and Jet Set Willy
Jet Set Willy
Jet Set Willy is a computer game originally written for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published in 1984 by Software Projects and ported to most home computers of the time....
- in gameplay it is more similar to the latter. Enemies patrol every screen, water is deadly to the touch and Monty runs the risk of being squashed by the many pistons.
Commodore 64 version
The C64Commodore 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...
version was produced by Micro Projects Ltd, joint owned by Anthony Clarke and Jason Perkins, with graphical input by Mark Rodgers and music by Rob Hubbard
Rob Hubbard
Rob Hubbard is a music composer best known for his composition of computer game theme music, especially for microcomputers of the 1980s such as the Commodore 64...
.
The music for the Commodore 64 version is regarded as one of the best computer game scores for that platform. The main game theme was, according to Hubbard, inspired by "Devil's Galop", the theme tune to the radio serial Dick Barton
Dick Barton
Dick Barton - Special Agent was a popular radio programme on the BBC Light Programme. Between 1946 to 1951 it aired at 6.45 each weekday evening and at its peak it had an audience of 15 million listeners. Despite popular belief, it was not actually the BBC's first daily serial...
. It was rated #1 on Skytopia's list of The All-Time Top C64 Game Tunes .
Family Computer Disk System version
In , JalecoJaleco
is a Japanese video game publisher and developer established in 2006.The original Jaleco Ltd was founded in 1974. In 2006, it decided to become a pure holding company by renaming itself Jaleco Holding and splitting its video game operations into a newly created subsdiary that took its former name...
released a significantly altered version of Monty on the Run exclusively in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
for the Family Computer Disk System under the name of Monty no Doki Doki Daisassou.
The game itself bears very little resemblance to the original version, for instance, Monty Mole has been replaced with a human (who bears a striking resemblance to Peter Sutcliffe
Peter Sutcliffe
Peter William Sutcliffe is a British serial killer who was dubbed "The Yorkshire Ripper". In 1981 Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attacking seven others. He is currently serving 20 sentences of life imprisonment in Broadmoor Hospital...
) on the run from prison and now has to escape through various Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
-like temples.
The only real association the game does have with the original is Gremlin's copyright and the familiar "in-game" theme playing on the title screen.
Like many Famicom Disk System titles, Monty no Doki Doki Daisassou is little known outside of Japan as the game was never ported to cartridge for a Western NES
Nes
-Localities:In Norway:* Nes, Akershus, a municipality in the county of Akershus in Norway* Nes, Buskerud, a municipality in the county of Buskerud in Norway* Nes, Hedmark, a former municipality in the county of Hedmark in Norway...
release.
Reception
The game was reviewed in 1990 in DragonDragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#158 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column, as part of the Mastertronic
Mastertronic
Mastertronic was originally a publisher and distributor of low-cost computer game software founded in 1983. Their first games were distributed in mid-1984. At its peak the label was the dominant software publisher in the UK, a position achieved by selling cassette-based software at the £1.99...
MEGA Pack of 10 games previously released in Europe. The reviewers normally gave a game a rating from 1 to 5 stars, but they gave this game an "X" for "Not recommended", stating "It crashed every time we tried to play it".
External links
- Monty on the Run theme (MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
) [broken link] - Monty on the Run theme song on Youtube
- Monty on the Run gameplay video
- ScrewAttack's Video Retrospective on the series which contains footage of the Famicom version.
- Longplay (avi, 45 MB)