Super Hunchback
Encyclopedia
is an early Game Boy
video game. Published by Ocean
, it is a sequel to their 1984 conversion of the 1983 Century Electronics arcade machine Hunchback and features many similar obstacles. It is notable for its high level of technical accomplishment. The title screen bears a 1991 copyright, the cartridge label records the year as 1992.
, could advance from one section to the next by locating and ringing a giant bell. Progress is hindered by obstacles such as cannonballs (which can be ridden but will catapult Quasimodo across the screen if he takes a side hit), arrows, bubbles, swinging ropes and rolling logs. Some sections feature water portions. There is an emphasis on hidden sections and on quick play - losing a life causes the player to be returned to a nearby location with no break in gameplay.
Fruit
is littered throughout the levels and can be collected for points. At the end of each level, the player is told what percentage of fruit they found and awarded an extra life if they managed to collect 100%. Each section is played against the clock, represented as a burning fuse at the bottom of the screen. Collecting hourglass
es gives extra time.
Bonus levels, entered by jumping into a spinning warp, give a chance to earn an extra life if the player is able to collect ten pieces of fruit and get to the exit within a very short time. Only when this is successfully done is the bonus level considered complete. Subsequent warps will repeatedly return Quasimodo to the same bonus level until it is completed.
If time ran out then a giant bell, presumably Emmanuel from Notre Dame de Paris
, would fall from the sky capturing Quasimodo and causing him to lose a life.
Despite coverage by the popular Nintendo Power
video game magazine, the game sold relatively few copies in North America and was not widely released. Conversely the game received several highly positive reviews in Europe and was briefly very popular.
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
video game. Published by Ocean
Ocean Software
The British company Ocean Software was one of the biggest European video game developers/publishers of the 1980s and 90s...
, it is a sequel to their 1984 conversion of the 1983 Century Electronics arcade machine Hunchback and features many similar obstacles. It is notable for its high level of technical accomplishment. The title screen bears a 1991 copyright, the cartridge label records the year as 1992.
Gameplay
The game featured a series of levels, each divided into five sections. The player, as QuasimodoQuasimodo
Quasimodo is a fictional character in the novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo. Quasimodo was born with a hunchback and feared by the townspeople as a sort of monster but he finds sanctuary in an unlikely love that is fulfilled only in death. The role of Quasimodo has been played by...
, could advance from one section to the next by locating and ringing a giant bell. Progress is hindered by obstacles such as cannonballs (which can be ridden but will catapult Quasimodo across the screen if he takes a side hit), arrows, bubbles, swinging ropes and rolling logs. Some sections feature water portions. There is an emphasis on hidden sections and on quick play - losing a life causes the player to be returned to a nearby location with no break in gameplay.
Fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
is littered throughout the levels and can be collected for points. At the end of each level, the player is told what percentage of fruit they found and awarded an extra life if they managed to collect 100%. Each section is played against the clock, represented as a burning fuse at the bottom of the screen. Collecting hourglass
Hourglass
An hourglass measures the passage of a few minutes or an hour of time. It has two connected vertical glass bulbs allowing a regulated trickle of material from the top to the bottom. Once the top bulb is empty, it can be inverted to begin timing again. The name hourglass comes from historically...
es gives extra time.
Bonus levels, entered by jumping into a spinning warp, give a chance to earn an extra life if the player is able to collect ten pieces of fruit and get to the exit within a very short time. Only when this is successfully done is the bonus level considered complete. Subsequent warps will repeatedly return Quasimodo to the same bonus level until it is completed.
If time ran out then a giant bell, presumably Emmanuel from Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...
, would fall from the sky capturing Quasimodo and causing him to lose a life.
Despite coverage by the popular Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
video game magazine, the game sold relatively few copies in North America and was not widely released. Conversely the game received several highly positive reviews in Europe and was briefly very popular.