Monty on the Run#Ports
{{Short description|1985 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Monty on the Run
| image = Monty on the Run Coverart.png
| caption = Commodore 64 cover art
| developer = Peter Harrap
| publisher = {{vgrelease|EU|Gremlin Graphics|JP|Jaleco}}
| composer = Rob Hubbard
Kazuo Sawa {{small|(Famicom Disk System)}}
| series =
| released = {{collapsible list|title=25 October 1985|Amstrad CPC / Commodore 64 / ZX Spectrum{{vgrelease|EU|25 October 1985}}{{cite magazine |title=Advert for Monty on the Run|magazine=Popular Computing Weekly|issue=40|publisher=Sunshine Publications|date=3 October 1985|page=23|url=https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=2877&page=23|access-date=8 December 2022}}Commodore 16{{vgrelease|EU|1986}}Famicom Disk System{{vgrelease|JP|July 31, 1987}}}}
| genre = Platform
| modes = Single-player
| platforms = Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 16, ZX Spectrum, Famicom Disk System
}}
Monty on the Run is a computer game created by the software house Gremlin Graphics and released in 1985 for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 16, written by Peter Harrap for the ZX Spectrum with the iconic in-game music on the Commodore 64 provided by Rob Hubbard. It is the third game in the Monty Mole series.
Gameplay
File:Monty_on_the_Run_Commodore_64_Gameplay_Screenshot.png
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 Continental 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.
Ports
The Commodore 64 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 #2 in Hardcore Gaming 101's Top 100 Western Video Game Music of all time.{{cite web |last1=Kalata |first1=Kurt |title=Best Western Video Game Music of All Time - 2011 |url=http://hardcoregaming101.net/vgm/wvgm2011.htm |website=Hardcore Gaming 101 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103183500/http://hardcoregaming101.net/vgm/wvgm2011.htm |archive-date=January 3, 2012 |date=December 23, 2011 |url-status=live}}
A remake, titled {{nihongo|Monty's Great Heart-pounding Escape|モンティのドキドキ大脱走|Monti no Doki Doki Dai Dassō}} was created for the Famicom Disk System in 1987 by Jaleco. The game bears very little resemblance to the original version. For instance, Monty Mole has been replaced with a human 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's Great Heart-pounding Escape is little known outside Japan as the game was never ported to cartridge for a Western NES release.
Reception
{{Video game reviews
| rev1 = Crash
| rev2 = Zzap!64
| award1Pub = Crash
| award1 = Crash Smash
}}
The game was critically and commercially successful in the UK. The Commodore 64 version was given a 90% overall rating by the reviewers of Zzap!64,{{cite magazine|title =Monty on the Run|date =October 1985|url =https://archive.org/details/zzap64-magazine-006/page/n15/mode/2up |magazine =Zzap!64 |publisher =Newsfield Publications |last1 =Rignall |first1 =Julian |last2 =Penn |first2 =Gary |issue =6 |pages =16–17 |issn=0954-867X}} while Crash magazine gave the Spectrum version an overall score of 94%.{{cite magazine|title =Monty on the Run |date =September 1985 |url =https://archive.org/details/crash-magazine-20/page/n11/mode/2up |magazine =Crash |publisher =Newsfield Publications |last =Harrap |first =Peter |issue =20 |pages =12–13|issn=0954-8661}}
The game entered the Spectrum, Commodore and All-Format charts at number one.{{cite magazine |title=Charts|magazine=Popular Computing Weekly|issue=45|publisher=Sunshine Publications|date=7 November 1985|page=54|url=https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=2882&page=41|access-date=13 October 2022}}
The game was voted second best platform game in the 1985 Computer Gamer Game of the Year Awards behind Impossible Mission.{{cite magazine |title=1985 Game of the Year Awards|magazine=Computer Gamer|issue=11|publisher=Argus Specialist Publications|date=February 1986|page=14|url=https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=1589&page=14|access-date=12 January 2022}} In 1991, Commodore Format listed the game as one of the 100 best Commodore 64 games.{{cite magazine |title=A to Z of Classic Games|magazine=Commodore Format|issue=7|publisher=Future Publishing|date=April 1991|page=49|url=https://archive.org/details/commodore-format-magazine-07/page/n49/mode/2up|access-date=12 January 2022}} In 2007, the game was placed in 20th position in Retro Gamer's readers poll of the Top 25 Platformers Of All Time.{{cite magazine |title=Top 25 Platformers Of All Time|magazine=Retro Gamer|issue=37|publisher=Imagine|date=26 April 2007|page=54}}
In 1989 the game was re-released on U.S. Gold's Kixx budget label with ACE calling it an "all-time platform classic"{{cite magazine |title=Monty on the Run (Kixx)|magazine=ACE|issue=26|publisher=Future Publishing|date=November 1989|page=115|url=https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=1752&page=115|access-date=12 January 2022}} and Crash describing the game as "still busting with playability" despite its age.{{cite magazine |title=Monty on the Run (Kixx)|magazine=Crash|issue=70|publisher=Newsfield|date=November 1989|page=49|url=https://spectrumcomputing.co.uk/page.php?issue_id=1037&page=49|access-date=12 January 2022}}
In 1990, Patricia Hartley and Kirk Lesser attempted to review the game for the Dragon role-playing game magazine when it was released as part of Mastertronic's "MEGA Pack" of 10 games previously released in Europe. They stated that "it crashed every time we tried to play it"{{cite magazine|title=The Role of Computers|last1=Lesser|last2=Lesser|last3=Lesser|first1=Hartley|first2=Patricia|first3=Kirk|magazine=Dragon|issue=158|date=June 1990|page=52|issn=0279-6848|publisher=TSR|url=https://archive.org/details/DragonMagazine260_201801/DragonMagazine158/page/n53/mode/2up}} and awarded the game an "X" for "Not recommended" rather than a normal rating from 1 to 5 stars.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.mobygames.com/game/monty-on-the-run Monty on the Run] at MobyGames
- {{WoS game|id=0003258}}
- [https://archive.org/details/C64GVA250-MontyOnTheRun Longplay] at Internet Archive
{{Monty Mole}}
Category:Commodore 16 and Plus/4 games
Category:Famicom Disk System games
Category:Gremlin Interactive games
Category:Video games developed in the United Kingdom