Frankie Goes To Hollywood: The Game

Platform:C64
Age Rating:3+
Year of Release:1985
Review:

It’s hard to explain how flipping massive FGTH were in 1983-5 and how much they milked that cash cow. I still recall that ad in Record Collector listing the promo only FGTH vibrator (with ZTT branded ‘Power Of Love’ batteries) in their WANTS list for £200. We all recall the music but did anyone else play the gameon C64, Amstrad, Speccy or Amiga? **

It was wrapped up in all the pseudo intellectual bullshit that littered the sleeves of the Frankie singles – no doubt thanks to Maul Borely. You are a non person in dreary old suburban Mundanesville who has to gain a personality and therefore self discovery wandering through the houses, playing games, solving simple puzzles and spitting bullets at Ronald Reagan as a midi version of ‘Welcome To The Pleasuredome’ played endlessly by a wasp in a tin can.

There was something very dull about it but infectious too. A simple murder mystery caused clues to pop up every so often when you entered a room which meant the whole thing froze for about 10 seconds. The little sub games were the most interesting part whereas the Pleasuredome maze with its fireballs was not made for crappy 1980s Quickshot II joysticks where spinning round and shooting took a year’s planning.

I never finished it. It was the bloody ZTT puzzle room that I only did once by fluke and then me C64 crashed. I’ve remained 97% a real person ever since. The game came with a tape featuring a live version of Relax (aka (International mix)) which it appears to me used dubbed on audience noise together with intro from a Euro TV appearance and studio tracks. I would like to give in another go in 2017 but have never found an emulator than will run it. Some things are better left in the past. I finally picked up the Two Tribes (Hibkushka Mix) 12″ this week so that will have to do.

** and no, A point was not all that you could score.

Might suit people who like:

Using an emulator to travel back in time

Time Thief Rating:Time? Not so much a relative concept as a black hole

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