RETRO GAME REVIEW: Plok (1993)

The 16-bit era was chock-filled with poorly designed 2D platformers that, despite aspiring to be special, fell into an already large pile of mediocre adventure games released during the SNES/Mega Drive generation. One of the games that stood head and shoulders above most of these games was Plok. A game that was supposedly loved by legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto.

Plok was designed by the Pickford Brothers during the early 90s but was based on a previous idea, Fleapit, that they were developing for Rare’s portable hardware, Razz Board. Unfortunately, the Game Boy was released before the Razz board went into mass production. Neither Fleapit or Razz board made it on to shop shelves.

This caused the game’s development to be moved on to the SNES, allowing the Pickford Brothers to build on previous ideas. Plok was built around this, enabling the game to have a strong foundation. One of Plok’s more prominent characters, the fleas, as well as Plok himself, made their way into the game due to their prior development.

Plok is a visual delight. Everything in the game feels thematically cohesive; characters, enemies and backgrounds all have a fantastical quality and look like they were made from the contents of a school craft cupboard and various odds and ends.

Cotton Island, the first location in Plok, has a style which resembles fabrics. Platforms are pinned down by cloth, tents look like they are made of silk, and Plok, who is from Cotton Island, is a jumble of mismatched clothes. His torso is an oversized yellow t-shirt, his feet are rain boots and his hands are two large gloves.

Impressively, the main, larger island ‘Akrillic’ effectively uses rich hues to create environments which resemble paint. Backgrounds exquisitely blend colours and the often odd foregrounds are outlined with black.

The narrative, soundtrack and graphics all use absurdism, allowing the game to have a unique sense of humour and charm. Stages often have literal names. Beach is a beach level, Log Falls has falling logs and Bridge, well, has a bridge. The game also enjoys using wordplay. Plok’s grandfather is ‘Grandfather Plok’ and ‘Ploktinues’ are used when a player’s lives have been expended.

Tim and Geoff Follin do a crackerjack job with the audio. The soundtrack is sumptuous and it fits perfectly. Earlier levels use harmonicas and xylophones to evoke feelings of whimsicality and carefreeness while later levels use guitar riffs and cymbal smashing to convey the strange adventure Plok has embarked upon once he has landed on the main island.

While Plok is somewhat similar to most 2D platformers as it involves a lot of running and jumping, it differs fundamentally to other games due to the way Plok attacks. Both hands and feet can be thrown at enemies like a boomerang, but doing so will leave the player without that limb until it returns. Throwing all four limbs will leave the player vulnerable, forcing Plok to bounce on his torso if he wishes to move. Carelessly throwing all of the available limbs will leave the player incapable of stopping nearby enemies, but not attacking will mean those enemies will either run towards or attack Plok at a distance.

Some of the later levels in Plok have bulls-eye targets that require limbs to be given up in order to progress which can often leave the player feeling exposed and having to carefully consider when to jump, when to attack and when to retreat. One or two missteps and It could mean a return to the start of the level.

Small decisions like whether to jump onto a platform that is speeding off into the the air or how to tackle an enemy when some of your limbs are missing make up a huge part of Plok’s gameplay and provides a constant stream of gratifying moments.

Plok is littered with strange enemies. One of more terrifying ones, Rocky, is a grey clay-like head that sprouts out from the ground sporadically while playing through the first island, appearing when it is least timely and forcing the player backwards as attacks have to be timed well to avoid rocks that it spits from its mouth.

Later on in the game, boss levels will be occasionally encountered, which will pit Plok against larger enemies. These boss fights feel largely uninspired. The first boss, The Bobbins Brothers, bounce around the screen and do little else. Annoyingly, this boss could potentially be fought twice while playing through the game. However, the blandness of these fights can be easily overlooked due to the high quality of character design and music.

Another boss, Penkinos, are pufferfish-esque creatures that drop rows of spikes which can only be beaten by hitting bulls-eye targets when one of the enemies passes the area near Plok. Frustratingly, these targets can be hard to hit while avoiding these falling spikes.

Some of the boss battles in the game can feel contrived. The last boss, for instance, forgoes organic gameplay for something more controlled. Plok, who is wearing springs during the fight, will bounce up and down at an uncontrolled tempo. Similarly, the bosses movements are also predetermined. Hitting it will not change when or where the boss moves.

While playing through the game, various transformational items will be encountered which endows the player with a temporary power: rocket launchers, flamethrowers, joke pistols, shotguns and, my personal favourite, boxing gloves. These items are fun to use and each one comes with a unique audio track and costume that allows the already expressive Plok to become an alter ego. However, even though these items can be enjoyable, they barely – if at all – power up Plok, making their inclusion feel superficial. All of these items have a similar range of fire and where the items fire cannot be controlled, nullifying most of the advantages an item may have offered.

Some of the best moments in Plok occur during the warp levels which will be occasionally stumbled upon. These stages can be accessed by hitting one of the warp fruits that are scattered throughout the world of ‘Poly-Esta’. Warp levels are quick mini-games which come in two varieties: shell collecting and vehicle-based time challenges. The former has the player trying to collect every shell in order to pass the challenge. The latter requires racing through a stage and avoiding dangerous obstacles in order to beat the level. Both are difficult to complete without luck or prior experience.

Unfortunately, warp levels may be used more often as a way to skip overly difficult stages than played for the enjoyment they provide. The final third of the game can be painfully difficult at times and these levels can tarnish an otherwise enjoyable experience.

The graphics and soundtrack are among the best to have ever have been released and deserves to be played by every avid retro gamer. If you can overlook occasional repetitiveness, some poorly designed boss battles and the steep difficulty curve, you will be rewarded with one of the more unique and well-crafted games to have ever have been released.

No game can be perfect and Plok is a shining example of this. The game has a few large flaws which can diminish from other aspects which stand out as some of the best to have ever made its way on to cartridge. It is truly a great shame and it may cause Plok to not be remembered among those cherished memories of playing SNES games.