Pirate Pete
When I
went to play one of my favorite games, Jungle King, I noticed
something that I overlooked before. Under the list of games,
there was a clone listed called Pirate Pete. I knew of Jungle
King and its replacement, Jungle Hunt, but I never heard of
Pirate Pete. I read the quick description and it told about how
it was the same game with some changes, mostly cosmetic. That
was enough to get me to try it. So will this clone by the same
company (Taito) hold up against one of my all-time favorite
games?
While the basic gameplay is the same, there
are more than enough differences to make it a new experience.
The most obvious change is the first level that goes from a
jungle to a pirate ship. And now you are a pirate instead of a
Tarzan clone or a jungle explorer as in Jungle Hunt. The music
is also different. It has a sound like something from a Popeye
cartoon. One thing I immediately noticed as I lost my first
pirate is that you cannot just quickly swing through the first
few ropes as in Jungle King. I also noticed that there is alot
less time on the clock, about half as much. It is still more
than enough time, but you cannot waste nowhere near the time you
could before.
(That
is one goofy looking shark, but he sure can bite!)
When you get to the
second level, you will see another big difference. Gone are the
crocodiles and in their place are sharks. One odd thing is that
when you kill a shark, it sinks to the bottom instead of
floating to the top like the crocodiles. The first time you
kill one, you will think you are dead instead, until it sinks to
the bottom.
(Beware
of sneaky snakes.)
This level offers
another interesting change. While the boulders are still
rolling down the hill, you now also have to contend with
snakes. These perilous pythons come down from the trees and if
you get too close, they grab you and pull you up. So while you
are jumping over the boulders, you must watch when and how high
you jump or you may be snake food.
(I
found out very quickly about the knives, ouch!)
The last level also
adds one more twist to make it more challenging. While you
still have to jump over two bad guys (gone are the natives and
now we have dancing pirates), you must also watch out for the
guy up on the cliff who throws knifes at you. So you cannot sit
still too long or you will be stuck between the eyes. Oh and
the damsel is sexier (at least in my opinion). Nothing like a
raven haired pirate lass to set my heart aflutter.
So while it is
essentially the same game, there is more than enough to make it
a new game and more challenging. While I still like the
original a little better, I think this is also a very good game
and one that I am glad that I found. Try it and see if you like
it?
This is just a review of the arcade machine.
If you are looking for the actual arcade machine, you may want
to check out ebay. Click below to see if you can find this
game.
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