1983 Lotus Soft (UK)
by Derek Jones
Its getting rarer for me to discover little games like this is one. And its always a delight! I bet dandyboy will feel the same!
The colourful maze and naive look of the characters really takes me back to Hungry Horace and similar games.
Its all very simple, like in Horace or Pac-man, we need to run about a maze avoiding nasties, in this case guard dogs, and eat the red mushrooms to keep Harry's strength. Once you find a magic mushroom(?) you need to rush to the flashing exit.
Not the best game around, but fun and hard enough to keep you entertained for awhile.
The game is comprised in two equals parts, one in each side of the cassette, only different in the character you play, that is, Lord Harry or Lady Harriet.
Review by dandyboy on 29 Oct 2012 (Rating: 2)
This title wasn´t released here in Spain so I didn´t know this game in particular .
Lord Harry is a charmer , but not a killer as other similar games like Hungry Horace for example , or PacMan ,,,
Getting killed by a puddle can be very frustrating and no fun ... besides the inertia effect of the main character spoils the diversion a bit because it is pretty hard to control and you always end up in a puddle one way or another : the key response is far from perfect and the maze is tricky . that , and the almost inexistent sound , are the main critical aspects of Lord Harry and why it is not a classic , in my opinion .
Still its aesthetics and looks speaks wonders to me , in the sense that they are pretty colorful and cartoonish -reminding me of the golden years of the Spectrum- , that aspect rise the game above mediocrity , if only a bit .
The fact that you can explore several chambers or rooms doesn´t add much variety into the game because they all look the same , there is no bonus element , no extra life , no bizarre baddies , no hidden chambers , etc. nothing to make advancing exciting for the player . the problem with this is that there is no profundity or depth or complexity in its layout : every screen looks like the first .
that said , Lord Harry is still playable and charming , but perfectly forgettable .
2,5 out of 5 .
