Flimbo's Quest

Flimbo's Quest is a 2D platform developed by Euphoria and released by System 3 in 1990 for the Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, and Amstrad CPC.

System 3, the British company founded in 1982 by Mark Cale, is responsible for several titles, including the saga of The Last Ninja. The title was designed by Laurens van der Donk, who was part of Demoscene, a computer art subculture focused on developing demos.

The game's protagonist is Flimbo, a young boy who must save his girlfriend Pearly from the hands of a mad scientist named Fransz Dandruff. For his part, the villain uses in his victim a machine he created to steal her life energy and extend his life indefinitely.

The game runs like any 2-D platformer. The main character must travel through seven free-roaming levels. Scrolls must be collected in each one so that Dazz Bazian, a wizard who decides to help the protagonist, creates a spell that allows him to advance to the next one. On the other hand, to obtain some of these scrolls, the player must finish with several enemies that possess them. The disadvantage arises when some of them are generated randomly and can be very difficult to find. Furthermore, this quest not only rewards players with the critical level object. It also reveals several secrets and power-ups that help him in the rest of the adventure.

Every level in Flimbo's Quest is separated by a different theme. All of them have a characteristic color that dominates the whole area. Although they do not usually coexist, they share the opacity that is present throughout the adventure. The original music of the entrance is composed by Johannes Bjerregaard. It is integrated by joyful rhythms and animated sound effects that lift the game's atmosphere and define it as a healthy journey.

In short, Flimbo's Quest is a classic, fun, and surprisingly innovative platformer. The title mixes the classic resources of this genre with a free-roaming system. Far from being more of the same, this gives it a new air and makes it worthy of an opportunity in this millennium.