Flood is a side-scrolling platformer created by Bullfrog originally for the Amiga and then ported to Atari ST. The game was published in 1990 by Electronic Arts. The main author of the game, lead game designer and developer, was Sean Cooper, more famous for being the lead programmer of Magic Carpet and the game designer of Dungeon Keeper 2.
The character of Flood is called 'Quiffy,' and it's able to run, jump, cling to walls and swim. On many levels, some taps can be opened so that the water can flood and Quiffy can swim. The physics of the water was really advanced for the time and very realistic.
The mechanics of this platformer were quite experimental, and the fun atmosphere was very original. Unfortunately, the game was not a commercial success; not many people appreciated the game at the time. It was probably too different from the classic platformer that players of the '90s were expecting. It is, however, a small gem that many have rediscovered.
GamesNostalgia offers you the Amiga version, available in English, French, German and Italian.
Flood is a strange game! You control Quiffy, a small overweight green creature whose mission it is to escape from the sewers he inhabits, that are gradually flooding. Each level is a race against the flood – Quiffy can climb in all directions, which makes for a very playable and dynamic – if unusual – game. The challenge on each level is to rid the sewers of all the rubbish at the same time as solving various puzzles by means of button combinations that move walls or portals that take you to other parts of the level.
The game is vast – a whopping 42 levels in total; some longer and more complicated than others. In fact, some are really difficult, while others are an absolute breeze. Flood is essentially a puzzel platformer more than a shooter, and there are only 4 level ‘designs’, so despite the large number of stages, the game does begin to feel repetitive with nothing new to see, and there aren’t even any bosses to battle it out with. It’s a quiet game, minimal in sound – no in-game music – but the sound effects themselves are excellent and often quite atmospheric.
With that in mind, Flood does feel like it had a lot of potential that it sadly fails to live up to. The concept is good, the graphics are nice and the dynamics of Quiffy are really good, but once you’ve completed a dozen levels or so, there’s little to draw you back. However if you manage to complete the game, you are rewarded with a short end-of-game sequence where Quiffy finally escapes the sewers, and gets promptly flattened by a car!
Review by: GN Team
Review by: theLightDreams
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