Hard Hat Mack
| Hard Hat Mack | |
|---|---|
| Studio | Michael Abbot, Matthew Alexander |
| Publisher | Electronic Arts |
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
1983 |
| platform | Apple II , Atari 800 XL , C64 , IBM-PC compatible computers and Amstrad CPC |
| genre | Jump 'n' run |
| Game mode | Single player |
| control | Joystick , keyboard |
| language | English |
Hard Hat Mack is a computer game released in 1983 . The Jump 'n' Run developed by Michael Abbot and Matthew Alexander was first published by Electronic Arts for the Apple II , later ports for Atari 800 XL , C64 , IBM PC-compatible computers and Amstrad CPC followed . Besides Archon , Pinball Construction Set , Worms? and MULE , it was one of the earliest Electronic Arts (EA) games.
Game description
The player controls the construction worker Mack and tries to occupy a place in the high score table in three repeated levels . The gameplay is similar to that of Donkey Kong . The player tries to reach different platforms with the help of ladders, elevators, trampolines and so on in order to be able to carry out level-specific tasks.
Level
- Level 1: Four missing steel girders must be braided into a steel frame and later fastened with a rivet gun similar to a jackhammer.
- Level 2: In the second level, six tool boxes must be collected.
- Level 3: Six steel blocks must be thrown into two machines standing on the ground (“rivet machine”).
opponent
Two different opponents appear in the three cards, which take one of their three lives from the player when they are touched :
- OSHA: An OSHA official . In the game he is depicted with a brush haircut, tie and completely humorless. It is a "living proof of the banality of evil". In the game instructions, Matthew Alexander describes how he came up with the idea for this opponent during a summer job: A work colleague said to him that they could only be glad that there was no OSHA inspector on this construction site.
- Vandals: The vandals are deprecated as punks . Appearing in the game with upright hair, they should be of the opinion that the construction work spoiled their neighborhood ("spoil"). They also have "no sense of the value of life."
Mack
Mack is described in the game as an "honest working class hero" ("bona fide working class hero"). He should put John Henry (fictional American folk hero of the working class) to shame himself . As a reader of Eric Hoffer and driven by muffins ("cupcakes") he has an "unshakable belief in the work ethic."
criticism
As early as 1985 the game achieved the status of a " ladder game classic" in the Happy Computer special issue 1/1985 , which "still makes professionals work up a sweat today."