Quik the Thunder Rabbit (Amiga)

I'm done with those 'P' games now for the year so today I'm finally moving onto 'Q', starting with 1994 Amiga platformer Quik the Thunder Rabbit; not to be confused with other Amiga games like Quik n' Silva or Qwak. Or the Nesquik Bunny for that matter.

The logo up there's kind of weird as it implies Quik will be a mechanical construct with a red helmet, the Mega Man of lagomorphs, but he's nothing like that. I've only played the game before very briefly, but I know enough about it to know that I won't be playing as a robot rabbit. He's called 'The Thunder Rabbit' because he's fast as lightning (or a well known console mascot hedgehog), not because he runs off electricity or has the powers of Thor or anything like that.

The game is by Stywox, who as far as I know... oh shit they've seen us!

Those are some creepy looking rabbit things. They've got Sonic the Hedgehog's conjoined eye thing going on, but they look even more like a toy than he does. Actually they look like people wearing rabbit suits, which makes it even more weird that they can grin like that.

Anyway, the game is by developer Stywox, who as far as I know only ever finished this one game. Everything else they were working on got cancelled, so enjoy that half man, half Death Star logo while you can because you'll never see it again on this site. Though on the plus side, this did free up one of the graphic artists to jump to 3D Realms and work on Duke Nukem 3D's art, so some good did come out of that.

Now I'm imagining this opening with the Duke Nukem theme played over it.

Ah, now they're elaborating on the 'no carrot' situation. Though this intro scene would probably serve more of a purpose if it had speech. Or text even, that would work fine too!

Oh I see, their stash of carrots have been stolen, by the sinister eight-eyed nightmare trees under the orders of the Moon. And now I have to go cross the Oblivion Desert, the Smashing Sea and the Slippery Slidey Ice World to reach the Well, where I will find... a man holding a burning mic stand?

Well if that's what prophecy says I've gotta do, then it's what I've gotta do.

MEANWHILE, ON THE AMIGA CD32

The game never quite made it as far as the SNES, but it did reach the Amiga CD32: a CD based console with 700 mb extra storage than a standard floppy disk. Of course the unwritten law of 16 bit CD development clearly stated that all platformer ports must be reworked to include a flashy new intro cutscene to justify their existence. So it got one.

Thanks to incredible storage capacity of the compact disc, the developers were able to include a high pitched squeaky phone conversation where Quik learns some shocking news. Though it is really high pitched so it's hard to make out what they're saying.

Quik: "Hello."
Voice: "Quik, we are in trouble."
Quik: "What? Explain."
Voice: "There is no more carrots."
Quik: "What!"

The news is so devastating that it sends him running out of the house without even bothering to shut the front door behind him.

No time for prophecy or explanations here, the CD32 intro is all about running.

Holy shit, Quik, what have they done to you? They must have sewn some padding into that rabbit costume for the CD version, because he's looking ripped right now.

I can't fault the animation though, that is a nice run cycle.

Uh, did he just smack that bird right through a cloud?

Oh damn, it's a surprise Sonic the Hedgehog cameo, doing his best impression of a lemming. You gotta have some nerve to imply you've got a better faster platformer hero than Sonic the same year that Sonic the Hedgehog 3 came out.

Gratuitous rabbit butt shot. Turns out that the carrot stash is all gone, which is what we knew already from the logo screen and the phone call earlier, but whatever. Meanwhile, on a tropical island, Donkey Kong just found out that someone's crept off with his entire banana hoard. 1994 was a bad year for video game food storage.

LEVEL 1, STAGE 1.

That smug grinning son of a... an equally evil momma bush! What a total asshole, crashing into me mid-jump just to watch me suffer. Still, it does teach me a valuable lesson about how the game works: there must be a way I can attack these enemies, as it doesn't seem like jumping is going to help me much here.

I like all the other rabbits spying on me from the bushes, by the way. It helps make the world feel more alive to have folks along the way come over to watch my epic journey. Would've felt more real though if they'd all face palmed after I jumped right into the second enemy in the game.

There you go, I do have an attack: a cartwheel roll suitable for both ground and air assaults I'm not a fan of the way it takes two kills to a take out a snake though, with Quik bouncing backwards after every hit. Also this move doesn't stun enemies, so the snake was able to hit me with his deadly mesmer stare during his death animation! Still, he dropped a heart for me afterwards so there's no harm done.

I'm surprised at just how slick this is for an Amiga game, I mean just look at it! Developers really figured out how to pull off some miracles with the hardware by 1994, it's just a shame that it was far too late by then to save it. The music's growing on me too, though it might be a little too cheerful for some folks: example track (youtube). Personally I could listen to this all day, ON A LOOP, but I won't think any less of you if you react like it's electro-shock therapy.

Joke? JOKE? Am I supposed to be laughing now, because that's kind of hard with cracked teeth and a shattered jaw. What sort of game introduces the super-speed invulnerability potion by making me run right into a wall with it, huh? I guess I must be meant to head up those grassy ledges to my left next then.

Actually this did make me smile, though I could do without 'This way' signs conspiring against me as they're supposed to be the one ally I can always count on out here in the harsh outdoors! Wow, I just realised that I haven't started out on a forest level for once in a platformer game, though a meadow is almost as bad. Still, I'm awarding it +100 points for daring to break the mold, though I'm taking them back if the next stage is in a sewer.

Here's something you don't see in every platformer: a water flask pick up. This doesn't give me health or points, this is actually to stop him dying of dehydration. Yep, Quik the Thunder Rabbit is a cute mascot platformer with a survival mechanic, requiring me to keep the guy's food and water gauges topped up as well as his hit point gauge. Though I've noticed the the rabbits all over the background seem to be coping just fine without a snack every 30 seconds... funny that. Fortunately I can defeat enemies to acquire their stolen carrots and precious bodily fluids, so as long as I stop to kill a couple of enemies along the way I should be able to keep my meters topped up.

When my gauges are full the enemies start dropping hit point hearts again instead, which is handy even when I'm at full health, as each one gives me a few seconds of invulnerability as well. The game seems like it'd be as generic as they come, but the devs have brought some ideas of their own to the table.

Like bunny girls at the finish line for instance, there's a new idea. It makes sense you see because she's a bunny girl and I'm a bunny rabbit, get it? She's obviously lying in wait so she can catch passing rabbits, and harvest their ears and tails. Look at that pink guy in the background, he knows what's up, he's seen it too many times before.

Honestly I'm just relieved I didn't find Ronald McDonald waiting for me at the end of the stage again, like I did in Global Gladiators.

Global Gladiators (Mega Drive/Genesis)

It's the child catcher with his chequered net! Actually he's just waving me through here as I've collected more than 30 of his precious Golden Arches trinkets, meeting his quota for the stage. No tedious trinket collection for Quik though, the bunny lady let us pass without any hassle... this time.

Damn, now I suddenly feel like eating some fries.


LEVEL 1, STAGE 2.

I've got to find the door first first this time? I don't much like the sound of that.

Aha, this must be the door I'm meant to be looking for.

I knew wasting my precious time on the mysterious jump pad would eventually pay off, though I wasn't expecting to have to take a blind leap of faith afterwards. This is where games usually put a row of floating coins across the sky to give the player a clue, but Quik's been resolutely trinketless so far.

You can see those fluid meters tick down twice during the five seconds I spent trying to build up some height, so I can't say that the hunger system is inspiring me to try things like this. I'd file that under 'flaws' as I don't think the time pressure is improving the experience at all.

Loading, huh? I guess the door's taking me to a bonus level.

Or maybe it was just loading a more impressive loading screen.

Endless loading screens are the dark price the Amiga pays for using floppy disks instead of cartridges or CDs. The loading times for this have been relatively tame though so far to be honest, so it's been fine.

Aw crap, the bonus stage is making me bounce from platform to platform all the way to the top, while evading my old nemesis THE BIRD THAT PICKS YOU UP AND CARRY YOU BACK TO THE START!

Okay to be more precise it's a pterodactyl, not a bird, but it was a pterodactyl back in Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition as well and that didn't make it any less annoying there either. There's very little more irritating than an enemy that comes along and hits the reset button on your progress.

The screen mercifully doesn't autoscroll, but I feel like I have to keep moving to avoid my hated adversary. It was all going well for me until I found out that I can't jump up through these bones, and now there's a bloody boulder coming my way. Can't drop down either... crap.

The food and drink meters are maxed out on this stage and they've rescinded the time limits, but I can't afford to hang around here for long, as without enemies there's no way for me to recover my health after a mistake (such as getting run over by a boulder for instance.)

Oh you utter bastard. I'd just gotten past the rib cage too, I was free!

He doesn't seem to take me all the way back down, but I don't much want to go any of the way back down! It's bad enough when I misjudge a jump and fall, though with Quik's floaty leaps and mid-air agility it's rare that I do. I can't blame any of my screw ups on the rabbit, he's a true pro.

Hey I actually reached the top and found the watch! Huh, I was here for a watch?

I need to recover carrots to save the rabbit people, so I went back in time 150 million years through a mysterious time portal to grab a pocket watch. What? I dunno, maybe it'll make more sense later. Maybe these are Quik's equivalent to the Chaos Emeralds in Sonic the Hedgehog, and if he collects all the timepieces he becomes... Mecha Quik. Or maybe not.

Oh that's just creepy looking. Quit being happy mate, it doesn't suit you; your face just isn't built to express joy.

Interesting to see that level exit babes are a tradition stretching back all the way to the caveman era. I wish she'd make herself useful though and smack that bloody pterodactyl around the head with the bone while it's distracted. C'mon let's 'Sound of Thunder' that asshole and then return to the future to discover if the pterodactyl effect is anything like the butterfly effect.

Wait... 'Quik the Thunder Rabbit', 'A Sound of Thunder'... could this actually be heading towards a time travel plot twist ending inspired by Ray Bradbury's famous short story? Nah.


LEVEL 1, STAGE 3.

(Amiga CD32)

Next level, much the same as the last level (except with more Frankenstein Frogs).

This is a shot from the CD32 version of the game though, and you can see how it utilises the machine's more powerful AGA graphics chipset, faster CPU, and vast CD storage capacity to... add a bit of parallax scrolling to the background. Otherwise it seems virtually the same to me, which is fine actually as the basic Amiga game doesn't really feel held back by the hardware.

That frog on the other hand... he's creeping me out man. He's so skinny!

I've been struggling to find the door, so I got bored and headed straight for the exit instead and... bunny girl wasn't impressed. It seems that the time travel bonus stage is more of a mandatory stage. So I ran back to look for the door, and with mere seconds left on the clock I... utterly failed. One life lost, back to the start of the stage.

I did find an arrow along the way though, so I know where that is at least, but it doesn't lead anywhere! I went exploring through an underground tunnel system looking for a hidden bounce pad to get me up to where it was pointing, but that route brought me nothing but water refills and extra carrots.

Oh. I have to use a secret passage hidden in the rock wall. Not a fan of that to be honest.

That's the trouble with this game really: there's nothing for me to collect but the occasional speed or jump potion, no coins or rings or bonus tokens, so they've hidden the doors instead and given me side passages to send me in the wrong direction and waste my time.

(MS-DOS)

Weirdly the DOS port of the game seems to be missing the frustrating time limit, though Quik still needs food and drink. It's pretty similar otherwise, although not as slick or polished. Plus the moody red gradient sky is missing! Not my favourite version of the game to be honest.

Alright then, let's see what's behind door #2.

Agh, I can't even land on top of the spine as it acts like a row of spikes! Fortunately spikes aren't instant death in this, so it's not a big deal as long as I've got a few hearts left in the bank.

Well I'm back in the Mesozoic era again! Same time zone as before, same exact deal as before... well, a day later maybe, judging by the calendar on the left. Oh by the way, that bat above my head is just a harmless part of the background. Ain't nothing else here to bother me but my pterodactyl nemesis and whoever's pushing these boulders at me from behind the scenes.


LEVEL 1, STAGE 5.

LABYRINTH STAGE? There's two words I never wanted to see next to each other.

Not actual speed.

Yeah, this is a labyrinth alright. Thankfully they've taken out the time limit, so I can go wandering around in circles all evening!

At least this gives me an excuse to talk about how the screen scrolls across to show me more of the map in front of me, which is something the DOS port doesn't do and man is it noticeable when it's gone. Quik's full of quality game design like that, it's just a shame that it wastes the character's finely tuned movement and precise control by making him hunt for doors or sticking him in labyrinth zones.


EVENTUALLY.

Oh shit, there's a boss fight down here as well! I thought was a labyrinth stage, not a boss stage.

Wolfie's pretty good with that thing considering it's got three strings and he's got three fingers, I almost feel guilty for coming down here and bouncing on his head while he's playing. In fact why AM I bothering him? He's done nothing to me as far as I know... in fact he's hidden himself in an underground labyrinth, which is about as far out of the way as a guy can go in this place.

Well at least he's absolutely effortless to beat. I'm actually doing this the slow way, as you can just bounce at him from the front instead. He's got a great looking sprite, but anyone hoping for a proper boss battle here is only going to find disappointment.


LEVEL 2, STAGE 1.

Alright, I've finally reached the Oblivion Desert, and there's no door to reach this time. It's just a straight run to the... Go.Go Bar?

Wow I guess we really are going to the Go.Go Bar. I just hope they serve water and carrots or else Quik's going to have to start murdering the staff to steal their liquids.

Anyway this is turning out to be a lot like the first stage so I think I'll turn it off now before I start repeating myself.

(MS-DOS)

Farewell Quik, enjoy an eternity trapped in the void surrounded by ravenous bunny eaters.


CONCLUSION

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I suddenly want to see a Smash Bros. style fighting game featuring forgotten and unloved mascot heroes, all fighting each other just to win your attention. Bubsy the Bobcat vs. Quik the Thunder Rabbit vs. Aero the Acrobat vs. ... uh, I've forgotten the rest of them. It could have stages from Knuckles' Chaotix and Top Banana, power ups like the hairspray from Rocky Rodent, and an entire cast of clones!

Quik the Thunder Rabbit then, is it any good? I'd say... yes and no. The basic gameplay is solid, the game moves at a good pace, it controls well, it's obviously been made by people who'd learned from the mistakes of other games, but didn't just want to copy what worked.. Though it also makes killing enemies a pain by bouncing you backwards after each hit, it makes finding hidden doors a pain by giving you a time limit, and it has labyrinth stages, plural!

I appreciate it giving out passwords, but I'm not so impressed by how you only get them after boss fights, meaning that you're kicked back to the start of a world if you run out of lives. I'm not really a fan of being forced to repeat levels I've already beaten, especially when I didn't enjoy them all that much to begin with, and the game does nothing to win me over to the idea. It's a shame they didn't take a more Donkey Kong Country approach with it I reckon: giving players a level map and collectables to encourage voluntary level replays.

So I'm not sure I'd recommend the game, but I wouldn't talk anyone out of trying it either. I found it less awkward than games like Oscar, Fire and Ice or Superfrog, so there's likely some entertainment in there for platformer fans. More of a snack than a meal though.

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