Alfred Chicken

Software Toolworks' new NES puzzle game is chicken -- Alfred Chicken, that is. The plot doesn't beat around the bush. Floella, Billy, and Billy's brothers have been "eggnapped" by the Meka-Chickens for evil laboratory experiments. Alfred is their fine-feathered hope. Who is Floella? Who's Billy? Who cares? Let's just play the game!

No Yoking Around

Alfred Chicken is a classic platform puzzler that challenges players with expansive mazes. It's filled with treacherous jumps, elaborate traps and obstacles, secret rooms, and bird-beating enemies. The object of the game is to move Alfred through the playfields, to peck and release a certain number of Balloons, and to beat the clock.

Finding a safe route to the Balloons ruffles your feathers, but it's even more challenging with the Meka-Chickens' cranky creatures hungry for Chicken Alfredo.

Luckily, Alfred can use his pointy bionic beak to spear most enemies in a dive-bomb attack, but some foes are impervious to his offense. When you confront the occasional Meka-Chicken boss, you get a good dose of control- pad aerobics as you struggle to find its weaknesses.

Fowl Play

For an NES game, Alfred Chicken's graphics sparkle. Most of the characters have a cartoony look -- simply drawn, but with googly eyes and other funny features.

The game's audio is equally enjoyable. The bouncy, loopy audio sounds as goofy as the characters look. Crys- taklear effects fill out the aural experience.

Most puzzle games require unusual control-pad manipulations, beyond the standard jumping and character movement. In Alfred Chicken you must learn to time dive bombs and peck at blocks to make things happen. Thankfully, the crisp controls aren't too intricate, and it doesn't take long to master the action.

Just Winging It

There aren't many NES games being released these days, so eight-bit fans ought to flock to Alfred Chicken. This is no throwaway game. You'll be cooped up with Alfred for a while.

After winning over the critics on the SNB, Mindscape brings its hop-n-peck show to the Game Boy with equal success. A few plays with this bouncy bird, and you'll be servin' up Alfred Chicken for hours.

Chicken Wings

The bad guys are the Meka Chickens, some Eggs have been Egg-napped, and it's Alfred to the rescue. That's the basic premise, but it's really secondary to the action. In fact, there are no plot screens to set up the background, there's just action, action, action. Though the game seems simple at first - bounce and dodge, bounce and dodge, till your thumbs go numb - the game play is challenging. The stages are increasingly complex mazes, with hidden rooms and tricky traps to ruffle your feathers. Enemies lurk everywhere, and the slightest contact with any of them will cook Alfred's goose.

Adding to the challenge is Alfred's own ineptness. His main weapons are a dive-bombing attack and an up-close peck that's barely strong enough to pop balloons. And, like all chickens, Alfred's flying ability is pretty weak - it's more like a fluttering ability. With no passwords to help you, you'll be cryin' "Fowl!" a few times. To his credit, Alfred's a nimble bird when he's jumping and dive-bombing. Not only can he bounce with the best of'em, but the game's crisp controls give you pinpoint precision landings.

Alfred's Appearance and Audio

Alfred does his bouncing in appealing cartoony worlds. The backgrounds aren't as dense with detail as the best Game Boy games, but they're attractive, nonetheless. Some fine touches - like Alfred's funny expressions and the sniffing snouts of Stage l's wind-up beasts - add to the game's humor.

The sounds keep the cartoon atmosphere zipping along frenetically. A little goes a long way, however, so you might be turning down the music after awhile. Lots of boings and bangs effectively punctuate the springy action.

High Eggs-pectations

Alfred Chicken delivers a quick-bouncing bonanza. This is one chicken that's both tasty and satisfying.

Unlike that famous old Southern gentleman, Mindscape didn't do chicken right. Poor graphics and a one-hit-and-you're-dead mistake factor make this a takeout order that you should probably just forget.

Alfred's eggs have been stolen by Meka Chicken. You play as Alfred, the courageous klucker and you need to go find Meka Chicken - a blob with a vacuum cleaner head. The Meka Chicken has different forms and comes after you every couple of levels. Once you find him, you need to destroy him and get your eggs back. This game is full of fun and interesting things to do. The levels are pretty cool looking and the enemies are weird. Destroy enemies by performing a dive-bomb attack which, if done long enough, turns you into a rocket. Then you can plummet through things.