Reviews

Nice platformer from Codemasters, one I had back in the day and I always enjoyed it. Basically Tarzan has turned into a monkey and must go through numerous levels to find the antidote which would turn him back into human form, how wonderful, you gotta love these plots don't you?

But seriously this is really good and well worth playing.

As Tarzan you have to negotiate the dangers of the Big Apple and jump from platform to platform, defending yourself by throwing coconuts, until you manage to find the way to go home.

Looks and sounds pretty grotty - it was one of several simple platform games released by Code Masters at the end of the Spectrum commercial "life" - but as a budget run-and-jump game is not bad. Good for some mindless fun, but there's nothing here to hold your attention for a long time.

Code Masters games were more than often handy purchases, Tarzan Goes Ape was one such purchase of mine and I hoped it would provide me some amusement. It didn't disappoint.

The game sees Tarzan being transformed into a monkey by an evil witchdoctor and Tarzan the ape must collect ingredients of an anti-dote which will turn him back into human form. There are three levels in the game and in each level you need to collect a ring (which looks like a necklace), mask, herb, bones, cauldron and diamond in that order and if you collect out of sequence, for example miss the mask and collect the herb, that item will harm you. You can also be harmed by various enemies in each level, such as vultures, crocodiles and snakes, they can be knocked away by throwing rocks at them. White skulls also harm you while yellow skulls reverse your left and right controls for a few seconds. After completion of the first two levels you get to play a bonus level where you must collect up to ten diamonds in twenty seconds. After the third level is completed the monkey curse is broken and the game is completed.

The gameplay is largely straightforward and quite enjoyable. The one issue I have is Tarzan's jumping which can be problematic at times. But still it plays at a nice speed and for the most part it's good fun. I always found Tarzan's jump animation quite amusing though. Not sure why, it's just the face he pulls, it's quite something, I'm probably childish but I always liked it. The game's title music is a short jolly tune and the sound is quite minimal but still manage to fit well with the game.

The graphics for this game can either be in full colour or in a choice of ink and background colour, and you can even go extreme and play in green and pink. Looking at the full colour graphics they are really good. There's some really nice detail and there's a good amount of colour on the screen. The sprites are nice looking too though they make a lot of colour clash, then again so does Dizzy so there can't be much complaint about it. The monochrome option of graphics eliminates the clash but I recommend always playing with a black background, any colour background creates a bit of a mess for me, but it's entirely up to you, if you want to play in blue and red then go for it.

Tarzan Goes Ape is quite a worthy platformer, certain flaws in gameplay may frustrate you but it's still quite an enjoyment.

There's an irony in the distribution denial of this game which could presumably have been closed down at birth by the Burroughs estate had they spotted it/ been so inclined. Nothing here indicates an official licence of the type so exhaustively achieved by Codemaster's budget cartoon-style rivals Hi-Tec.
From the advert slapped on the loading screen through to the heavy borrows for inspiration from Jack the Nipper 2's setting and Rainbow Island's jump-up strategy, there is very little new or inspiring here, but nor was there meant to be.
Whilst £ for £ you were always better off with either of the above 2 games, Tarzan Goes Ape fulfils its budget expectations and a little more as it is playable and fun.

A fun platform game. You can choose between full coloured and monochrome. If you go with the latter, you can pick the colours of the background and of the sprites. If the result hurts your eyes, you will be the one to blame.

1991 Code Masters (UK)
by Martyn Hartley and Chris Graham

A really good platform game with crisp graphics, lots of color, fun characters and quite addictive, but which I never managed to get into much, can't really say why.

A nice platformer with lovely colourful graphics and has the gameplay to match. Very playable and very worthwhile.