Get some NUTZ!

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The 90's was a sort of "Animals With Attitude" era, whereby games would adopt furry, attitude-filled creatures as mascots, so developers could make insta-loveable characters with minimal effort. This can be seen on many 16 bit games, from Sonic to Sparkster. Each was designed in the hopes of making a memorable mascot, but the majority simply flopped. Just look at Radical Rex, or Ardy Lightfoot. God, those were terrible games. It was also an era of generic games, games which stuck to tried-and-tested gameplay mechanics, rather than coming up with original ideas to help sell games- See Zool or The Blues Brothers. Now, Mr Nuts is both of these things, but might it still be a decent platformer?

So, Mr Nutz was a game Developed and Published by Ocean Software. You play as a red, fluffy Squirrel with a cap slapped onto him. Apparently, he's a bit of a prick, 'cos from berries to butterflies, everything seems to want him Dead. He has three attacks- He can jump on his enemy's head, whip them with his fluffy fluffy tail, or use a talent all squirrels possess- Lobbing Nuts about.

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So, you start off with three lives, and Three of Five health points, more of which can be collected within the level. Most enemies will propel you upwards when jumped on, usually giving you the chance to grab some goodies, like coins, or nuts which can be thrown. You explore four stages before reaching a boss battle. The game's generally quite easy, though you're bound to lose lives here and there. Don't worry though, 'cos as far as I'm aware, you have unlimited credits. The game has no methods of saving, no passwords nor save battery, so you'll have to play through in one single sitting- Not ideal for those of us with short attention spans. Still, the fact the game uses unlimited credits is nice, because it should mean you'll never have the classic disappointment of getting Aaaall the way to the last boss, game-overing, and having to start AAAAALL over again, Right from the very start.

I must say, the name of the game's pretty unfortunate. I mean, this was marketed towards children was it not? I doubt it was accidental- The very first world in the game is named "Woody Land".
Noice.
Woody land is, as the name clearly implies... A magical forest, full of hedgehogs, live berries, and fairies. This area is almost insultingly easy. But as soon as the first boss, a gigantic red-neck spider, is felled, you'll find things heat up quite quickly.

What I really want to get off my chest now, however, is the controls. Generally, they feel quite responsive and solid, making for a pretty nice platforming experience, but what really gets my goat is the default button layout.
B button is assigned to Jump, as with many platformers, and to throw nuts and whip your tail you press Y. However, X is used to run. On paper, this doesn't sound so bad- Thing is, X is all the way up there, and your thumb's all the way down there, on B. If you have large thumbs and need to run and jump, you might as well just be punching your control pad, but either way, it's bloody awkward. To add insult to injury, the much closer A button, which is nicely within your reach... is used merely as another Jump button! Wouldn't it have made more sense to assign jump to B, run to Y, and use A to Attack? Or perhaps use L and R for Running- At least those buttons are Within Reach. Either way, because running and jumping can be tedious, some gaps can be a little difficult to pass over, which may take a cheap health point.

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And when you play the game, you'll realise that it adds pretty much nothing new to the genre- It's just your typical platformer, seeing you jumping from ledge to ledge, bouncing from enemy head to enemy head. It's something you could have gotten from practically any other platformer out there, isn't it? Some dangers also feel cheap as chips, such as those God-awful hammers, which'll suddenly pop out from small holes within trees, and slam you on the head. And who’d have thought Tap water hurt? Having to redo the entire level when you die can occasionally be a little frustrating on the larger stages. Perhaps it would have done well to include a checkpoint system. However, I must admit, the platforming in this game truly is quite solid and satisfying. Whilst the game is simple and seemingly uninspired, the game does succeed where so many other similar platformers have failed- Against all logical logic, it's actually quite Fun. It shouldn't be, but... It is. Perhaps, in part, this is because of that satisfying "Thunk" when you land on a platform- or because of how, despite some issues with the button layout, the game controls so damn well. Either way, while the game may seem like a recipe for a generic game, once plugged up, the simple gameplay actually manages to play out fairly well.

The graphics are one of the main highlights of the game though, making for some beautiful, lively levels, rich in colour that generally seem exciting and in cases quite magical. All this is helped along by the jolly background tunes. My goodness are they catchy, and they're also as charming and magical-feel-y as the rest of the game. The enemies, while strange, are well designed, and seem to have had creativity melted down and poured straight into them. There's a vast range of them, too, many of which have unique attacking styles. My personal favourites are light bulbs, which you must first smash by jumping on. Afterwards, you must stand at a distance and lob a nut at it, to knock it cold without being electrocuted. Although the protagonist is a generic (fluffy) squirrel... He's pretty dang adorable.
While the Cutesy design may not be for everyone, it's certainly for me. :3 Gotta be said though his Looking up sprite is terrifying.

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While the game may lack original gameplay, a password system, and suffers under a bad control scheme, the platforming is solid and satisfying, the graphics and music are fantastic, and the stages are well designed. On top of that, Nutz is pretty Cute. Released in an era of absolutely terrible platformers, this game provided a surprisingly decent experience. A must-have for any platforming fan. 7/10

(PS- The game was also later ported to the Mega Drive, for all you Mega Drive fans out there. I'm willing to bet you can pick it up for slightly cheaper on Mega Drive, but expect less detailed graphics, colours which are somewhat off, and removed mode 7 effects such as scaling and rotating images. Also, the music's a little crappier. There was also a Gameboy and Gameboy Colour port, although these versions are slightly different in design, as could be expected.)