Retro Classic
I had never heard anyone else ever speak of Alley Cat before, - I have no idea how my father acquired it, and I assumed that maybe he was the only person ever to have a copy of it! A few days ago though, I was speaking to work colleague about early computer games and happened to mention Alley Cat. To my surprise my colleague said that he had played it too as a child, and thus ensued several long conversations about this classic game. The game has been converted by fellow enthusiasts on the net to run on contemporary machines, and is readily available online. Today I got a copy of the game that will run on my machine, and for the first time in 10 years have experienced the joys of the fantastic game!
The premise is simple enough. You play as an alley cat trying to rescue its feline girlfriend, who is being held prisoner in a surreal chamber by other cats. To get to this chamber, you first must complete a randomly generated primary task. To access these tasks you have to run along in an alley, jumping on garbage bins, fences and clotheslines until you are able to jump into an open window, where you are presented with a primary task. On completion of the task you return to the alley and must then access an open window where the female cat sits crying for help. When you "rescue" the female cat you return to the alley to play again at the next difficulty level. There is no way to win the game; the object is simply to get a high score.
Of course, there are enemies in the game that attempt to stop the cat in its quest for love. These include an angry dog, a giant spider, electric eels, and a pedantic broom that moves by itself. These enemies may cause you to lose lives, or will simply attempt to frustrate you as you attempt the tasks.
The gameplay is fantastic, with simple controls and fun challenges. None of the challenges are especially difficult to begin with, however the difficulty increases dramatically as you progress in the game. There appears to be no end to the game, though the difficulty level becomes very high after a few levels so the challenge lies simply in achieving a higher score as possible.
This game was created in 1984, the year that I was born in, and hence the graphics are quite bad by today's standards. For the time though, they were fantastic, and I was still very impressed with it when I first encountered it (circa 1991). The graphics aren't what this game is about though, - it's definitely not for the gamer who puts style ahead of substance, but it will keep those who value good gameplay occupied for hours!
The sound is also very basic, though the theme tune is incredibly catchy, and I remembered it even before I played the game today! When you hear it once you will never get it out of your head!
The game was created and developed by Bill Williams for IBM. Today I found an article that states that Bill sadly died in 1998. I was very sad to read this article, but know that among the cult following this game has, Bill's memory will forever live on. He is the man responsible for the first computer game I ever played, and for that I am eternally grateful. Please get a copy of this game, and discover for yourself the man's genius! This is a classic game from the early days of gaming, and I love it.