Nostalgic Game Design Focus - Kid Gloves

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In the attic you find a pair of mystical boxing gloves. Putting them on whisks you away to a distant forest, long long ago. Trapped in the past you now need to find your way back into the future, braving many perils along the way.

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Welcome. This is 'Nostalgic Game Design Focus' a new series where I get to think back and comment upon games that I had played when I was much younger - mostly from a game-design perspective.

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Title: Kid Gloves

Publishers (EU/WW): Millennium Interactive

Developer: Timothy Closs

Music By: David Whittaker

Released: 1990

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I believe it was late Autumn in 1990 that me and my brother were taken to a game store to choose a couple of games as an early Christmas present (we were due to fly from the UK to Malta for a more permanent stop-over).'Kid gloves' was the game that my brother chose.

Funnily enough an Amiga port of the same game was included within a gamer magazine around the same period - but we still had fun with this game - when we 'eventually' unboxed and connected our Atari ST in Malta the following Spring (that Winter was challenging though).

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A puzzle platformer is how I'd describe this game. It gets difficult fast - and whats more - it can get unfair (more on this soon). Of the reviews I've seen, a fair number lean toward the negative and while I am aware that this game has its imperfections - I also see value in its design. Thus my brow did raise at a few of the more toxic complaints.

I will say though... my first reaction to the 'Kid Gloves' introduction voice sample and title music grated upon me like nails on a chalkboard. Over time the theme has rather grown on me - and I have no trouble playing it back in my mind. ;c)

Like a fair number of titles in that period, 'Kid Gloves' had a sparse story to explain its premise. You apparently climbed up to your grandparents' attic, put on some boxing gloves and found yourself planted in the middle of a stone-age forest.

Not to worry though! You apparently play as a spoilt rich kid who has an endless supply of bouncing coins to throw at anything that gets in your way. :cP

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In terms of player abilities - the following sums it up:

• You can walk.

• You can jump (quite high).

• You can climb up and down ladders.

• You can fire bouncing coin projectiles around the screen (you can get different weapons later).

• Ironically you 'cannot' punch things with those gloves. 'shrugs'

• Spending dollars millennia before the Dollar was minted. ^_^

• You start with 10 lives... which is just as well as you 'will' die often. ;cP

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In-Game Tutorial

One thing that was nice for beginner players was the very limited hand-holding that the game does a the beginning of the game. When the player collects or interacts with something for the first time 'that' game, the game briefly pauses to show a short self-explanatory message.

This loses usefulness quickly over subsequent play-throughs - but at least these interruptions are both brief and few. A couple more such interruptions to explain the dangerous nature of enemies in the game would not have been amiss however - and neither would slightly more detail on how to use certain items like ankhs (helpful for extra lives).

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Of Level Design

Every screen is a level in its own right and is almost totally separate from the other. One notable interaction is that the point where a player exits a level determines the point of entry upon the subsequent screen.

The game is predominantly meant to be played in a left-to-right direction - although players can typically double-back a couple of levels if desired (to open a locked section or access some good stuff previously inaccessible - or simply to go back to the last shop with more money).

Speaking of shops - in this game one (thankfully) encounters them every 5 levels and within them one will find a limited selection of wares on sale to improve your survival chances. The only way to get money is to collect the limited amount scattered throughout the levels and so it can be worthwhile skimping on upgrades early on for better stuff later.

Oh... they also sell the "DeathStar" in-game... ;c) Wish I could remember what using that was like.

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Sometimes Unfair Threats

Ok... so here is a bit of a sticking point.

You see - when you enter any screen, a timer starts ticking out of sight. The game is programmed to spawn enemies of particular types at particular times and in particular ways when their time comes.

Every time you exit and re-enter a screen level (which may be the best way to describe it - if a little clunky) - that timer resets. Every time you 'die' in a screen level, the screen level resets with everything being the same except that you have one less life.

Oh... and did I mention that these enemies spawn where they spawn without warning and with no grace get-the-heck-out-of-the-way period? O_o

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A few enemies are pre-spawned when you enter a screen. Different kinds of enemies, pre-spawned or not 'tend' to behave in similar ways. Rather than getting into every enemy in the game it makes more sense to categorize the threats.

Humanoids: Whether cavemen, philosophers or prison wardens - these tend to walk left and right upon surfaces, as well as climb up and down ladders.

Other Small Non-Abstract Creatures: Whether it be horse-like lizard creatures, penguins or similar - these also tend to walk upon surfaces but they also like to leap back and forth.

Abstract Small Creatures: Whether it be a circle with a pair of blinking eyes or static fireball creatures or the like, these tend to either sweep the screen in broad circles, or zig-zag broadly across the screen area. They tend to be swift. One exception is the 'floating eye'. Once spawned, every few seconds it moves a short distance straight diagonally in your direction.

Larger Creatures: Typically about 3x the size of other creatures - whether these are elves, snowmen, or serpents, these creatures tend to perform various kinds of jumps (sometimes back and forth) or hovering up and down.

Static and Moving Traps: Whether flames, spikes, saw blades or mere falling blocks - one brush against any of these will spell death and the loss of a life. These are always pre-spawned on screen as they are an intrinsic part of the level. Sometimes they remain in position. Other times they are held up by blocks. Other times they move, typically in a vertical fashion.

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Any and all of these - especially those placed adjacent to at-times-finicky-to-use ladders, will make you wish that the designers had factored a more forgiving, slightly smaller collision box with regards the character. Just a couple of pixels from both sides could have made for a more pleasant play experience.

While on the subject of improvements, the designer could also have provided a visual cue of where an enemy is going to spawn a second or two before it does. Any fear of the game becoming "too easy" (and I doubt it would have been) could have been compensated with a more dense show of enemies per screen level.

A Word on Atmosphere

I must admit that when I was thinking about which game to look into next, and my thoughts drifted to 'Kid Gloves', I seem to have recalled it being a more artistically refined game.

The pixellation of the sprites is a reality. I can only imagine that it might have looked just a little better on the small television that I used as a monitor back then.

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Furthermore, as I look back upon the game it strikes me that it is not beyond the realm of possibility that this game was originally developed with a less visually capable platform like the Commodore in mind. The character sprite could not be larger than 16x16 pixels in size and even so, the sprites were permitted to be a little too untidy.

These misgivings aside, I have to say that most of the animation itself wasn't half bad - and the death animations of the various enemies were both rather fun as well as satisfying to watch.

That and the sultry voice of the shopkeeper who manages to look the same throughout the ages is always a humorous treat.

"How may I be of service?"

"Have a nice day!" ^_^

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Overall I'd say that the game was well worth a few plays - being suitable for a few short attempts at a very difficult game. While I still do not forgive the game for its unfair spawning and its slightly over-generous collision box, I cannot deny that I enjoyed playing the game ... especially that one time that I think I accidentally triggered a cheat for extra lives. ;cP

Furthermore I cannot deny that the game offered food for thought in terms of what does or does not work in game design - and I feel richer for the experience.

Incidentally - while screen grabs are nice - I think that the following is a more accurate representation of how the game felt and played.

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A bout of nostalgia always! I hope that you enjoyed the trip down memory lane. :c) Do you have any comments or feedback? Do get in on the discussion down below!

Also, if you found this post interesting and would like to share this with your followers and friends then a resteem is always appreciated.

Sincerely,

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