Goonies, The Download (1986 Arcade action Game)

Does anybody remember Goonies? I won't say it was my favorite 80s movie, but I liked it nonetheless.

Well, here's a game based on that movie. Actually this is an MSX game that Friends Software converted for DOS.

It's a nice run'n'jump platfromer where you control a little character who went in the underground caverns in order to find the lucrative pirate treasure hidden there (if you remember the movie, you know about it).

Unfortunately this game doesn't involve any puzzles since the movie was a treasure seeking quest where you had to solve puzzles an adventure game would be much more appropriate (in my opinion), but alas, that's not what happened.

Still you have to run around collecting things in order to use them later on.

The graphics are nice enough, but I really miss the characters of the movie. They just aren't here. The sounds are basic, but get that mid-eighties gaming feel alive. The controls are very simple, since you can run, jump, climb... it's all intuitive and you automatically pick up and unlock stuff. The only button that might puzzle you just a little bit would be ESC. Sure, you'd press it to exit the game, but it actually brings up the menu screen and you can save and load games as well as quit.

So go on and have a few afternoons of simple and straightforward gaming fun. I'm guessing the game will have at least some appeal, although it's not what I'd call a classic. It's still nice to play it.

This game is of course based on the movie "The Goonies". In the game you play with one of the gangmembers of the goonies and you have to rescue your friends. You do this by running across different platform levels in which you encounter all kinds of enemies.

The Goonies is a great multi-level platformer game based on movie of the same name. Rob Strongman says it all in his review of the NES version for Classicgaming.com about what makes this game a classic:

"The Goonies controls a lot like The Goonies II. However, there the similarities end. TGII was more like a Metroidesque quest game, while The Goonies is more of a puzzle game, kind of like the old game Montezuma's Revenge (SMS). Mikey must run around the Fratelli's hideout, freeing the other Goonies from these rooms that they've been locked in by Mama and her boys. To open the doors (each one marked by a huge skull), you must collect a bomb and set it off in front of the door. The rats running around the Fratelli's hideout carry bombs, as well as other items. You must also find keys, which are also trapped behind doors. When you have gathered all of the keys in a level and freed the trapped Goonie, you can move onto the next level.

... The controls run pretty smoothly - I had very few problems with them. The controls are quite simple - A jumps, B kicks and pushing Down and B drops bombs. A word of warning, though: when you've dropped a bomb, GET OUT OF THE WAY! Mikey has a life bar, but a bomb blast will kill him instantly. The music is also quite good - the game even has a rendition of Cyndi Lauper's "The Goonies 'R Good Enough". It sounds just like the one in The Goonies II. The rest of the music, although not quite as memorable, is pretty good." The game is overall well worth a look, especially if you enjoy puzzle/arcade hybrids like Epyx' Impossible Mission II.

Note: the game was never made for PC. This download is the MSX version recompiled to work in DOS with no emulator required.

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