Retro Roundup: Chup

Ack.   Things have gone to dust of late, have they not? Can’t change that all in one go, but here’s a start…

Rather than do a splurge on every single interesting item that’s happened over the past couple of weeks, I want to take a more considered approach and give stuff the attention it rightly deserves. With that in mind, let’s start a week of at-least-once-a-day blogging with the return of some Retro Roundups. Today’s entry under the microscope is Chup [link] from DrPetter, a veteran of Ludum Dare and creator of legendary retro sound effect generator sfxr.

Somehow Chup, a classic platformer full of spikes and moving platforms, takes me all the way back to gaming on my Commodore 64. I can’t explain why, but there’s a very pure retro quality about it (similar to the sort of feeling I got when playing the likes of Ropor and Qwak). Your task is blindingly clear and comes coupled with equally obvious dangers to avoid – nothing except timing, skill and fast reactions will see you through to the finish.  If you’re good, you’ll be done in time for tea… if not, well, have another go! This is exactly how I think Flash games should be.

I'm sure this is relevant somehow...

You can move your droid about using the cursor keys (or WASD, which is much easier). While you can do a short, rabbit-like hop with the keyboard, to really get around the place you have to use the mouse to spring from platform to perilous platform. Hold down the left mouse button to see your estimated trajectory then let go, and… fwee! Using these straightforward controls, technically all you have to do is reach the glowing green exit on each screen, which is troublesome enough by itself on the later of the 16 levels – but speedrunners and die-hard completists will be delighted to see that there’s more to the game than that. Collectables are scattered around for you to hoard inside ridiculously short par times if you have the, um, “mad skillz” to do so.

Although it’s a bit short if you chose to ignore these extras, nothing else about the game can really be faulted. The pixel artwork has a nice industrial, robotic feel to it, complemented perfectly by the almost trademark musagi chiptunes that play along in the background.

All in all Chup is an excellent retro specimen. Start jumping around and you’ll find it curiously difficult to give up!