Chuck Rock

About This Game

Gameplay

Chuck Rock is a side-scrolling action-adventure puzzle platformer where the player, as the eponymous caveman, rescues his love interest, Ophelia, who is held hostage in a jungle by Gary Gritter. The game has five worlds (Jungle, Cave, Water, Ice and Graveyard) each with three to five levels and a concluding boss battle, and provides the player three lives and one continue. Parallax scrolling is present in all versions except the Atari ST. The enemies include dinosaurs (such as small ones that pop out of eggs) and spiders, and Chuck attacks them by thrusting his beer belly, kicking while above ground, and chucking rocks and boulders. Additionally, rocks can shield Chuck from hazards that fall from the top, and boulders can be used as platforms, which is occasionally necessary to obtain certain bonus items. Some animals aid in Chuck's journey, such as flying lizards that he eats, a brontosaurus that he rides, and a crocodile that serves as a seesaw for him to bounce over a wall.

History

Development of Chuck Rock began in mid-October 1990 when graphic artist Lee Pullen drew a Neanderthal character in OCP Art Studio on his Atari ST. The game was designed around the character by Robert Churchill, with the prehistorical themes inspired by Bonk's Adventure, and programmed by Chris Long, who gave the character the name "Chuck Rock". Pullen watched the Tom and Jerry cartoons in order to "get the right feel and balance" of the game's slapstick humour. The music, sound effects and voices were composed and designed by Matthew Simmonds. The Archimedes version was programmed by programmed by Andrew Ware and Shaun Hollingworth at Krisalis Software Ltd.