Hocus Pocus

Hocus Pocus was one of the very first truly memorable games I've ever played. And buying it more than 20 years later (all 4 episodes at last), it's still a lot of fun! The levels are short enough, allowing for a casual run that won't suck you in for hours and there's still just enough challenge to keep you entertained (finishing every level with 100 % treasure and within time limit is perfectly possible, if you're willing to play most levels at least twice). And I think the art style is still really charming. A few music tracks become little annoying after a while and some levels have a parts that are kind of hard on eyes, but fortunatelly, most of the soundtrack is just great - really setting the mood - and the level design is also well done, with some really beautiful paralax backgrounds. The controls may feel little weird at first but when you get used to it it becomes very natural and the game pace actually benefits from it. Dodging and outrunning projectiles works perfectly and is a lot of fun. I also like that this game doesn't take itself too seriously and there are some pretty funny bits in the story. All in all, this is a classic, well designed and executed platformer, perfect for casual fun.

I played the shareware version in the past but that’s irrelevant. The game itself is solid, like an action-y Clyde’s Revenge. Main story segments are at the beginning and end of the episode, amusing and a passage or two reminded me of Monty Python which makes it a step above generic, and some more amusing explanations and notes within. The gameplay is classic platforming; floating platforms, lifts, secret rooms and collectathons. It throws a curveball or two with some special enemies but certainly feels of its time. It’s not overly hard, emphasizes exploration and has a nice difficulty where the main challenge is a self-imposed “beat the clock” to score points (No time limit that I know of) or to find all the treasures. It’s easy to find them all in the first episode but progressing through lends to more and more labyrinthine levels where finding the treasures is a monumental task in and of itself. You can create an unwinnable scenario concerning lifts mainly or getting stuck in a floor damaging spot but fortunately you can save and load up a level at the start, or just restart the level in general. You wouldn’t be set back far which is always a perk. It’s best in short bursts as a long session will make the game feel repetitive, and it is. Soon it’ll reveal all its tricks and enemies get reskinned, power-ups remain the same and the main changes would be the background and level design/aesthetic. It’s to be expected and the replay value is pretty low. It’s not hard to beat the high scores and there’s no real incentive to get everything apart from self-accomplishment. It wouldn’t take you long to beat it, a quick weekend game but it’s a nice trip through a bygone era of more simplistic platformers. Hardly essential, but a nice diversion if you’re in the mood for such a thing.

This game is exactly like I remember it being. Thank you!

I love how easy and smooth it is to play on my modern PC. It takes me back to when I first fell in love with this music and all the classic Apogee games. The memories make me feel alive again!

Hocus Pocus is a good Apogee platformer. However, I wouldn't recommend it to someone with little persistence or anything of the like. Most of the cool stuff in the game is shown off in the first episode, which is also the most memorable. The level design is actually quite good, and it's not about just making it to the exit. Instead, you have to collect crystals. Once you collect all of the crystals in the level, it ends. This rewards exploration and is a great, unique idea. My biggest issues are that you only really have one weapon throughout the entire game. And you get some basic power ups for it, but they are temporary and eventually, things get a little repetitive. My other issue that really annoys me is the "puzzles". I put puzzles in quotes because they aren't really puzzles. They all involve setting switches (up or down) in a specific order to open an area. This gets repetitive fast. But the main reason that I don't enjoy them is because there is seemingly no cue on their solutions. There might be, but not that I have found. In other words, instead of having a fun puzzle to solve, you're left brute forcing the combination. Luckily, it's only ever sets of 3 or 4 switches so there's only 16 combos MAX, but it still somewhat messes with the gameplay loop. So, if it's cheap, you might as well pick it up because it is quite fun, but you're probably better off playing something like Commander Keen if you are looking for a retro platformer.