Hocus Pocus

I have never played this one back in the day, so there is no nostalgia involved. The game is quite mediocre even for its time. Level design is repetitive, there is no creativity. All levels are build up from the same sized block whereas tilesets may differ. Crystals are scattered across the map and your goal is to collect them all, the last crystal will end the level. In what order you collect them is up to you. Enemies are just there to slow you down and soak damage from your lightning bolts. Gameplay is quite smooth. So why did I finish the game if it's repetitive? Well, because I can turn my brain off with this simple and basic keyboard focused game, there is no precision platforming involved, enemies barely pose a threat and everything about this game has a certain cuteness factor attached to it (characters, enemies, music). If you are looking for a challenging action platformer then you should look elsewhere. If you are looking for a (shoot'em-up) platformer which isn't that taxing to your brain for 0-30 minute sessions and do not mind the repetitive nature then you could pick this up. Make sure you check out Hocus Pocus Doom if you like this game. Rating 5/10

The game has the typical style of Apogée and the 90s, so expect to feel overwhelmed with nostalgia. Graphics look awesome with varied levels and beautiful textures. It's the kind of game that made you dream about possessing the whole game but at the same time, you knew the shareware was enough. Especially because at this time, shareware were rather generous and offered a few levels. The gameplay is simple and repetitive. Don't expect to spend your nights on it. Good game if you want to play a few minutes once in a while, or for a young player.

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.

It's amazing to be able to play this (among others) game on a laptop! A small piece of childhood that I can bring with me anywhere. It's so cozy to play, and the music is well done. I also love the humour.

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.