Developer: Core Design Publisher: Virgin Interactive Release: 09/93 Genre: Platformer
I was not a fan of Chuck Rock. As one of the first European platformers I was exposed to its flaws stuck out compared to the tight Japanese style games that dominated the market. Its heart was in the right place but the body could not keep up, so to speak. But the game was popular enough to spawn a sequel starring his son. Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck is a much better game than its predecessor and one that surprised me. While it is not one I think I will ever revisit I did enjoy my time with it nonetheless.
After saving Ophelia from Gary Gritter Chuck settles down in to the domestic life. He has a child and a blue collar job in an automobile factory that he is good at. Some would say too well in fact. A rival car manufacturer named Brick Jagger becomes jealous of his skill and kidnaps him, leaving Chuck Jr. to pick up a club to rescue his father.
Right away Son of Chuck fixes my biggest flaw with the first game. Chuck had a short attack range with his gut bounce that made any exchange an iffy prospect. It was especially annoying during boss battles. Chuck Jr. has a club with medium range and can swing upward and downward. He can also use it as a stand to avoid enemies and other hazards. Of course he is not as strong as his father so he cannot lift rocks. Instead he bashes them to move them around. This is a skill that is called on many times throughout the game. Lastly Chuck Jr. can ride friendly (and not so friendly) animals to attack or get around. These mechanics are simple yet they make this a better rounded game.
The level design is similar to its predecessor at first but soon becomes more adventurous and these are hit or miss. Some of the stages based around a gimmick are frustrating rather than engaging. The Spooky Cave limits your field of view severely and drags on a bit too long. Meanwhile the Lava Tree is the right balance of difficult but you can see where you made a mistake. The game begins to lean on its rock pushing puzzles more and more and these are also problematic as the rocks can break leaving you screwed. Although the level design has its questionable moments it hits more than it misses. The bosses present interesting challenges with simple to learn patterns that rely on execution. They are a nice step up from the previous title.
Like most European games of the era Son of Chuck is hard. Baby bottles are not common and only restore a little bit of health. Because the backgrounds are so busy you will suffer many cheap hits. Extra lives are extremely rare; there are only three bonus rounds and you get one chance to win each. That is pretty steep but it gets worse. Continues are few and you there is no way to earn more. Unlike the first game there are no passwords to save progress and this is a very long game. Honestly it feels a bit unfair. The difficulty would not frustrate me so much if you infinite credits; at least you could essentially “practice” after each death. Instead you dread starting over from the beginning to retrace your steps. My opinion of the game would probably be higher if this were not the case.
While I have my problems with Chuck Rock visually it was sound. Son of Chuck is visually spectacular all around which is surprising for such a low key release. The game boasts multiple layers of parallax scrolling among beautiful backdrops bursting with activity. The overall art style is very unique with everything bursting with personality. That includes Chuck Jr. even if he is an ugly baby. It also makes use extensive use of multi jointed sprites for smoother animation on the bosses. Son of Chuck is only let down by the Genesis’ color palette; Core Design make excellent use of what they have but you will notice extensive dithering throughout, especially to simulate transparency effects. This is a solid mid generation title overall however.
In Closing
Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck is far better than you expect and a good game overall. It stumbles a bit here and there but still offers platforming fans what they want. I had low expectations after the middling first game and am glad to say the game is a solid effort.
