Baby Jo in Going Home is a very amusing game. It can be a bit frustrating at first, and it took me a long time to figure out that you choose the flag representing the language that you prefer, but then you just hit the space bar to enter the game with your chosen language. It sounds silly, I know, but understanding the language is very helpful when playing a game.
Considering that the game was first introduced in 1981, graphics are quite good.
This game needs to be played with DOS Box (or a similar emulator) or it is way too fast to control. If you like a Mario Brothers type game then this is for you! Keep an eye on Baby Jo’s mood and the status of Jo’s diaper and bottle or you will lose a life. You get rattles and diapers and bottles through out the game that help you to increase your health and keep Baby Jo going strong.
Watch out for worms, bees and fires. Birds will drop eggs on you that hurt you, but if you let them land in front of you then once the eggs land you can get them. They are worth points to collect.
There are also mystery boxes that give you fruit or ice cream and there are Jacks in the box. If you land on the closed box, it will spring you, but when it is open it will cause damage to your mood levels. In my opinion, the enemies were funny and rather far off the beaten path.
This game is not for littler ones, despite its theme. My nine year old daughter had a bit of difficulty with it because the dangers are many and a lot of times you have to choose between one or another. Keep an eye out for subtle differences in colors of walls and such, since that can mean secret areas where goodies await you!
The controls are easy enough, it is just the arrow keys or T (up), G(right), F(left), and V(down) and P for pause, but you kind of have to guess that since there is no screen that I could find to tell you which buttons do what. The game play itself can be pretty hard. I can’t get past the first level so far, but sad as it may sound I am hooked. I just have to keep going back! I’m so sure that I’ll beat it next time round. I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys side-scrolling run-and-jump type games. The only hard part is trying to keep an eye on bottle, diaper and mood all at once, any one of these can end your game!
