Many years ago when I got my first computer, an incredible, second hand ex workstation 286 used in a printers factory which cost me the grand sum of £10, I had a choice of 2 games to play. One was Monkey Island. The other was this, Gorilla. Epic stuff indeed.
The idea of the game is very simple indeed. 2 giant gorillas stand at either side of the screen, placed on top of skyscrapers that make up part of the cityscape you fight in. The aim of the game is straightforward, throw and attempt to hit your opponent using spinning, explosive bananas, though why they explode, I never quite figured why.
The players take it in turns to chuck said bananas at each other, but here's the umm interesting bit, you also have to enter a throwing strength, and angle of throw, while also taking into account the wind and any buildings that may be in the way of you and your intended banana target (these actually get damaged by miss-thrown bananas, enabling you to carve banana routes to your enemy, adding some strategy to the game I guess). With 2 players the game can actually be quite addictive I found, with some tense banana throwing action to be had by all. It can be quite entertaining watching those bananas spin over your opponent’s gorilla’s head, noting what adjustments to make on your next throw.
The
graphics are, as you can imagine for a game of this age, simply terrible from a modern standpoint, lacking any real kind of detail or flair. This is, of course, to be expected though, it was nothing more then a time killer then and so has never been a show case. In short, everything looks pretty much how you expect it too, some gorillas, some buildings, a banana that fly’s through the air.
I'd love to make a comment on the sound, but the system I played it on had nothing but an internal beeper...so apart from a few beeps and bloops, there's nothing to really comment on.
While not exactly an incredible game, it certainly kept me entertained when I wasn't playing Monkey Island. I would sum it up as being fairly addictive, simple, and a fun trip down nostalgia lane for anyone who cares to visit it, or for some reason is still running a 286 and is in desperate need of games.
