Jack the Nipper

Jack the Nipper is a video game by Gremlin Graphics released in 1986 for ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, and MSX. It was followed by a sequel, Jack the Nipper II: In Coconut Capers. The character is loosely based on the British comic strip character Sweeny Toddler.

Developer(s)Gremlin Graphics
Publisher(s)Gremlin Graphics
Composer(s)Ben Daglish
Platform(s)ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, MSX
ReleaseSeptember 1986
Genre(s)Puzzle, Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay

Jack the Nipper is a side-view flip screen game with puzzle solving and platform elements. The graphics are rendered in 2D, but an illusion of depth is achieved by allowing characters to move forward and back within the playing area.

The player controls Jack, a naughty child who wants to break the record for naughtiness (recorded on the "naughtyometer"). He needs to carry out various wicked pranks on the unsuspecting inhabitants of his town, but if he comes into contact by angry adults he will be spanked. With each spanking his "nappy rash" meter increases, and if it grows too high Jack loses a life. Contact with the monsters and ghosts which inhabit the town will also increase the nappy rash.

Reception

The game went to number 2 in the UK sales charts, behind Ghosts'n'Goblins.[7]

Sinclair User described it as having a "Wallyish style reminiscent of Pyjamarama, running wild through the village, searching houses, shops and gardens for objects you can use to create havoc elsewhere", in an environment populated by "Beano"-type characters. The review noted how it was "tempting when you come across a well-tended garden and you just happen to have a bottle of weed killer ... And then there's the tin of glue and the false teeth factory..."[8]

ZX Computing praised the graphics.[9] The Spectrum version was voted number 40 in the Your Sinclair Readers' Top 100 Games of All Time.[10]

Comic strip

Starting in April 1987, Your Sinclair magazine published a monthly comic strip based on the character.[11]

References
  1. "World of Spectrum - Archive - Magazine viewer". worldofspectrum.org.
  2. "World of Spectrum - Archive - Magazine viewer". worldofspectrum.org.
  3. "World of Spectrum - Archive - Magazine viewer". worldofspectrum.org.
  4. "Jack The Nipper". ysrnry.co.uk.
  5. "World of Spectrum - Archive - Magazine viewer". worldofspectrum.org.
  6. "World of Spectrum - Archive - Magazine viewer". worldofspectrum.org.
  7. "The YS Rock'n'Roll Years - Issue 9". ysrnry.co.uk.
  8. "Jack the Nipper Review", Sinclair User, August 1986
  9. "World of Spectrum - Archive - Magazine viewer". worldofspectrum.org.
  10. "Readers' Top 100 Games of All Time". Your Sinclair. September 1993.
  11. "Jack The Nipper". ysrnry.co.uk.
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