Plok is a side-scrolling platform game developed by Software Creations and released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993. The game is a traditional platform game starring a character named Plok.
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Ploktastic!!!
It's pretty bad, although the actual mechanic isn't. Better off just listening to it.
This game kinda blows. Best soundtrack on the SNES though.
This platformer is truly amazing
the gameplay mechanics are amazing and the ost is truly a work of art at its prime of 1993
the gameplay mechanics are amazing and the ost is truly a work of art at its prime of 1993
And I thought Knuckles Chaotix was bad.
Ok, let's just get it out of the way: Yes, the music is absolutely delightful. Competition on the Super Nintendo is fierce, with games like Donkey Kong Country 1, Chrono Trigger, and Megaman X all having amazing music. But having listened to this one, I'd say it takes the cake. I know it may come off as exaggerated, but it's actually so technically impressive and catchy that I think it at least deserves to be mentioned in the conversation when it comes to the best soundtracks in the fourth generation of gaming.
Artistically, the game is beautiful, with a wonderful display of how superior the Super Nintendo's color palette was compared to its competitors (namely, Sega Genesis and PC Engine). With only selected titles, such as Yoshi's Island or Kirby Dreamland 3, defeating it in this aspect.
With both the visual and sound departments being absolutely outstanding, it's only to be expected that the gameplay would be on the same level. Sadly, is in this one; the most important aspect of a video game, where the title completely falls apart.
I'd love to tell you that the issues with Plok are minimal and most of the time excusable, but this game has an impressive amount of flaws that pile each on top of another like a giant tower of garbage, which leads me to believe the developers were completely clueless when it came to figuring out what makes a game fun.
First of all, your attack fucking sucks. You attack by throwing all four of your limbs forward, and every time you throw all four of them, it leaves you completely vulnerable to enemies and hazards. That wouldn't be a problem if enemies didn't take like 5 or 6 hits to defeat, so you are pretty much forced to spam the attack button in hopes you can kill them fast or attack as slow as possible and wait for your limbs to come back to your body to throw them again, and yes, it's as tedious as it sounds.
Second, your health bar is useless. This is one of those games in which, despite having a rather large health bar, it gets completely drained out after 3 or 4 hits. There are some fruits that replenish your health. But they are so rare and give you so little of your HP back that they never seem to make a difference.
Third, there are really only two types of levels: the short and uninspired ones and the long and tedious ones. The flea levels, in particular, which make up more than half of the game, have to be some of the absolute worst I have ever had the disgrace to play. Yeah, sure, I'd love to explore a level full of hazards that drain all of my life in 2 seconds to kill stupid ass fleas that jump around all over the place, making them harder to kill than they needed to be for 2 hours. Fuck you, Plok.
Fourth, the difficulty is really cheap. Most levels force you to take leaps of faith; some are full of obstacles that require an incredibly fast, almost robot-like reaction to avoid damage, and some even start with something being thrown at you and draining half of your life. Fuck that.
Fifth, the boss battles are an absolute abismal, with the Penkhos being probably the worst boss battle I have ever seen in an acclaimed game such as this. The gimmick is fun in theory, but yet again, Plok manages to make it as insufferable as it can possibly be. Your attack never seems to connect, yet theirs always does. Not only that, but you can just hit one of them at a time (you fight four enemies at the same time), making the battle last forever. And the last one has you jumping all over the place because Plok is wearing these stupid spring shoes that just make enemy projectiles harder to avoid.
Sixth, your attack sucks. Yeah, I know I already mentioned it, but it's such an absolute joke that it deserves to be complained about again. Like, at least let me shoot up and down for all that's almighty.
Seventh, no passwords, almost no continues; you die; it's back to square one.
It's really sad because the game does actually get better in the latter levels with the addition of vehicles that completely change the gameplay and get rid of the annoying fleas for once, but at that point, I'm like... Who cares? It also doesn't help the fact that this is by far the shortest section of the game.
If Plock was 40 minutes long instead of 2 and a half hours long, feauturing only
the latter levels, I'd call it one of the absolute best platformers in the system.
As it is, though, it's actually one of the worst ones.
Ok, let's just get it out of the way: Yes, the music is absolutely delightful. Competition on the Super Nintendo is fierce, with games like Donkey Kong Country 1, Chrono Trigger, and Megaman X all having amazing music. But having listened to this one, I'd say it takes the cake. I know it may come off as exaggerated, but it's actually so technically impressive and catchy that I think it at least deserves to be mentioned in the conversation when it comes to the best soundtracks in the fourth generation of gaming.
Artistically, the game is beautiful, with a wonderful display of how superior the Super Nintendo's color palette was compared to its competitors (namely, Sega Genesis and PC Engine). With only selected titles, such as Yoshi's Island or Kirby Dreamland 3, defeating it in this aspect.
With both the visual and sound departments being absolutely outstanding, it's only to be expected that the gameplay would be on the same level. Sadly, is in this one; the most important aspect of a video game, where the title completely falls apart.
I'd love to tell you that the issues with Plok are minimal and most of the time excusable, but this game has an impressive amount of flaws that pile each on top of another like a giant tower of garbage, which leads me to believe the developers were completely clueless when it came to figuring out what makes a game fun.
First of all, your attack fucking sucks. You attack by throwing all four of your limbs forward, and every time you throw all four of them, it leaves you completely vulnerable to enemies and hazards. That wouldn't be a problem if enemies didn't take like 5 or 6 hits to defeat, so you are pretty much forced to spam the attack button in hopes you can kill them fast or attack as slow as possible and wait for your limbs to come back to your body to throw them again, and yes, it's as tedious as it sounds.
Second, your health bar is useless. This is one of those games in which, despite having a rather large health bar, it gets completely drained out after 3 or 4 hits. There are some fruits that replenish your health. But they are so rare and give you so little of your HP back that they never seem to make a difference.
Third, there are really only two types of levels: the short and uninspired ones and the long and tedious ones. The flea levels, in particular, which make up more than half of the game, have to be some of the absolute worst I have ever had the disgrace to play. Yeah, sure, I'd love to explore a level full of hazards that drain all of my life in 2 seconds to kill stupid ass fleas that jump around all over the place, making them harder to kill than they needed to be for 2 hours. Fuck you, Plok.
Fourth, the difficulty is really cheap. Most levels force you to take leaps of faith; some are full of obstacles that require an incredibly fast, almost robot-like reaction to avoid damage, and some even start with something being thrown at you and draining half of your life. Fuck that.
Fifth, the boss battles are an absolute abismal, with the Penkhos being probably the worst boss battle I have ever seen in an acclaimed game such as this. The gimmick is fun in theory, but yet again, Plok manages to make it as insufferable as it can possibly be. Your attack never seems to connect, yet theirs always does. Not only that, but you can just hit one of them at a time (you fight four enemies at the same time), making the battle last forever. And the last one has you jumping all over the place because Plok is wearing these stupid spring shoes that just make enemy projectiles harder to avoid.
Sixth, your attack sucks. Yeah, I know I already mentioned it, but it's such an absolute joke that it deserves to be complained about again. Like, at least let me shoot up and down for all that's almighty.
Seventh, no passwords, almost no continues; you die; it's back to square one.
It's really sad because the game does actually get better in the latter levels with the addition of vehicles that completely change the gameplay and get rid of the annoying fleas for once, but at that point, I'm like... Who cares? It also doesn't help the fact that this is by far the shortest section of the game.
If Plock was 40 minutes long instead of 2 and a half hours long, feauturing only
the latter levels, I'd call it one of the absolute best platformers in the system.
As it is, though, it's actually one of the worst ones.
Not many people know this but a good soundtrack doesn't usually elevate the experience of a bad game