We previously reported that The Monty Mole Collection was set to burrow up onto the Microsoft Store for Xbox and PC, following an earlier release on Nintendo Switch, and as Retro News’s resident Xbox owner and ZX Spectrum fan, I was looking forward to digging into The Monty Mole Collection upon its release.

 

First off, we should clarify that the ‘Monty Mole’ In this collection has nothing to with the Nintendo character of the same name. Indeed, the ‘Monty Mole’ featuring in this collection pre-dates Nintendo’s Monty Mole by six years. This Monty Mole first appeared in the 1984 ZX Spectrum game ‘Wanted: Monty Mole,’ which is indeed included on The Monty Mole Collection. So, let’s really dig into The Monty Mole Collection and explore each game one by one…

 

Wanted: Monty Mole (ZX Spectrum) (1984)

This first adventure for Monty is a flip-screen platformer collect ‘em up in the vein of Manic Miner. However, there’s a reason that Manic Miner is considerably more famous than Wanted: Monty Mole. It’s not that Wanted: Monty Mole on the ZX Spectrum is a bad game per se, it’s just not as well designed as some other, similar titles on the format. On the positive side, Monty himself is a well-designed character who somehow manages to ooze personality from his tiny monochrome sprite. He certainly looks like a mole, anyway! However, the game itself does have some flaws when viewed through current-day lens. Instadeath is a far too common, and unavoidable occurrence, and due to the age of the game, having been released before some videogaming conventions that we now take for granted had been established, some of the choices made regarding controlling Monty seem counter-intuitive when playing the game today. \For example, to climb up a rope, Monty must jump his way up, rather than pushing up with the thumbstick, which is what we’ve been conditioned to expect over the years. Conversely, to climb down a rope you do push down on the thumbstick!

 

Sadly, Wanted: Monty Mole isn’t a great game by modern day standards, but in a way, that’s not the point, and as the very first game to star our subterranean hero, it’s only right and proper that it should be included in this collection, even if you won’t actually want to play it very much.

 

Wanted: Monty Mole (Commodore 64) (1984)

There’s no getting away from it, the Commodore 64 version of Wanted: Monty Mole is an ugly game, the Commodore 64 has more colors at its disposal than the ZX Spectrum, but they’ve been chosen badly on this game, and the Monty Mole sprite is less charming than the Spectrum version’s, too.

 

So, the Commodore 64 version of ‘Wanted: Monty Mole’ is definitely less attractive to look at than the ZX Spectrum version, but it does improve on the earlier Spectrum version in other ways. Being a more powerful machine, the Commodore 64 version of the game allows for scrolling, rather than flipping between screens, which make the gameplay a little smoother. The Commodore 64’s SID chip so famously allowed for superior sound and music to its other 8-bit home computer rivals, and that’s certainly the case here, with the Commodore 64 version of Wanted: Monty Mole blasting out a rousing rendition of the Colonel Bogey March as you play.

 

 

 

Monty is Innocent (ZX Spectrum) (1985)

 

Despite being the sequel to ‘Wanted: Monty Mole’, the player doesn’t actually assume the role of Monty Mole in this game, because he’s banged up in prison, and the player, as Monty’s chum Sam Stoat, is tasked with finding a key to bust him out. As in the previous game, the player’s sprite is well-defined and characterful.

 

Not only has the protagonist changed in ‘Monty is Innocent,’ but it’s also a very different game from ‘Wanted Monty Mole’. You can now climb ropes by pushing up, but the instadeath issue from the first game persists. While still a flip screen platformer at heart, the game is much more colorful than its predecessor, with colorful backgrounds, and chunky , colorrful sorites. However, much like the first game, its presence here is more for historical interest, rather than because it’s much fun to play. However, it’ s interesting to see the progress that Spectrum games have made just one year on from the first game.

 

 

Sam Stoat: Safebreaker (1985)

 

Monty’s criminal pal returns, and this time he’s interested in stealing moolah, rather than rescuing imprisoned pals. Jumping between platforms is introduced in this game, which feels like a mode modern/console-style element of platform games than we’ve seen in the series to date. The instadeath issue has also been resolved this time round, so while the series is definitely improving as it goes along, it’s still not all that much fun to play. Perhaps the next entry in the series will be where the Monty Mole Collection gets really good?

 

Monty on the Run (ZX Spectrum) (1985)

 

Monty on the Run takes the series back to its roots, starring Monty as the main character, and being a (great looking) flip-screen platformer collect ‘em up that requires some precise jumping skills to navigate the hazards you’ll encounter. Monty on the Run plays like a much-improved version of ‘Wanted: Monty Mole,’  and it’s the first game in the collection that you’re likely to play for enjoyment, rather than just for historical interest.

 

Auf Wiedersehen Monty (ZX Spectrum (1987)

 

The Monty games continue to improve as they go on, with Auf Wiedersehen Monty offering the series’ best-looking spites yet, and even the humble Spectrum version manages to offer in-game music!

 

 

Auf Wiedersehen Monty (Commodore 64) (1987)

 

The series returns to the Commodore 64 for the

first time since the first game, ‘Wanted Monty: Mole,’ and this is a huge improvement. It’s basically the Spectrum game, but with superior graphics and sound.

 

Auf Wiedersehen Monty (Amstrad CPC) (1987)

The series makes its debut on the Amstrad CPC, and while the gameplay is much the same as the Speccy and C64 versions of the game, this is the superior version of Auf Wiedersehen Monty, with the best graphics of all three versions.

 

 

Moley Christmas (ZX Spectrum) (1987)

 

For the final game on The Monty Mole Collection, we return to where it all began: the ZX Spectrum. From its title, you might be expecting a yuletide adventure from this entry in the series, and it is, sort of, even though it doesn’t look that way. Moley Christmas wasn’t released to retail, but was created especially to be given away with the Christmas issue of Your Sinclair magazine. For a game given away on a magazine covertaoe, Moley Christmas is surprisingly good. The game involves Monty collecting items for the mag’s Christmas issue, and it plays much like the earlier Monty on the Run.

 

Conspicuous by its absence on the Monty Mole Collection is the series’ final game: 1990’s Impossamole. Considering Imagine Ltd. were able to include the curio Moley Christmas, it’s a real shame that Impossamole isn’t on the collection. Perhaps this is due to rights issues, as Impossamole was developed by Core Design.

 

 

In addition to all the games we’ve explored above, it’s worth commented on how well presented The Monty Mole Collection is, with the collection’s developers Imagine Software Ltd. creating a menu in the style of cassette boxed lined up on a shelf, with Monty himself wandering around on it, and to play one of the games, you select the cassette from the menu, which adds an extra touch of nostalgia for those of us who remember playing 8-bit home computer games at the time!

Overall, The Monty Mole Collection might not offer the greatest ever 8-ibt home computer games, but it’s absolutely worth digging out for anyone with nostalgia for that era ( I must admit replating old Spectrum games on a modern Xbox series X did give me a very welcome, and warm rush of nostalgia.. And by including games from a single series on different formats, the Monty Mole Collection offers an enjoyable way for those interested in video game history to see how quickly 8-bit home computer games evolved.

 

The Monty Mole Collection is published by Pixel Games and is available now for Xbox series X|S on the Microsoft Store.