[typing]
Well, it's once again time to cover some random game
'cause I ran out of time and didn't feel like doing anything more involved.
Today it's "BC's Quest for Tires,"
developed by Charles Benton
and published by Sierra Online in 1983.
This is the version for the Commodore 64,
although it first saw a release on the Atari 8-bit,
followed by the Apple II, IBM PC, MSX,
Sinclair Spectrum and ColecoVision.
This particular port was done by Sydney Development,
but the original was created by Chuck Benton,
which is a familiar name if you're a fan of early Sierra stuff.
He's the guy that was behind "Softporn Adventure,"
which later became "Leisure Suit Larry,"
which later became utter sadness.
Despite the pervy association,
you won't be getting laid in this game,
at least not explicitly.
After all, it's based on the "B.C." comic strip by the late Johnny Hart.
It's a delightfully original game that you'll want to play for hours,
which must be true, since it's on the back of the box.
Inside, you get a tidy little plastic tray
designed to hold media of several shapes and sizes,
in this case, a C64 ROM cart.
You also get this sumptuous Sierra registration card,
which entitles you to a replacement floppy disk in case yours dies.
And I suppose cartridge users just get shafted.
So that's nice.
And then there's this little fold-out instruction booklet,
complete with some artwork by Mr. Hart,
as well as WAY more information than the game itself will give you,
so you may as well read it front to back
to get your money's worth,
since there's practically no text in the game.
"BC's Quest for Stone Age Ring-Shaped Vehicle Components"
begins with a colorful title screen,
followed by a menu with some credits
and excess yellowness.
Press a joystick button to commence your tire quest,
Aaaaaaand...
it's "Moon Patrol."
[chuckles]
So much for being delightfully original.
But instead of a lunar rover,
here you play as Thor,
with the goal of rescuing your love interest Cute Chick
from the clutches of a hungry dinosaur.
In true "B.C." form,
you're riding your trusty impossible-wheeled unicycle
and you have the ability to both jump and duck while riding it.
You can also speed up or slow down by holding down the joystick button and pushing left or right.
But there's really no reason to do so for the most part, so who cares?
What you do need to worry about are the various obstacles above and below you,
and thankfully the controls are rather forgiving.
When you jump, you have a bit of time to move left and right in mid-air,
which also speeds you up momentarily,
so there's a bit of leeway in maneuverability.
And after you're done hopping rocks and dodging tree branches,
you'll stop moving and have to cross a small waterway
populated by turtles.
The character Fat Broad is on the opposite side taunting you,
but she's nothing but hot air, so just ignore her and move on.
After this, it's more hopping and dodging some falling rocks up a hill,
and then you've gotta time a jump underneath a bird thing
that will carry your smug mug across a pit of lava.
[synth fanfare]
Seems physically legit.
And there's some more falling rocks,
and more water-logged turtles to hop across,
this time with the dinosaur on the other side
that'll instakill if you touch him.
After that, it's stalactite and stalagmite time,
and, aw, yeah...
Cute Chick, in all her pixelated sexiness,
is waiting and ready...
to send you a floating heart graphic.
...Hot.
After that, it just loops around
again and again,
each time getting a little bit faster...
and, uh, that's "BC's Quest for Tires."
It's a twist on Moon Patrol, and
while it's kind of fun, I can't say I wanted to play for hours on end.
Freakin' box blurbs overselling the crap of everything as usual.
But ignoring the overreaching marketing jargon,
it's a sufficiently competent game from an era when games could be sufficiently competent
and still be a retail success.
I certainly don't mind endless runner-type games,
so I'm totally onboard with the concept of being on rails
and dodging some chunky pixels with a prehistoric theme.
And the aesthetic is just awesome
in the way that it mimics the look of hand-drawn comics as best as it can
within the confines of the hardware's graphical capabilities.
You gotta remember this is from 1983,
less than a year after the Commodore 64 was even launched,
and compared to other C64 games from that year, it looks pretty darn good!
...And it has that added appeal if you're a fan of Johnny Hart's work,
even though it doesn't do anything particularly memorable with it.
The game would do perfectly fine without any of the licensed property at all,
which is a sign of a solid underlying game,
and also arguably a sign of poor implementation of the source material.
But whatever! It's one of those earlier examples of a licensed game,
one of the earlier Commodore 64 games in general,
and an early Sierra game before their point-and-click days.
So, just for the sake of being all-around early,
I'm compelled to give it a thumbs up.
Don't expect it to go and make you a pizza or anything,
but do expect bursts of arcade fun
with an 8-bit comic strip aesthetic.
[synth music]
And if you enjoyed this video on a game that I have no idea why I covered,
then why not check out some of my others
that I've... also done the same? Heh.
It's Lazy Game Reviews,
gotta live up to the name sometimes.
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And as always, thank you very much for watching.