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"Chuck rocks!"

Chuck Rock is a unique adventure game that relies on solid game-play to get by. It doesn't sport flashy graphics, eye-popping effects, or even an earful of catchy tunes. So how does Chuck measure up? I'd say he does extremely well.

It's just another ordinary day in the prehistoric age for Chuck the cave-man. Dinosaurs are all over the place, the impending ice age is approaching, and life is a challenge. Chuck makes his way through 17 levels on an epic journey home (presumably after a day of hunting and gathering). Standing in his way is an impressive variety of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, all of whom must be dealt with if our hero is to survive. There are pterodactyls, crazy alligators with snapping jaws, woolly mammoths, a good variety of sea creatures, saber-toothed tigers, and numerous other zany creatures inhabiting this vividly imagined prehistoric world. Some do their own thing, rampaging through the jungle without a care. Others will come after Chuck and attack him.

This is a side-scrolling adventure with four worlds for Chuck to explore. Each world has four levels. In the fourth level of each world, Chuck squares off with a boss character. Chuck starts out in the jungle, proceeds through an area with numerous lakes, plies his way through the a snow-covered ice age, and finishes up at a dinosaur bone yard where he finds himself swallowed whole by a large dinosaur and has to find his way out.

Chuck has a smart variety of attacks at his disposal. His primary line of defense against approaching land critters is the belly bump, a close-ranged attack that can get most critters out of his way with one hit. While jumping or underwater, Chuck performs the "cave-man kick". His most interesting ability, though, is the use of rocks that he can pick up and carry with him. There are small rocks and large rocks. While he's carrying a rock, he holds it over his head to defend himself from airborne foes, and he can toss the rock at approaching land critters.

There are also numerous areas where Chuck needs to place the rocks on the ground so that he can jump on top of them to reach high areas he'd otherwise be unable to reach. Sometimes he has to stack the rocks. When faced with a pit of swamp water or a patch of nasty thorns, Chuck can use a rock as a bridge to safely get across. He can also stand on a peaceful crocodile's tail, toss a rock on the croc's head (ouch!), and the croc will fling him upward. The variety of ways that Chuck can use rocks is imaginative and interesting.

Chuck can also get various peaceful creatures to help him out by using a belly bump on them. A peaceful pterodactyl carries him across hazardous terrain. A prehistoric frog bounces him upward like a trampoline. And a sleeping woolly mammoth gives him a lift with his tusks when woken up.

The physics of this game are right on target. Chuck moves slower while he's carrying a small rock, and he moves slower yet while carrying a large rock. He also doesn't jump as high while carrying a rock. Small rocks travel farther than large rocks when thrown. If Chuck is carrying a rock while he jumps into water, he'll sink to the bottom of the lake, where the rock keeps him from floating back up.

During his travels, Chuck meets all kinds of crazy critters who try to do him in. The sheer variety of creatures here is impressive. The game is always throwing something new at us. The creatures are cartoony, often comical, and many have zany personalities, displayed in the ways they move around. Those crazy little alligators with huge snapping jaws and the swordfish in the prehistoric lakes are two of my favorites. The swordfish looks like he's not entirely sure what's going on, what with jellyfish, crazy crabs, comical octopi, and zany snapping clams all over the place. During the ice age, creatures frozen in ice cubes slide along the snow-covered turf. The game has an endearing sense of humor about it.

At the end of each world, Chuck meets up with a boss character, all of whom have their own unique personalities. There's a triceratops who tromps around, a sea monster, a large woolly mammoth, and a T-Rex who wears boxing gloves. These guys are just as comical as the rest of the characters. Chuck has to dispatch each boss in a different way, and each guy has a pattern of attack with a weakness that can be exploited. Once you figure out what to do, it's possible to defeat the guy without taking a hit. There's a lot of skill involved. In fact, almost the entire game is based on skill. There are very few cheap shots. Just a couple toward the end, but even those can be avoided when you know they're coming. Learning the game and figuring out ways to safely traverse the levels is the name of the game here. When you figure it out, what at first looked impossible becomes quite easy.

Chuck has a health meter and a limited stock of lives. During his adventures, he collects various types of food for points. Hearts replenish some of his health. At the end of each world, a five-character password is given, allowing us to pick up from where we left off if Chuck finds himself overwhelmed.

Visually, this game isn't all that impressive. While the foregrounds (terrain that Chuck interacts with) are well presented, there are no backgrounds. It's a plain black background throughout the game (blue for underwater areas). All of the characters are well animated, and the action is always fluid. Slowdown that tends to plague other games isn't present here. A definite plus. Defeated creatures bounce into the air a bit and then fall off the bottom of the screen. Chuck's eyes bug out of his head when he takes a hit. Except for the plain background, everything looks good. I'll excuse the plain background because this game is reminiscent of many computer games from the 80s and early 90s that I remain fond of to this day.

The sound department is mostly good. Everything in this game has an appropriate sound effect, from the hopping of prehistoric frogs to the sound of Chuck's feet on the ground. Rocks have appropriate effects when picked up, thrown, and put down. There's a splash when Chuck jumps into the water. A few of the effects can get kind of annoying, such as the screeching of a pterodactyl as it swoops down to attack. There's also a rather annoying effect for when Chuck dies. The only music is at the title screen. It's some pretty good stuff, with a variety of instruments playing. The entire game takes place against a backdrop of eerie silence (again, reminiscent of 80s computer games). The lack of background music was at first unsettling, but I soon got used to it.

This game relies on old-fashioned, solid game-play to get by, and Chuck does it with plenty of charm. This is one of the best games on the Game Gear and proof that you don't need flashy graphical effects or a catchy soundtrack for a good game. Chuck doesn't try to fool us with eye-catching scenery or cool tunes. Instead, he simply delivers fun, engaging game-play. Great-looking scenery and a good soundtrack can make a great game better; but when the dust settles, game-play is what makes or breaks a video game. In this department, Chuck rocks!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/24/05, Updated 08/19/11

Game Release: Chuck Rock (US, 1992)