Line #42 VideoGame/HeadOverHeels


1	[[quoteright:282:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/head_over_heels_7662.gif]]
2	[[caption-width-right:282:"Charlie is my Dalek, my Dalek, my Dalek..."]]
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4	An {{isometric\|Projection}} puzzle game by John Ritman and Bernie Drummond released for the Platform/ZXSpectrum in 1987 and later ported to more machines.
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6	Undercover spies Head and Heels, working to overthrow the corrupt [[TheEmperor Emperor]] [[BigBad Blacktooth]], have been captured and thrown into separate cells. The pair must escape from prison, gather the tools of their trade, and then meet up before attempting to spark revolutions on all of the worlds occupied by the EvilEmpire by finding and recovering the lost crowns of their original rulers.
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8	The two agents have unique skills when alone. Head can jump higher than Heels, and can direct himself in the air. He also carries a donut-firing hooter to stun enemies. Heels runs much faster, though, and has a bag that allows him to move objects around to get to those out-of-the-way places. But when they meet up, Head can jump up on top of Heels to combine their abilities.
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10	''Head over Heels'' is considered to be one of the best games in the genre not developed by [[Creator/{{Rare}} Ultimate]]. The gameplay is very similar to their previously developed Franchise/{{Batman}} title, and contains numerous surreal friends and enemies, most famously a [[Series/DoctorWho Dalek]] with [[UsefulNotes/CharlesIII Prince Charles]] for a head. The player can switch between Head and Heels at will, and while the start of the game focuses on getting them together in order to complete the escape, the game soon has you needing to split them up again.
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12	That crazy plot, though? The developers freely admit that it all went in as an [[ExcusePlot afterthought]] once they'd finished the game...
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15	Retrospec [[VideoGameRemake has remade]] the game with updated graphics, and you can download it for free [[http://retrospec.sgn.net/game/hoh here]].
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17	----
18	!!This Game Provides Examples of:
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20	* AbnormalAmmo: Head's Hooter fires only doughnuts.
21	* AcidTripDimension: On the Platform/AmstradCPC version, and even more so on the Platform/AtariST version, wearing sunglasses is advisable for certain screens. In the case of the Platform/AtariST port, this is because Ritman and Drummond had no control over the colour schemes used.
22	* AllYourPowersCombined: Once the two characters meet, their combined form can jump and run faster than either can individually. But they can't fit through small gaps anymore.
23	* BagOfHolding: Heels' unique ability, which allows him to carry certain blocks around.
24	* BigBad: [[TheEmperor Emperor Blacktooth]] is the leader of the EvilEmpire that the title characters are working to overthrow.
25	* BinomiumRidiculus: The manual gives the title characters silly Latin-inspired names: Headus Mouthion and Footus Underium.
26	* BlockPuzzle: Push them, stack them, you'll be doing this a lot.
27	* BuildLikeAnEgyptian: Egyptus, one of the worlds you have to save.
28	* CanisLatinicus: The manual gives the title characters silly Latin-inspired names: Headus Mouthion and Footus Underium.
29	* CollisionDamage: Some blocks kill on contact.
30	* ControlRoomPuzzle: Only a few, but quite clever compared to the norm.
31	* CrateExpectations: Some of them very odd looking indeed.
32	* CuteBruiser: Several of the enemies, in line with the game's cuddly/surreal look.
33	* DeadEndRoom: In Egyptus, it is possible for Heels to miss a critical jump and fall into a room where only Head is supposed to go. Since there is no way for Heels to go forward from this area (not even by joining up with Head), the only option is to quit and restart. Let's hope you ate a Reincarnation Fish recently...
34	* DoorToBefore: Once you reach a world's crown, the very next room (or sometimes the same room) will drop you back into the first screen of that world so you can teleport straight back to the hub. (Most often, it's the previous room. And it's a one-way teleport, so get the crown first...)
35	* FlipScreenScrolling: Although sometimes you're shown a little of what's on the next screen. The remake merges these sorts of rooms, so huge rooms scroll as you'd expect.
36	* GoldenEnding: You can flee to the rebel home planet of Freedom from the teleport hub at any time, but the full ending needs to you find all the crowns first.
37	%%* GravityBarrier
38	* HubLevel: After completing the escape, you reach a teleport station that allows you to visit the remaining worlds in any order.
39	* ImprobableWeapon: Head wields a klaxon horn that fires donuts which stun enemies.
40	%%* InconvenientlyPlacedConveyorBelt
41	%%* InformedEquipment
42	* InvoluntaryGroupSplit: The game is very inventive in coming up with ways to force you to split the characters up.
43	* IsometricProjection: The game uses a modified isometric screen-by-screen engine created for ''Batman (1986)'' and similar to the Filmation technique.
44	* JumpPhysics: Different for each character (and for the combine).
45	* JungleJapes: Safari, one of the worlds you have to save.
46	%%* MalevolentArchitecture
47	%%* OneHitPointWonder
48	* PenalColony: Penitentiary, one of the worlds you have to save.
49	* PlatformHell: Occasionally drifts into this.
50	* SavePoint: Reincarnation fish.
51	* SequenceBreaking: Mapping a key to the 'jump' and 'change character' actions, then hammering it, will allow Head to jump the barrier separating him from Heels at the beginning of the game. Don't forget to fetch his hooter first though, or you'll be blocked. (This helpful bug has of course been eliminated from the remake.)
52	* ShoutOut:
53	** The jingle played when you enter a room in Safari is from ''VideoGame/SabreWulf''.
54	** Book World contains only cowboy books. [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler A certain real-life dictator]] was also fond of these.
55	%%* SpikesOfDoom
56	* SpookySilentLibrary: Book World, one of the worlds you have to save.
57	* SpringsSpringsEverywhere: Staple puzzle object for areas where you only have Heels.
58	* TeamworkPuzzleGame: many puzzles rely on the fact the two characters have different abilities that must be used together.
59	%%* TemporaryPlatform
60	* TrainingDummy: Head's first screen has a ladder you can climb for practice (with an extra life rabbit at the top), a skill you'll need later.
61	* UnwinnableByDesign: If one of your two characters runs out of lives, you can't finish the game. But it doesn't actually tell you. Averted in the remake; the other character can sacrifice two lives to give one back to a dead character if required.

Context VideoGame / HeadOverHeels