''Big Nose the Caveman'' is a side-scrolling

platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

developed by

Optimus Software Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game publisher from Long Island, active from 1987 until filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on September 1, 2004. Through a series of acquisitions between 1990 and 2002, Acclaim built itself a large portfo ...

and released in 1991 by Camerica for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...

and by

Codemasters The Codemasters Software Company Limited (trade name: Codemasters) is a British video game developer based in Southam, England, which is a subsidiary of American corporation Electronic Arts. Founded by brothers Richard and David Darling in Octo ...

for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

and the

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...

. A

Master System The is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was originally a remodeled export version of the Sega Mark III, the third iteration of the SG-1000 series of consoles, which was released in Japan in 1985 and ...

and

Game Gear The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear primarily competed with Nintendo's Game Boy, ...

version called Dinobasher was completed, but never published. The game was followed by a sequel, ''Big Nose Freaks Out'', in 1992.

Gameplay

Big Nose runs through many islands to find his dinner, because he is very hungry. Along the way, Big Nose collects

bone A bone is a Stiffness, rigid Organ (biology), organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red blood cell, red and white blood cells, store minerals, provid ...

s that he can use to buy items from the various shops that include spells, upgrades to his abilities and items. This game is difficult due to the inability to restart from the last checkpoint once all lives are gone. It is also very long, with four islands (Paradise Island, Monster Island, Terror Island, and Chaos Island) each containing several levels. Big Nose the Caveman dies in a single hit unless he has stones. The stones can shoot out of his

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

, killing enemies. As many as three stones can come out of the club. There are also many pitfalls, traps and deadly

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...

/water since Big Nose cannot swim.

Reception

Allgame RhythmOne , previously known as Blinkx, and also known as RhythmOne Group, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went publ ...

gave a rating of 2.5 out of 5 stars, noting the major difference between this game and other platformers is that the player has to club the game's enemies instead of jumping on them to progress through the game, concluding: "Other than that, Big Nose is merely an adequate genre effort with large characters, flat backgrounds and uninteresting environments".

References

External links

* {{Camerica 1991 video games Amiga games Atari ST games Camerica games Codemasters games Master System games Nintendo Entertainment System games Platformers Prehistoric people in popular culture Single-player video games Unauthorized video games Video games about dinosaurs Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games scored by Allister Brimble Video games set in prehistory