''Harley's Humongous Adventure'' is a side-scrolling 2D

platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

released in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

for the

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...

. It was originally developed by

Visual Concepts Visual Concepts Entertainment is an American video game developer based in Novato, California. Founded in May 1988, the company is best known for developing Sports video game, sports games in the ''2K'' franchise, most recently ''NBA 2K'' and ' ...

, and funded by

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

, but eventually published by

Hi Tech Expressions Hi Tech Expressions (later Hi Tech Entertainment) was an American video game publisher headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1986. During the course of its existence, the company published primarily juve ...

Gameplay

The player controls Harley, a man in a green suit who has shrunk himself to the size of a bar of

soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...

. Harley's mission is to gather the parts of his shrinking machine to return himself to normal size. Harley advances through the levels, picking up items such as tacks, rubberbands, and marbles. Harley adventures through his lab, where the initial incident occurs, his kitchen, his toy room, where the player pilots a toy tank by himself, his bathroom, and other stages. Enemies include flies, bees, and ants. Players must avoid such enemy attacks as the flies vomiting overhead. The main boss is a deformed rat that tries to jump on Harley, and after each encounter utilizes a household item for the limb he had lost in the previous encounter.

Development

Visually, the game utilizes a mix of

pixel art Pixel art () is a form of digital art drawn with graphics software, graphical software where images are built using pixels as the only building block. It is widely associated with the low-resolution graphics from 8-bit and 16-bit era computers a ...

for the stage backgrounds, the menus and most objects, and digitized

clay animation Clay animation or claymation, sometimes plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay. Tra ...

models for all characters. The

was produced by A-OK Animation, who had also worked on ''

Claymates ''Claymates'' is a platform game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is one of Interplay's clay animation titles which also included the ''ClayFighter'' series. Overview The protagonist of the game is a boy named Clayton, w ...

'', another Super NES game featuring a somewhat similar graphical style. The game was programmed, and designed in part, by Brian Greenstone of

Pangea Software Pangea Software is a video game developer based in Austin, Texas, owned and operated by Brian Greenstone. The company began with Apple IIGS games in 1987, then moved to Macintosh and later iOS. Pangea found its primary success with a series of 3D ...

. This programmer previously wrote games for the

Apple IIGS The Apple IIGS (styled as II), the fifth and most powerful of the Apple II family, is a 16-bit personal computer produced by Apple Computer. While featuring the Macintosh look and feel, and resolution and color similar to the Amiga and Atari ST ...

computer, which happens to share the same

65C816 The W65C816S (also 65C816 or 65816) is an 8/16-bit microprocessor (MPU) developed and sold by the Western Design Center (WDC). Introduced in 1985, the W65C816S is an enhanced version of the WDC 65C02 8-bit MPU, itself a CMOS enhancement of the ve ...

microprocessor as the Super NES. The box art was created for EA by veteran gaming illustrator Marc Ericksen. It features Harley blasting out of the kitchen sink, holding a red plastic push pin for scale reference.

Reception

Notes

References

External links

*{{moby game, id=/harleys-humongous-adventure, name=''Harley's Humongous Adventure'' 1993 video games Altron games Hi Tech Expressions games Science fiction video games Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Super Nintendo Entertainment System-only games Platformers Side-scrolling video games Clay animation video games Video games developed in the United States Video games scored by Brian L. Schmidt Video games with digitized sprites Video games about size change Action games Single-player video games Video games about toys Visual Concepts games