Скачать или смотреть Alfred Chicken (NES) Playthrough

Playthrough of Alfred Chicken, Mindscape's 1994 side-scrolling platformer for the NES.

Alfred Chicken for the NES, developed by Twilight and published by Mindscape in 1994, is a late-era platformer with a decidedly European design sensibility and a surreal sense of humor. Originally debuting on the Game Boy in 1993, the game was reworked for multiple systems, but the NES release stands out both for its timing—one of the final officially licensed titles for the console in North America—and for its quirky mix of accessible gameplay, exploratory level design, and offbeat presentation.

The game follows the titular Alfred, a mechanically enhanced chicken, on a mission to rescue his companion and a clutch of unhatched eggs from the villainous Meka-Chicken clan, aided by an anthropomorphic sunflower named Mr. Peckles. In practice, the story serves as a loose framing device for a series of five themed stages, each filled with hazards, collectibles, and light puzzle elements. The primary goal in each stage is to locate and peck all of the balloons scattered throughout the environment, but optional items—such as diamonds, presents, watering cans, and cans of worms—provide extra lives, power-ups, or access to the game’s best ending.

The gameplay emphasizes exploration over strict linearity. Levels are vertically and horizontally expansive without being confusing, offering a mix of platforming challenges, enemy encounters, and environmental puzzles that reward observation. Alfred’s main attack is the downward “beak dive,” a controlled aerial strike that can defeat enemies or interact with objects, and the controls are crisp, allowing for precise jumps and attacks. The design avoids the cheap traps sometimes associated with European platformers, making the challenge feel fair and encouraging players to experiment with movement and item collection.

Visually, Alfred Chicken is colorful and detailed for an NES release, with imaginative backdrops ranging from oversized household settings to surreal fantasy spaces. Sprites are well-drawn and smoothly animated, giving personality to both the protagonist and the odd assortment of enemies. While the environments lack the parallax scrolling of 16-bit versions, they retain a distinctive charm that fits the game’s whimsical tone.

The music is upbeat and somewhat eccentric, featuring catchy, arpeggio-heavy melodies in the tradition of late 8-bit European compositions. Sound effects are functional, with solid feedback for attacks, item pickups, and enemy defeats, though they are not particularly elaborate.

Alfred Chicken is not a long or difficult game—experienced players can complete it quickly—but its charm, tight controls, and sense of humor make it a pleasant experience. The inclusion of hidden items, optional challenges, and a best ending incentive gives it some replay value, though its brevity and modest difficulty limit its staying power. As one of the NES’s final releases, it serves as a lighthearted swan song for the system: an unconventional, polished, and quirky platformer that rewards curiosity and delivers a distinctive, if brief, adventure.