Before he was involved in mega-hit arcade games Smash TV and NBA Jam, Mark Turmell created an oddly engaging game for the old Commodore 64 called Toy Bizarre.
I kind of wish I had the manual for this game, I might then know what in the world was going on. The game, it would seem, takes place in a toy factory after hours. The toys have come to life somehow and it’s your job to control the flow of new toys into the arena by shutting off the valves located at the edges of the screen, and to disable and collect the rogue toys, presumably for packaging and shipping. The screen is full of complementary platforms. When you jump on one of the raised platforms, it will lower and its complementary platform will raise, incapacitating whatever’s on it, allowing you to collect it. If you happen to be on a lowered platform when something hits its complementary platform, then you = dead. Or more accurately, you = flying off the top of the screen.
Your progress is hindered by a mechanical female with a giant key in her back. To keep the game moving, when you turn off the valves, she turns them back on. She’ll also meander about the level trying to jump on the complimentary platforms to incapacitate you. You can temporarily dispatch her by turning the tables and hopping on the complimentary
The game is simple to understand, fun to play, and completely bizarre. In other words, my kind of game.