EL BIGOTUDO

A very Spectrum-like approach — pile up intrigue and mysteries, explain nothing, but let the player figure everything out by trial and error. Strangely enough, that's exactly how you get maximum engagement and atmosphere: you want to try to play through again and again, draw a map, look for the solutions to the puzzles. A very high-quality game.

Even considering that this is completely not my genre, I can only give this game the highest rating. There's no point in repeating what other reviews have said about the graphics, sound, and everything else. I'd like to note that it's a pleasure just to move the sprites and watch everything move so deftly and beautifully, responsively. For games of this level, you could easily set a price three times higher - I wouldn't mind at all paying for such wonderful work, which is undoubtedly an adornment to the world of ZX Spectrum games. I'll separately mention the title music track. Even though it's quite short, the theme really hooks you. My little son happily dances to this music. Many thanks to the authors! Keep rocking!

A surprisingly charming and interesting little game, especially compared to the tons of casual titles that just waste your time and burn out your dopamine. This one has everything a demanding retrophile needs: classic "Spectrum-style" graphics, a spirit of exploration, and awesome AY music combined with ambient sounds! The smoothness of the animation is simply impressive. Without a doubt, the game deserves the highest rating, and I'd recommend everyone make sure to have it in their collection. Thanks to the authors for their work, bring on part two :))

Full review here at Planeta Sinclair: https://planetasinclair.blogspot.com/2024/04/el-bigotudo.html Those who were missing games from the other side of the Iron Curtain now have reasons to delight in the new work by Romancha (White Jaguar) and company. And let's be honest, it's the best game we've seen in many, many months (perhaps years). We dare say it even surpasses Seraphima, Wonderful Dizzy or Marsmare: Alienation, three of the best games released recently. And we mention those three because, one way or another, they have similarities with El Bigotudo. If by chance you're one of those who say that everything made nowadays doesn't come close to the heels of the 80s (in that case you don't know what you've been missing), we could mention two more games that also come to mind: Dan Dare and V, the latter for the many puzzles you'll find during this adventure. We've already talked about the game's story here, plus the creators' page has the story and instructions in greater detail, duly accompanied by a short but magnificent manual. When we first leafed through it, we were almost in the same place. That's not due to a failure by the programming team, who developed a magnificent game and then no longer had time (or money) to elaborate a detailed manual. No, that's entirely intentional, since the idea is for us to explore the game and uncover its many secrets, with the manual giving only a few hints. And only after much exploration of the corridors of this alien base do we begin to fully grasp the schemes contained in the manual. Or perhaps not, since some are almost as indecipherable as the codes of V or Captain Blood. The programmers' care in this release extends to the intro, which we can see as soon as we load El Bigotudo. It immediately gives a taste of what we're going to find and introduces us to the hero of this adventure, an inveterate drunkard who downs beers and whisky the way normal people drink water. But despite that, he's brave, and even having been forcibly taken by the aliens into their base, he'll do everything to return home. By the way, the game has several endings and even after we finish it, the surprises don't cease... But let's start from the beginning. We wake up in the alien base, made up of five levels connected by an elevator, which besides serving as transport is also a very useful place to hide from the robots patrolling the corridors. There are all shapes and kinds, some are just zombies, who wouldn't offer much danger, if it weren't for the fact that they come in droves. We always have the possibility of disguising ourselves as a zombie, by putting on the mask that a vagrant trades with us if we offer him what he asks for. Those are easy to identify, usually leaning in a corner, looking like they've been keeping our hero company over drinks. Besides, they usually ask for matching objects, like tobacco or knives. But they always give us something very useful in return. More annoying are the robots, which periodically, if they sense our presence, shoot. Besides being larger than the zombies, and therefore harder to get past with a jump, they usually patrol points that have traps we can fall into, doubling the danger. But nothing that three well-aimed shots won't solve, assuming we find the weapon and the bullets. On the lower floors there are also robotic guardians, which shoot as soon as we enter their range. For those, we have to study their path very well in order to avoid them (our weapon is useless against them). To this list of monstrosities are added slimy beings that cling to the ceilings and fall when least expected, computer engineers (on the top floor) that we should jump over (it's not worth wasting bullets on these), and also robots with periscopes that are on the satellite, which we can access if we find a helmet and manage to activate

Awesome game. Interesting. But not easy. Even with good skills (and not like mine), you're unlikely to breeze through it quickly. You'll have to wander around, think, and solve puzzles. The gameplay is addictive. I also liked that the game has almost no text (in the gameplay itself); NPCs tell us what they need using item icons. I somehow only recall a similar feature in Terramex. I was also pleased by the manual's design: beautiful, colorful, and... confusing :) In short, I waited for this game (since I played the authors' previous games), and I wasn't disappointed! I've got almost 12 hours of play behind me, but so far I've only gotten the veeeery worst of the possible endings. We'll keep wandering!