''CJ's Elephant Antics'' is a

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

developed by Genesis for the Commodore 64 with conversions made for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore International, 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 sign ...

, Atari ST,

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colou ...

and

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 American ...

. All ports were handled by Genesis with the exception of the ZX Spectrum version which was handled by

Big Red Software The Big Red Software Company Limited, doing business as Big Red Software, was a British video game developer based in Leamington Spa, England, that was founded by Paul Ranson in October 1989. History Big Red Software was incorporated on 16 Oc ...

. The computer versions were published 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 ...

in 1991, with the NES game arriving in 1992 as part of the unlicensed compilation cartridge '' Quattro Arcade''. The player controls a baby elephant by the name of Columbus Jumbo on his way home to Africa.

Plot

After being captured in Africa for the purpose of being put in a zoo, turbulence hits the plane transporting CJ to England causing his cage to open, he grabs a nearby umbrella and leaps out of the airplane while somewhere over France. After landing CJ realises he will have to make his way back home to Africa on foot.

Gameplay

CJ can jump, has an unlimited amount of peanuts he can fire as projectiles, and a limited number of bombs he can throw. An umbrella opens to slow down his descent when dropping from heights. The game also includes the option for two players to take part simultaneously in a co-operative fashion, though like many platformers of this era there are inherent problems in keeping both players on screen at once. CJ deals with this by only scrolling with player 1, and killing player 2 every time he leaves the screen; this system forces the players to move carefully in synchronization throughout much of the game. Elephant Antics has a total of four levels each of which includes an end of level boss fight. The levels throughout the game are all countries that CJ must traverse to reach home, the levels are France, Switzerland, Egypt, and finally Africa. There is also a bike riding bonus stage that takes place between levels in which the player must avoid hazards and collect balloons. This mode is missing from the Spectrum and NES versions.

Development

Reception

On release the 8-bit computer versions of ''CJ's Elephant Antics'' received consistently positive reviews from major publications of the time receiving a 94%at ZZap64 from ''

Zzap!64 ''Zzap!64'' was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact. The magazi ...

'', a 93% from Raze, 85%at

World of Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colour ...

from ''

Your Sinclair ''Your Sinclair'', or ''YS'' as it was commonly abbreviated, was a commercially published and printed British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was in circulation between 1984 and 1993. History Th ...

'', and 81%at

from ''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch s ...

''. ''CJ's Elephant Antics'' was also numbered #55 in Crash's retrospective top 100 ZX Spectrum games featureat

and #34 in its public voted Spectrum top 50 of all time.at

Reviews for the Amiga and Atari ST versions were more inconsistent and ranged from 83% in ''

Amiga Force ''Amiga Force'' was a video games magazine launched towards the end of 1992 by Europress Impact. It lasted for 16 issues before being closed by its publishers. The first issue of ''Amiga Force'' went on sale around September 1992. The magazine wou ...

'' to much lower scores such as the 63% it received in ''

Amiga Power ''Amiga Power'' (''AP'') was a monthly magazine about Amiga video games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Future plc, and ran for 65 issues, from May 1991 to September 1996. Philosophy ''Amiga Power'' had several principles which comp ...

''.

Sequels

''CJ's Elephant Antics'' spawned two sequels: ''CJ in the USA'' for most home computers and ''CJ Elephant Fugitive'' for the

Game Gear The is an 8-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, 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 pri ...

. There were also two games in the series that were cancelled: ''CJ in Space''at

and ''CJ's Island Antics''. ''CJ's Island Antics'' was outsourced by Codemasters to another team. Though the 3rd game in the series, ''CJ in Space'', was never commercially released, the 4th game did see a partial release in Germany for the C64 as a free cover game with one of CP Verlag's digital magazines under the name ''Jimbo''.at GTW64 Codemasters made several games similar to ''CJ's Elephant Antics'': ''DJ Puff's Volcanic Adventure'' and '' Stuntman Seymour''. Both were noted for their similarities to CJ by contemporary reviewers.at www.Zzap64.co.ukat www.Zzap64.co.uk

References

{{reflist 1991 video games Amiga games Atari ST games Codemasters games Commodore 64 games Platform games Video games scored by Allister Brimble Video games set in France ZX Spectrum games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Big Red Software games Multiplayer and single-player video games