''CarVup'' is a

platform game A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

developed and published by

Core Design Core Design Limited (known as Rebellion (Derby) Ltd between 2006 and 2010) was a British video game developer based in Derby. Founded in May 1988 by former Gremlin Graphics employees, it originally bore the name Megabrite until rebranding as Co ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

. Based on

Jaleco was a corporate brand name that was used by two previously connected video game developers and publishers based in Japan. The original Jaleco company was founded in 1974 as Japan Leisure Company, founded by Yoshiaki Kanazawa, before being renamed ...

's 1985 arcade game ''

City Connection is a 1985 platform video game developed and published by Jaleco for arcades. It was released in North America by Kitkorp as ''Cruisin. The player controls Clarice in her Honda City hatchback and must drive over elevated roads to paint them. ...

'', it was released for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

and

Atari ST Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...

Gameplay

The gameplay involves controlling a cartoon-like car named Arnie, who is jumping from platform to platform while avoiding enemies. If the time limit in each level was reached, a demon-like creature called Turbo flies into the screen which homed in on the player within 15 seconds, costing them a life. Much like ''City Connection'', the objective of the game is to drive over every platform in the level, which changed the platforms in some ways. For example, in the construction zone the platforms are girders with holes for rivets. A rivet would appear in the hole once it was driven over. With this task completed, Arnie would be picked up by a helicopter and taken to the next level. At the end of three levels, Arnie would rescue an animal friend and continue on to the next themed level. Themed levels include:

construction site Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

and other various themes.

Development

Both the

and

versions of ''CarVup'' began development in May 1990, and were released in November. ''CarVup''s protagonist, Arnie, was initially named Carl. The game's plot was conceived before the team decided on a car protagonist; Robert Toon, ''CarVup''s designer & programmer, stated that the team decided on an automotive aesthetic because "people can associate with cars and, because it has no brakes, it's easy to explain why it doesn't stop moving". ''CarVup'' was inspired by the similarly colorful & cartoony platformers ''

Rainbow Islands is a 1987 arcade video game developed and published by Taito, with the arcade version licensed to Romstar for North American manufacturing and distribution. The game is the sequel to ''Bubble Bobble'' from the previous year, and it is the second ...

'' and ''

Rod Land ''Rod Land'', known in Japan as , is a 1990 platform game originally developed and published in arcades by Jaleco. Gameplay The player(s) control one or two fairies called Tam and Rit armed with a magic wand (rod). Following the concept of T ...

''; Terry Lloyd, ''CarVup''s graphic artist, expressed that he wanted to have cartoon visuals without making them 'too simplistic'. Toon further expressed that ''CarVup'' was made to look "like it came from a

console Console may refer to: Computing and video games * System console, a physical device to operate a computer ** Virtual console, a user interface for multiple computer consoles on one device ** Command-line interface, a method of interacting with ...

arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily game of skill, games of skill and in ...

". Most of ''CarVup''s graphics were created in ''

OCP Art Studio OCP Art Studio or Art Studio was a popular bitmap graphics editor for home computers released in 1985, created by ''Oxford Computer Publishing'' and written by James Hutchby (original ZX Spectrum version). It featured a GUI with windows, icons, ...

'' on an Atari ST, and larger works such as the title screen were created in ''

DEGAS Elite Edgar Degas (, ; born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar De Gas, ; 19 July 183427 September 1917) was a French Impressionist artist famous for his pastel drawings and oil paintings. Degas also produced bronze sculptures, prints, and drawings. Degas is es ...

''. Memory limitations impacted ''CarVup''s graphic design, limiting the number of frames each animation could have; this also impacted Arnie's sprite, and making it 'stand out' despite the sprite's small size was a priority. Arnie was planned to have more facial expressions, but this was scrapped due to memory constraints.

Parallax scrolling Parallax scrolling is a technique in computer graphics where background images move past the camera more slowly than foreground images, creating an illusion of depth in a 2D scene of distance. The technique grew out of the multiplane camera te ...

is unique to the Amiga version of ''CarVup'', and isn't present in the Atari ST version.

Reception

The One The One may refer to: Buildings * The One (shopping centre), a shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong * The One (Toronto), a mixed-use skyscraper under development in Toronto, Canada * The One, a residential skyscraper under constru ...

'' gave the Atari ST version of ''CarVup'' an overall score of 90%, praising its 'arcade-style' presentation accentuated by its "cute" graphics, as well as its "simplistic" and "tremendous yfun" gameplay. ''The One'' praised ''CarVup''s level design, which when combined with the game's enemy AI, created a challenge which requires skill. ''The One'' further praised ''CarVup''s "wonderfully colourful" graphics, as well as its "jolly" music.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carvup 1990 video games Amiga games Atari ST games Core Design games Europe-exclusive video games Platformers Video game clones Video games developed in the United Kingdom Video games scored by Matthew Simmonds

Gameplay

Development

Reception

See also

References

External links