Chubby Gristle

Chubby Gristle was a 1988 platform game developed by Teque Software Development and published by Grandslam Entertainments for the major home computer formats of the time.

Description
Car Park attendants are a breed of their own. Love 'em or hate 'em, they can't be ignored!

Chubby Gristle is probably the fattest and most obnoxious car park attendant you'll ever come across and with housewives who've lost their kids, traffic wardens cluttering up the place and kids bombing aroun on BMX's it's no wonder his life isn't just a bowl of cherries!

Chubby's one passion is FOOD and on this heaven-on-earth mission nothing will stop him as he bounces his way through screen after screen of grub; munching his way to the ultimate one ton mark.

Chubby Gristle is a classic platform game with danger at every turn. Will he become a one ton giant or will he end up at the health farm or gym? His future is in your hands!

Why It Sucks

 * 1) The gameplay is a rip-off of various computer platform games of the mid-1980s, including Jet Set Willy, Technician Ted and the Monty Mole series, and does very little to differentiate from those games.
 * 2) *This kind of gameplay was also very outdated by 1988, and feels like a game that was made three years prior.
 * 3) The instructions give little to no hints as to what you're supposed to do aside from collecting food.
 * 4) Despite Chubby Gristle being a car park attendant, he does little to no car park attendance in the game.
 * 5) The controls are very fiddly.
 * 6) The game moves way too fast on the MSX, Commodore 64 and the 16-bit versions, making some enemies and obstacles almost impossible to dodge.
 * 7) Much like many computer platform games made in the mid-1980s, it is incredibly difficult, not helped by the aforementioned speed increase in some versions.
 * 8) If Chubby Gristle dies, he will respawn on the previous screen instead of spawning in the same screen that he died in, which may sometimes lead to unfair deaths.
 * 9) While not as short as Summer Santa, the game offers only about 20 different screens, making it kinda lacking and somewhat short in comparison to the other games it copied.
 * 10) The premise of Chubby Gristle going around and eating food until he gets to one ton of weight seems a bit mean-spirited and disrespectful towards overweight people. It's also never explained how and why Chubby Gristle got fat enough to earn this nickname.
 * 11) The music is very repetitive.
 * 12) The Atari ST and Amiga versions are just straight ports of the 8-bit versions with barely any changes other than slightly improved graphics (and sound in the case of the Amiga version).
 * 13) This was a full-priced game, at a time when similar platform games, like the Monty Mole series and Jet Set Willy, were sold at a budget price, and offer way more content than Chubby Gristle.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) The graphics are pretty decent in all the versions.
 * 2) *The MSX version has no attribute clash unlike many ZX Spectrum games ported to the MSX.
 * 3) The ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC versions move at slower speeds than the other versions, making them somewhat easier.
 * 4) The music, while repetitive, is admittedly catchy.

Reception
Chubby Gristle received mixed-to-negative reviews from the magazines of the time. Your Sinclair rated the ZX Spectrum version 50%, saying it's "an arid game: dried-up gameplay, desiccated graphics, not one to quench your addictive thirsts". ACE gave the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum versions 36%, praising the originality of the game, but criticizing its outdated and difficult gameplay, as well as its short length. The same magazine rated the Amiga version slightly higher, at 42%. Zzap! magazine awarded the Commodore 64 version 26%, calling it "one of the worst attempts at a platform game we've seen for some time".

Videos
0lFtm6tqhWo QNA2hw-0UjM

Trivia

 * The titular character was based on a car park attendant who worked opposite Teque's offices, and he always issued the employees parking tickets and rudely kicked them out of the car park.