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"Not much of a big deal; Fat, hairy or otherwise."

For those of you who aren't familiar with the cartoon strip by Jim Davis, Garfield is one big, FAT orange cat. His two favourite things in the world are food and sleep, which he somehow manages to experience at the same time. He lives with his hopeless-in-romance owner, Jon, and the dog, Odie. Oh, yeah, and he LOATHES Mondays with a passion. Of course, if you haven't heard of Garfield, I'd have to be concerned, as it's one of the world's most famous of cartoon characters, with syndicated comic strips appearing in the daily papers, plush toys lining the shelves, and the fat cat even had his spin at a TV show with his friends from Orson's Farm which ran for a good 7 or so years. He's fallen out of the spotlight as of late, but he's still lazing around some place...maybe he's even lying around in your own cupboard in the form of Big, Fat, Hairy Deal; Garfield's Commodore adventure.

Anyway, it's that time of the week again, and as always so beautifully depicted by Garfield:

"*yawn* What day is it?"
*gets hit in the face with a custard pie*
"Oh...it's Monday."

Yeah. It just so happens to be Monday today, and a whole load of trouble is going down much to the dismay of Garfield. What trouble, you ask? Kidnap, of course! It's up to you to get up off of the couch, put down that dish of lasagna and rescue your girlfriend from certain doom! It's a videogame cliche plot, even for the Commodore-era, but since it's got the Garfield name stamped on it, as well as some of its own spins, such as the typical humour found in the comic strip, it's like a whole new take on the old "bad guy takes girl" situation. Now, after gaining enough strength and effort to get out the door, Garfield will be faced by all sorts of challenges as he makes his way across the city to his goal. Varied locations such as the park and sewers are greatly designed and definitely are the strong point to the game, and not just the location art, but graphics on the whole, as Garfield looks exactly like he's meant to look like...Big, fat and hairy....and orange.

These visuals are bright, wonderful and gripping. On the flip-side of my Garfield game case reveals a colour comparison of two versions of the game; the C64 version, and the Sinclair Spectrum. The Spectrum...hmm, well, let's say that it's more black and white than a Humphrey Bogart flick - not very attractive to play through it like Film Noir, huh? Well, the other side of the mirror is this version; the C64. You've got different shades of fantastic bright green making up the trees, dark browns and oranges blend together below the dank surface in the sewers as the crumbling brickwork. The visuals are amazing me now just thinking about them, and are definitely some of the best that I've seen in a Commodore title.

There are generally two things which can make or break a game, and one of those is how it plays. The gameplay for Big, Fat, Hairy Deal is certainly far from being the best part of the game, as it sadly chugs along at a very slow pace, even for Garfield's sloth-like standards. Walking, jumping...it's all just one long chore, really. And also not to mention that the puzzles that Garfield involve way too much of this slow movement, causing irritation beyond relief. "Puzzles?" you may ask, and I can only respond with that I wouldn't even call them puzzling. I could hardly even call them challenging, let alone involving, as they usually end up with you having to walk somewhere or get something, like a key to open a locked gate - Garfield stumbles across locked gate, Garfield must slowly walk to find a key, Garfield must then slowly walk back to the gate. It's tedium to have to backtrack when you're slower than a senile snail, but there is the occasional redemption with a well-thought out puzzle or two. For a game with so much comic game play appeal, it turned out to be a big disappointment on all levels.

I can't say that the game is poor or anything, but it is just about average. Excellent visuals make up the game, but the actual playing of it knocks it down a couple of pegs. I'm certainly not saying that it's not fun to play since it it, but the slowness can hinder the fun. Should you look into getting this title? Yeah, I'd say so, but look out for the Amiga version, as that is somewhat improved upon this release.


Reviewer's Score: 5/10 | Originally Posted: 11/02/05, Updated 06/27/06