Hugo (franchise)

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Hugo is a franchise created in Denmark in 1990 for the purpose of interactive television for children. Hugo "live one-player multi platform interactive game show" has aired in more than 40 countries[1] and spawned numerous video games and also some music albums, magazines and other merchandise.

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[edit] Hugo show

Hugo is a little troll, who lived happily with his family (wife Hugolina, sons Trollerit and Trollerat, and daughter Trollerut) until the evil witch named Scylla (other names in various countries) kidnapped his three children and his wife Hugolina (or Hugoline). The characters were created by graphical designer Niels Krogh Mortensen.

The television show featured a video game that was played by the audience via telephone: the person would call the show's production, then be prompted by a human host to control Hugo in several scenarios by pressing the number keys on the phone, assorted to the character controls. In the end of a gaming level, the player would have to choose one out of three ropes to pull and rescue Hugo's family, awarding prizes.

[edit] Hugo games

There are also over over 30 games sold in over 10 million copies,[2] for Amiga, Commodore 64, PC, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Game Boy and mobile game versions and spin-offs, usually putting Hugo against various evil spells of Scylla, her servant Don Croco and her other minions. In some of them also the children or even enemies of Hugo are the playable characters.

Most of the tiles are the platform games or minigame compilations, but there are also some quiz-type educational games. There were also various re-editions and compilations of the previous titles.

In 2005 Hugo was rebranded into Agent Hugo for a new series of games.

[edit] Agent Hugo series

[edit] Classic games

A more complete list of games released in Germany 1994-2006.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Scylla

Scylla is the evil witch prominently featured in the Hugo franchise. Scylla is also known as Hexana in the German-speaking countries and the Scandinavia, Afskylia in Denmark, Maldiva in Portugal, Maldícia in Brazil, Grizzelda in Israel and Mordana in Croatia. Scylla is over 230-year old and she needs a female troll to keep her youth.

Scylla is the main enemy in most of the Hugo titles, often kidnapping members of his family, or plotting to gain control of the rare "black diamonds" containing powerful evil magic. She has a deep-hearted wish for the ultimate power and eternal beauty, and despises children, but most of all she hates Hugo, who keeps foiling her plots. In some of games she uses only traps and spells against Hugo, in others her servant Don Croco and his army of humanoid crocodile, known as the El Kroko, and/or other minions. She is also a playable character in several games, including Hugo: Bukkazoom and Hugo: Smakkaball, but is not featured in the later Agent Hugo games.

In Germany there was a 1996-1997 children TV show called Hexana[3] (also known as Hexana-Schloss, or "Hexana's Castle"[4]). The show was a spin-off of the main Hugo show, starring German actress Julia Haacke (best known from the role of Sailor Mars in the German version of Sailor Moon).

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hugo Jungle Island
  2. ^ Studio Profile - Krogh Mortensen Animation a/s
  3. ^ Hexana (TV-serie)
  4. ^ Julia Haacke (alias Hexana)

[edit] External links

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