| Lazy Jones | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | David Whittaker |
| Publisher(s) | Terminal Software |
| Designer(s) | David Whittaker |
| Engine | proprietary |
| Platform(s) | C64, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Tatung Einstein |
| Release date(s) | 1984 |
| Genre(s) | Platform game |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Lazy Jones is a computer game for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, MSX and Tatung Einstein. It was written by David Whittaker and released by Terminal Software in 1984. The Spectrum version was ported by Simon Cobb.
Lazy Jones is essentially a collection of fifteen smaller sub-games. The game takes place inside a hotel with three floors, connected by an elevator. The character is a lazy hotel employee who does not much care for his work, but prefers to sneak into the rooms to play video games instead.
The main screen in Lazy Jones is the hotel interior. There, the character can use the elevator to travel freely between the three floors, but he must watch out for enemies: the current hotel manager on the top floor, the ghost of the previous manager on the bottom floor, and a haunted cleaning cart on the middle floor. The enemies only walk around and do not pursue the character, but contact with them is fatal.
Each floor has six rooms, three on each side of the elevator. Each room can be entered once. Inside most rooms is a video game, which the character immediately begins playing. As well as the video games, there is the hotel bar, a bed, a cleaning closet and a toilet. The bar works like a video game, but the bed, the cleaning closet and the toilet are useless decorations (intentionally added, because David had run out of ideas for new games).
When all rooms have been visited, the game starts over again, but increasingly faster, each time.
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The plot of the game is simple- a hotel care taker named Jones is bored and decides to go in the rooms and play games.
The various sub-games are generally simplified versions of famous 1970s and 1980s video games, such as Space Invaders, Frogger, Snake or Chuckie Egg. Their plots and gameplay are very simple, and in most of them the player simply must avoid incoming enemies long enough to score many points. In some, the player must shoot enemies to score points.
Each sub-game has a time limit. In some sub-games it is possible to "die", thus ending the sub-game prematurely, while others only end after the time limit expires.
The fourteen video games are as follows:
In the hotel bar, your character stands in front of the (rather wide) bar. The barman and the only other patron, hopelessly drunk, are both moving back and forth across the bar, at different speeds. Pressing the fire button while standing in front of both a drink and the barman at the same time earns you points. The drunk patron bars your movement but can be jumped over.
The sub-games where it is possible to "die" prematurely are Eggie Chuck, Jay Walk, Res Q and The Wall.
The sub-games that only end when the time limit runs out are 99 Red Balloons, Laser Jones, Outland, Scoot, Star Dust, The Hills Are Alive, The Reflex, The Turk, Wild Wafers, Wipeout and the hotel bar.
The music has a very characteristic sound that is distinct from many other C64 games. Each of the 21 subtunes is using only two voices of the SID chip which in turn use the same sawtooth sound. One voice plays a simple octave bassline for the most part, while the other one is adding the melody. All the tunes share the same tempo as well and they change seamlessly when playing another sub game.
Subtune 21, named "Stardust", was remixed by the German producer team Zombie Nation (initially unlicensed, which caused the producers to pay an undisclosed amount of money to Whittaker.)[1] in their song Kernkraft 400. The remixed version became immensely popular around the world hitting number 1 in charts of many places, especially in the United States, where spectators chant to the music at sporting events. "Stardust" was later also covered by Dutch hardcore production duo Roland & Sherman as "Jonge Edammer".