40 Winks (PlayStation)

...tried to do things differently. 40 Winks must have been floating around right at the very back of my subconscious for some considerable time, maybe because it didn't fit comfortably into any of the above categories. But when a friend of mine bought it recently, it was enough to spark that distant recollection of the game doing the rounds in the magazines all those years ago, and as it had been some time since I had sampled a demo, I decided it was ...
...1999 for the PlayStation, 40 Winks is a kid-aimed 3D platformer that followed hot on the heels of the success stories that were Crash Bandicoot 3 and Spyro The Dragon, and was developed by Eurocom (who would go on to develop Crash Bash a year or so later). With quality titles available in abundance on the PSOne though, 40 Winks would have to go some in order to make waves on the format.

The games villain, the Scrooge-like Nitekap is ... more

Over the years, I have seen many games come and go. You remember the very best, you remember the very worst and you vaguely recall all the sequels, annual updates and games that tried to do things differently. 40 Winks must have been floating around right at the very back of my subconscious for some considerable time, maybe because it didn't fit comfortably into any of the above categories. But when a friend of mine bought it recently, it was enough to spark that distant recollection of the game doing the rounds in the magazines all those years ago, and as it had been some time since I had sampled a demo, I decided it was worth a closer look.

Released back in 1999 for the PlayStation, 40 Winks is a kid-aimed 3D platformer that followed hot on the heels of the success stories that were Crash Bandicoot 3 and Spyro The Dragon, and was developed by Eurocom (who would go on to develop Crash Bash a year or so later). With quality titles available in abundance on the PSOne though, 40 Winks would have to go some in order to make waves on the format.

The games villain, the Scrooge-like Nitekap is fed up as he can't sleep. As an act of petty revenge against the free-sleeping world, he decides to capture 'winks' - the guardians of good dreams, if you will. Nitekap releases a bunch of nasty 'hood-winks' and thus creates the nightmarish (sorry) scenario where nobody will be able to get a decent nights kip again.

However, help is at hand in the form of young brother and sister pairing Ruff and Tumble. To regain the status quo, the pair need to tackle six themed dream worlds, each comprising of three levels and a boss battle, rescuing all 40 'winks' and defeating Nitekap.

Each of the levels has a rather extensive list of challenges that must be dealt with if you are to complete them. Firstly, there are around 40-50 cogs that must be acquired to open certain doors and routes; then there's the four 'dreamkeys' which are imperative to unlocking the boss battle, and last but not least, there are the winks themselves; 40 in total, and between two and three to rescue per area.

The two playable characters, Ruff and Tumble, handle much alike, with the only noticeable differences being their appearance, and that some doors can only be opened only by one or the other.

The bottom line is, how well does it play? Alas, not very well I'm afraid. I tried desperately to like it, as on paper at least, 40 Winks has a lot going for it; it's a standalone platformer with an original premise, a host of unusual ideas and genuinely good production-values too. It could have been one of the best children's games in years, but the gameplay is ultimately a big let-down.

The controls prove the games first major stumbling block, as they are extremely sluggish. Movement in general is unconvincing, but combat can also be a real chore as pressing the combat buttons doesn't immediately result in an attack on the part of your character. The swipes the kids take as a standard move are pitifully short-ranged, meaning that getting into a melee is just as likely to harm you as your enemy. The design and A.I of your foes leaves rather a lot to be desired, and 40 Winks is probably the only example of game I can think of in recent years that has boss battles that are far less frustrating than its normal ones, which they prove (somewhat ironically) not to be too hard. The swimming levels perhaps best highlight the sheer lethargy of the game - they're so slow it's excruciating, and though the layout of the underwater sections is often commendable, it is hard to enjoy them when the gameplay mechanics are so clearly weighing things down.

These problems aren't helped by the irrationally high difficulty-setting. The majority of levels are large and very complex and require considerable patience and (often) a good memory for locations - it's ironic that a game so clearly aimed at the younger market can appear so ambitious and, at times, mercifully unforgiving. The many tough jump-based sections leave little room for error, and demands a level of precision that the controls are not able to deliver. The balancing acts you must perform in certain instances are bewildering as your character will invariably slide off anything that isn't wide, solid and level. Another odd trait for this type of game is the threat of simply running out of lives altogether - it is notoriously difficult to acquire more than one extra life in any level, and as you progress through the game, you will inevitably start to lose more than you gain.

It's a bit of shame really, as the basic concept and level-designs are fine. It made me think of a cross between Spyro The Dragon's 3D cartoonish expanses and the dark humour and general oddness of MediEvil. Ruff and Tumble's house works as the hub to which all worlds are linked, and these in turn work as a centre point to the levels within them. It's nice that you have the freedom to choose the order in which you tackle the three levels and also have the option to take part in some simple races with Nitekap's minions, but the requirement of needing all dreamkeys to unlock the boss means you unfortunately can't skip the harder sections and leave them until a later stage. Still, the 'dreams' take place in a range of locations, such as a haunted house, an underwater city, in space, and in the prehistoric era. Each is suitably different from the last and pleasantly diverse in both appearance and playing style. The cleverest innovation on show in 40 Winks is the ability to morph into a range of different guises - such as a ninja, a faerie, a robot and a monster. Each has their own special attribute that is key to helping you progress in a level, but having to constantly backtrack to recharge the form can prove rather irksome and makes the gameplay feel a little hurried.

40 Winks greatest asset lies in its presentation. Its menus and attract-screens are bright and inviting, and the game contains some of the best FMV sequences ever to grace the PSOne; they're nicely acted, well-shot and carry something of a Pixar-esque vibe to them, with the best sections coming from the banter between the bad-guy's Nitekap and his teddy-bear sidekick Threadbear, which are genuinely very amusing. In-game, the visuals are vibrant and, though the characters could have done with better animation, there is on the whole a pleasing level of variety and detail to the environments. The first-person perspective and rotating camera make good use of the PSOne technology, though in tighter spots such as corridors, they can seem pretty useless. Plus, I got stuck in the scenery near the end of one level due to glitching - very frustrating as it meant having to restart the area minus the number of cogs I had managed to collect up until that point.

Sound-wise it's fairly routine. The use of music is poor, with no memorable themes and most of the tunes starting to grate very quickly. The sound effects are also rather hopeless, thus leaving the voice-acting to spare the games blushes with strong performances in the FMV's, though voicing is more or less entirely absent from the in-game sections.

There's no doubt there's a lot to see and do on the way to completion, but the steadily-increasing difficulty only serves to magnify the games discrepancies, and many will stop playing long before the end. Regardless of the age of the player, 40 Winks will frustrate, and it is difficult to recommend when the likes of Spyro: Year of the Dragon, Crash Bandicoot 3 and even the older Gex 3D: Enter The Gecko provide far more satisfying, equally lengthy experiences and for a similar price.

So to conclude, 40 Winks had the potential to be a top-class platform game, but even back in 1999, it seemed an inferior imitation of the genres stronger examples. It looks nice, has some decent ideas and is a little different in its methods to your average platformer, but lacklustre controls and poorly-judged difficulty level will mean its interesting design and potentially strong lifespan will go largely unappreciated. Don't hide behind excuses and pretend that it's fine because it's a children's game; regardless of who it is aimed at, it still isn't very good. One to avoid, on the whole.
 

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