Monty on the Run (Commodore 64)

Monty on the Run
Developer: Micro Projects Publisher: Gremlin Graphics Platform: Commodore 64 Released in EU: July 1985 This game has a hidden developer message. This game has unused modes / minigames. This game has unused graphics. This game has anti-piracy features.

Monty on the Run is a classic C64 game wherein a mole tries to escape from the police after stealing coal. It's a fun little arcade-y platformer, but these days it's mostly remembered for its awesome music (which wasn't even in the original ZX Spectrum version).

High Score Name Replacements

As an arcade-style platformer, Monty has a high-score table that allows you to input your own name. The game has some code to replace input names with other strings, however. This is mostly used to censor cursing by adding *s over most of the word, but there's a few of what appear to be developer in-jokes, and at least one cheat mode. The "MADONNA" code is actually incorrect, as she appeared in the September 1985 issue, rather than the August 1985 issue. "MINTER" is an obvious reference to game designer Jeff Minter. "PHILIP HARRISON" may refer to Phil Harrison, who worked as a consultant game designer and graphic artist in the UK. The "MUSIC" is the catalog number for the UK release of On A Storyteller's Night by rock band Magnum.

To do: I know there were different revisions of the game - do different versions have different replacements?

Input	Replacement
CAR	PEUGEOT 205 GTI!
XR2	XR2 - THE BEST!!
CTW	SCIALOM FOR GOD!
PURPLE	KNEBWORTH 22/6
MUSIC	MAGNUM WKFM LP34
DRUMS	PHILIP HARRISON
WINE	SCOTTS, OK YAH!
FRANKIE	YUK,ERR,OH NO. !
MINTER	THE HAIRY BEAST.
[16 spaces]	A.N.ONYMOUS !
[14 spaces]	THE NAMELESS ONE
SPECTRUM	A LUMP OF JUNK !
I WANT TO CHEAT	YESSUM BOSS !! (also activates cheat mode, see below)
GEZ	MR COOL !!
MADONNA	PENTHOUSE 1/8/85
II SHY	THANKS UNCLE A.

Built-In Trainer

To do: Get a more in-depth look at this thing.

If you put your name as I WANT TO CHEAT, in addition to the name being changed to YESSUM BOSS! a cheat mode is activated. Immediately after entering it, the title screen gains a new grayish palette. Upon starting the game, a tugboat can be found sitting on the water in the second room. If you pick it up, you become entirely invincible to all damage - crushers, trap items, enemies, and pits. This can cause you to get stuck, however. It also changes the crusher sprite to a more medieval-looking thing, for some reason.

Odd Bubble Sprite

To do: Is this used anywhere I can't remember?

This odd bubble is found between the sprites for the jetpack and the sprites for the little wiggly things that come out of Monty when he picks up dynamite or gets crushed in the graphics RAM. Its intended use is unknown, but its placement suggests it may have been used as a special gameplay-changing section like The Ultimate Experience or Drive Sir Clive's C5.

Anti-Hacking Screen

If you soft reset the C64 when running the game (which in real hardware would be done by either a special device hooked up to the user port or via a freezer cartridge such as an Action Replay), this screen (which is actually animated) pops up with the message "THAT WAS SILLY, NO HACKING PLEASE !".