Montezuma's Revenge

Montezuma's Revenge

Game No.	137
Voting	7.89 points, 38 votes
Company	Parker Brothers
Publisher	Parker Brothers
Release	1984
Platform	Apple II, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, C64, MS-DOS
Genre	Platformer (Multi Screen)
Gamemode	Single player
Operation
Media
Language

Description[edit | edit source]

The start (animation).

Nobody knows his real name and nobody knows where he comes from. But one thing is sure, he is a real hell of a guy, who does not shy away from dangers. They call him Panama Joe, because he is tough, intelligent and cunning. Your task is, to help Panama Joe cross a labyrinth inside a fortress, to find the fantastic treasure of Montezuma. On the way, Panama Joe has to avoid deadly creatures, while collecting preciosities and other items he will need later desparately.

Actions[edit | edit source]

climb on chains and ladders
slide down poles
jump over deadly creatures
avoid laser gates
collect jewels and special items

Controls[edit | edit source]

Joystick left/right: move pawn left/right
Joystick up/down: climb up/down
Fire button: jump up
Fire button + joystick left/right: jump left/right

Difficulty level[edit | edit source]

There are altogether 9 difficulty levels in the game. At the beginning you can choose from the first three. If a level is finished successfully, you get into the next level.
The following things happen with rising difficulty level:

new barriers appear
other ways to the treasure chamber
more and faster enemies
more dark rooms

Items[edit | edit source]

Amulet: If Joe takes an amulet, he gains 100 points. When he does monsters become grey for a short time and can't harm him.
Key: If Joe collects a key, he gains 50 points. Key can be cyan, blue or red.
Doors: If Joe opens a door, he gains 300 points. He can open a door only using a key of the same colour.
Jewel: If Joe collects a jewel, he gains 1000 points.
Sword: If Joe collects a sword, he gains 50 points. With it, Joe can kill a spiders and skulls but not snakes.
Torch: If Joe collects a torch, he gains 3000 points. With it, he lightens the dark rooms.

Hazards[edit | edit source]

Fire: Touching fire will kill Joe.
Falls: Falling from a height too high will kill Joe, unless a monster intercepts his fall.
Intermittent chains: Touching an intermittent chain will kill Joe.
Skulls: Touching a skull will kill Joe and the skull. If Joe has a sword, he will kill the skull and gain 2000 points.
Spiders: Touching a spider will kill Joe and the spider. If Joe has a sword, he will kill the spider and gain 3000 points.
Snakes: Touching a snake will kill Joe and the snake.

Design[edit | edit source]

The game "Montezuma's Revenge" has the following design:

Multi-coloured 2D graphics.
Single screens which are switched when crossing the border of the screen.
At the upper left, the collected items are shown. (Keys, swords, torches, ...)
The yellow hats below the items symbolise the number of lives left.
At the right of the inventory the current level is shown.
In the upper right corner the current score is displayed.

Hints[edit | edit source]

The treasure chamber of level 1 (at the end of this level).

You start the game with 6 Panama Joe's.
There is an extra life every 10.000 points in level 1-3 (from level 4 every 20.000 points).
Avoid dropping too far.
Joe must not touch fire.

Tabel of points:

50	key or sword
100	amulet
300	open a door
1000	jewel
2000	eliminate skull
3000	eliminate spider
3000	torch

Here is the map of the different levels:

Map of level 1.

Map of level 2.

Map of level 3.

Map of level 4.

Map of level 5.

Map of level 6.

Map of level 7.

Map of level 8.

Map of level 9.

Solution[edit | edit source]

Tips

Conveyor belts slow you or speed you up depending.
Some pieces of the ground appear and disappear again. Precise timing is needed.
There are red, blue and cyan keys that open doors of the same colour.

Cheats[edit | edit source]

Continue after game over

If you lose all your lives without finishing a single level, press the fire button a couple of times at the game over screen and you'll get a new set of lives and are allowed to pick up where you left off, losing your score but keeping your items. This will not work anymore if you've finished at least one level.

Unlimited lives

Load or reset the game, then execute the following BASIC command before running or restarting the program: POKE 36190,230
Magically your lives increase after a death.

Voting[edit | edit source]

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
7.89 points at 38 votes (rank 128). You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
C64Games	9	30th April 2007 - "Top" 6443 downs
Lemon64	8,3	30th April 2007 - 62 votes
Kultboy.com	7,87	19th July 2009 - 8 votes
ZZap64	83%	Issue 86/12

Reviews[edit | edit source]

Werner: "Apart from the simple graphics and the meagre sound effects has this game a certain charme, that is missing in many games from today. Due to the precise controls and the fair collision query is Montezuma's Revenge really lots of fun."

Jodigi: "It was also one of my favourite Jump & Run games despite the tricky game factor. However, I found out rather late, that there are several versions, as the orignal machine version needed a bit more memory. The whole game as a 3D remake for the PC was a good idea, but somehow it cannot reach the game fun from the old times."

Robotron2084: "Montezuma's Revenge is a successful platformer which plays very fluently and comes up with interesting features and a complex, nested level buildup. A firm difficulty grade requires attentive and concentrated play. But each situation can be mastered with the corresponding skill and planning and there are no unfair situations that tarnish the fun. Recommendable! 7 out of 10 points."

MtnBuffalo: "The large number of rooms and floors challenge the ability of the player to memorise which routes to use in order to clear the levels. Movement of Panama Joe is precise and smooth which gives a fast paced gameplay. When the 9th level is reached, everything is dark and no torches can be found to light up the level. The player must therefore know where ladders, robes and platforms are located in order to stay alive - awesome! Best C64 game ever!"

Miscellaneous[edit | edit source]

Cover

"Cover".

Highscore[edit | edit source]

BiceE - 2.020.200 - Level 9 (video https://youtu.be/Ay3y0zfeWjk ) (02.08.2022)
Ivanpaduano - 1.569.400 - Level 9 (video https://youtu.be/yzlJbREu_w0 ) (28.07.2022)
BiceE - 1.067.700 - Level 9 (approx. 15th iteration through it), score rolled over at 1.000.000 (22.07.2022)
MtnBuffalo - 1.007.100 - Level 9, 15 lives left, 2 hours 15 minutes of gameplay (25.02.2014)
Paolo - 511.650 - Level 6 (11.03.2012)
Camailleon - 189.950 - Level 5 (03.04.2009)
Robotron2084 - 159.500 - Level 4 (03.04.2009)
Werner - 50.400 - Level 2 (17.04.2012)
Blubarju - 46.200 - Level 1 (15.11.2010)
Equinoxe - 27.250 - Level 1 (31.08.2011)