Infernal Runner
Infernal Runner is a horror-themed platform game for the Commodore 64 published by Loriciel in 1985 and later adapted to the Amstrad CPC. Game designer Eric Chahi, who later created Another World, is credited on the Amstrad version. Infernal Runner a flip screen game similar in style to Jet Set Willy: a series of platform-filled screens that can be moved between, each with specific obstacles to avoid.
 Cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Loriciel |
|---|---|
| Publisher(s) | Loriciel |
| Platform(s) | C64 (original) Amstrad CPC |
| Release | 1985 |
| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Gameplay
The player finds himself trapped in a house with lethal traps and various other menaces, and he must escape alive by collecting all keys and opening all trunks, all while avoiding starvation by collecting food. It is unknown what the actual story is: after collecting enough items, a wall on the map will disappear and the player can escape the game, upon which the character is run over by an ambulance car and is carried offscreen on a stretcher.
Tone
The game had a surprisingly dark tone for its time, reached by the variety of traps (spikes, monsters, laser beams, fire, electricity, landmines), which all induced extremely detailed and violent death-animations when encountered. The game featured elaborate animations, meticulous detail (especially on the gore, such as the character twitching and wrangling when being impaled on spikes) and a haunting minor-key soundtrack with eerie sound-effects embedded into it. (The game itself had no sound, just music.) The Amstrad version's music was more playful than brooding.
Credits
The C64 version is credited to Yves Korta and Michel Koell. The Amstrad version was created by Eric Chahi with music written by Michel Winogradof.
External links
- Infernal Runner on Eric Chahi's personal site
- Infernal Runner at Lemon 64
- Infernal Runner at Loriciel's website (includes free download of the CPC version, oddly accompanied by a C64 screenshot)