Published by EastAsiaSoft, Montezuma’s Revenge – The 40th Anniversary Edition is a remake of the 1983 original and has inspired other tiles like Spelunky and Spelunker. Unfortunately, the lack of polish and modern features makes this a questionable callback at best.
Playing as an explorer, the goal is to navigate a large, interconnected map to find treasure and eventually encounter the Aztec god himself. While this might sound entertaining on paper, the final execution is a horrible mess that insults its long history.
New to this version is the ability to play as male or female protagonist but there is no difference between the two, which is a wasted opportunity. Secondly, no modern features have been introduced to the gameplay. It is understandable to be respectful of its origins, but the lack of the most basic features makes this experience nearly unplayable today. For example, there is no map feature. Navigating these enclosed corridors is tedious and confusing, especially since everything looks the same. Plus, some assets, like the fire, can be deceiving. Sometimes touching it will kill you. Sometimes you can walk right through it. The inconsistency is brutal. So not having a map or any sort of guidance feature makes each moment a struggle since keys, locks, and one-way paths are all over the place. Controlling the explorer is also inaccurate thanks to peculiar, jerky movements.
The playable character is also very fragile. Falling more than one tile will result in death so every jump must be carefully timed and considered. Most deaths will occur from being so weak which doesn’t make the game fun; it makes it stupidly annoying.
Speaking of being annoying, the worst aspect of this modern take is probably the horrendous voice quips. When entering each room, the player is subjected to the mumbling of Montezuma which is translated into English at the bottom of the screen. Thankfully there is an option to deactivate voices from the options screen. If you are brave enough to play this game for yourself, this setting should be administered immediately. The budget sound effects do not do any favors either. For example, the main character’s footsteps make it sound like he weighs 700 pound wearing metal shoes.
Navigating these single screen rooms using poor controls and lack of direction is simply the exact opposite of fun. The lack of polish and consideration extends into the menu system and overall presentation values too. The main menu, for example, has the player selecting the limited options from a boring bubble text design. When the game is loading, the word “loading” appears on screen in giant, laughable non-animated letters. Also, it is possible to soft lock yourself in the very first area, forcing a full restart of the campaign. The lack of consideration is unfortunately disrespectful to the origin of this series. For a game that is 40+ years old, why is there only a one-page text scroll from the developer here? How about celebrating this long history by including some additional context?
Like the recent Boulder Dash Anniversary titles, Montezuma’s Revenge – The 40th Anniversary Edition is a prime example on how to not revive a classic game. The barely playable, not fun gameplay only insults the source material as players are better off booting up the original on the internet archive.
SCORE: 2.5/10
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
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