I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; I am an old school retro gamer at heart! While everyone else was getting their fix with their PS4’s, 5’s and Xbox One’s n’ S’s, I went back to the old school with classic consoles like the SNES and Sega Genesis. Yep, I’ve been a Nintendo boy since 1993, and have played through five console generations; with the latest being the Nintendo 3DS. But enough about my gaming timeline, we’re gonna talk about a game that I along with a marginal base of people believe to be underrated, and underappreciated during the time that the SNES was alive and kicking. The game’s soundtrack sounded like music that you’d hear from early 2000’s Pink Floyd (and Electronica), and you’ve got the Follin brothers to thank for that. This is my review of an SNES hidden gem; Plok!

Ok, so the story of this game is kinda weird; Plok is apparently a king on the Island of Polyesta, and dwells on Akrillic Island (his home). He wakes up to discover that his flag on top of his house is missing, and finds out that its on Cotton Island. He treks through the island; defeating enemies and finding false flags along the way (pissing him off in the process), before running into the Bobbins Brothers – who are the culprits who stole Plok’s flag. After beating them and getting his flag back, Plok returns to Akrillic and finds out that his kingdom is overtaken by fleas; and NOT the ones on your dog, but big blue fleas that have hatched and infested the kingdom. So he goes around the kingdom beating fleas, bosses, other enemies, and finally the Flea Queen herself. After all of that he returns home to sit in his green rocking chair… 

Now it’s time for the gameplay; its basically a platformer where you have to reach the end of the level on Cotton Island, while collecting shells and power-ups to help smack down your foes. You can use Plok’s limbs to attack enemies, but you have to make sure you don’t lose all four; or else you’re a sitting duck. With the SNES controller, you use the B-button to attack and the A-button to somersault into the air like Sonic. (I actually liked using the A-button more because of that.) You can aim your limbs at fruits to increase Plok’s health, but sometimes those fruits might warp you to a timed bonus stage where if you beat it, you can warp to the next level – and even skip a boss fight in the process. Honestly the Cotton Island levels are pretty much the easiest part of the game, the hardest part is getting back to Akrillic and going through about 10 levels and 4 bosses; not counting the one on Cotton Island (the Bobbins Bros.) or the final 8-ish levels of the Flea Pit.

The Verdict

Plok! is an underrated gem that gave you some of the BEST music I’ve heard for the time that it came out! Tim Follin is an absolute genius when it comes to composing gaming music, as he was ahead of his time when creating the music for the levels and boss fights in this game. I feel no one really talk about or even remembers this game; because they were into Mario, Zelda, and Mortal Kombat around the same time. If they did however, they’d know just how much the music slapped! Don’t believe me? Check out the tracks below! Please play Plok! if you get your hands on an SNES Mini, and unless you suck at platformers, you won’t regret it. Until next post, stay nerdy my friends! 😉