Chip's Challenge NES
The Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly abbreviated as NES, is a video game console first released in the 1980s.
A NES port of Chip's Challenge was developed, but never commercially released.
History
The port was developed by Images Software, like most other ports of CC. It was first announced to the public in January 1991 at the Consumer Electronics Show, and exhibited again at Summer CES in June 1991. The exact reason why it was never released are unknown, but it has been speculated that this is due to the initial publisher, Bullet-Proof Software, changing their mind.[1]
In 2014, a prototype cartridge of the NES port was put up for auction on eBay. It was ultimately sold for on 14 December for $4,123.99.[2] In 2015, A ROM dump was posted on the Internet, and can now be downloaded from several locations. This development build is dated 5/8/1992.
Description and gameplay
The NES ruleset is largely similar to Lynx, including key behaviour and block slapping. The original "boot" designs — water shield, fire shield, magnet, and cleats — remain. There are no major gameplay glitches, although the game's graphics sometimes fail to refresh properly, and there is a noticeable lag when stepping on a hint tile. The hint is displayed in white text with a black background, over the middle of the gameplay area.
The most noticeable difference between the NES port and other versions of the game, is the viewport: a 16 by 13 tile area is visible at all times, rather than the usual 9 by 9. This has the side effect of making several levels, notably Cellblocked, much easier. The level number, chip count, time limit and player's inventory are superimposed over the left of the map.
Prior to starting a level, its name, number, and password are displayed in green text on a black background. The player must then press A to start the level. The level, however, remains paused until Chip moves.
The game features all the original Lynx's game's decade messages, although in a different order, and between different levels. These are also displayed in green text on a black background.
The player can press A before starting a level to skip to the next one, or B to go back to the previous one, without having to enter the level's password; this is most likely due to the game's beta state. There are are no sound effects or music, also likely due to the game's beta state. The game also lacks a proper ending sequence, crashing after displaying the final message.
The game features an Easter Egg: entering the password CRED at the beginning displays the game's credits. However, unlike Thanks to..., this is not a credits level; instead, it is once again green text on a black background. The first credits page reads:
NES VERSION PROGRAMMED BY JAMES SMART GRAPHICS BY STEVE BEDSER, AT IMAGES SOFTWARE LTD.
The second credits page reads:
HELLO TO RICKY. THANKS TO KARL JEFFERY!
Levels
The NES port features 136 levels, rather than the usual 148 or 149. 135 come from the original Lynx game, albeit in a different order. One level, appropriately called Exclusive, is exclusive to this port. As with most other ports, the last four levels are secret and can only be accessed by entering the right password.
As this port is based on the Lynx edition, the hint text in Lesson 3 matches the original game, and the included version of Spirals is the original ("corrupted") layout. However, some levels have differences:
- In Nuts and Bolts, the block at (15, 25) is moved to (15, 26).
- In Open Question, the typo in the hint is fixed.
- In Playhouse, the hot block at the beginning is replaced with a wall.
| # | Lynx # | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Lesson 1 |
| 2 | 2 | Lesson 2 |
| 3 | 3 | Lesson 3 |
| 4 | 4 | Lesson 4 |
| 5 | 5 | Lesson 5 |
| 6 | 6 | Lesson 6 |
| 7 | 7 | Lesson 7 |
| 8 | 8 | Lesson 8 |
| 9 | 57 | Strange Maze |
| 10 | 9 | Nuts and Bolts |
| 11 | 10 | Brushfire |
| 12 | 12 | Hunt |
| PICKING UP CHIPS IS WHAT THE CHALLENGE IS ALL ABOUT. BUT ON THE ICE CHIP GETS CHAPPED AND FEELS LIKE A CHUMP INSTEAD OF A CHAMP. (originally seen between #50 Digdirt and #51 I Slide) | ||
| 13 | 13 | Southpole |
| 14 | 14 | Teleblock |
| 15 | 15 | Elementary |
| 16 | 17 | Nice Day |
| 17 | 19 | Digger |
| 18 | 36 | Ladder |
| BUT THE CHALLENGE TURNS OUT TO BE HARDER THAN CHIP THOUGHT. THE BIT BUSTERS WANT IT THAT WAY--TO KEEP OUT LOBOTOMY HEADS. (originally seen between #20 Tossed Salad and #21 Iceberg) | ||
| 19 | 42 | Beware of Bug |
| 20 | 34 | Cypher |
| 21 | 77 | Invincible Champion |
| 22 | 79 | Drawn and Quartered |
| 23 | 84 | Wars |
| 24 | 11 | Trinity |
| 25 | 20 | Tossed Salad |
| 26 | 21 | Iceberg |
| 27 | 85 | Telenet |
| 28 | 24 | Oorto Geld |
| 29 | 26 | Chchchips |
| 30 | 37 | Seeing Stars |
| 31 | 39 | Glut |
| CHIP READS THE CLUES SO HE WON'T LOSE (originally seen between #40 Floorgasborg and #41 I.C. You) | ||
| 32 | 41 | I.C. You |
| 33 | 47 | Pier Seven |
| 34 | 51 | I Slide |
| 35 | 67 | Chipmine |
| 36 | 78 | Force Square |
| 37 | 98 | Shrinking |
| 38 | 16 | Cellblocked |
| 39 | 18 | Castle Moat |
| 40 | 27 | Go with the Flow |
| 41 | 28 | Ping Pong |
| 42 | 29 | Arcticflow |
| CHIP'S THICK-SOLED SHOES AND POP-BOTTLE GLASSES SPEED HIM THROUGH THE MAZES WHILE HIS CALCULATOR WATCH KEEPS TRACK OF TIME (originally seen between #30 Mishmesh and #31 Knot) | ||
| 43 | 31 | Knot |
| 44 | 35 | Lemmings |
| 45 | 38 | Sampler |
| 46 | 40 | Floorgasborg |
| 47 | 46 | Three Doors |
| 48 | 54 | Grail |
| 49 | 64 | Spooks |
| 50 | 65 | Amsterdam |
| 51 | 66 | Victim |
| CHIP USED TO SPEND HIS TIME PROGRAM-MING COMPUTER GAMES AND MAKING MODELS. BUT THAT WAS JUST PRACTICE FOR THIS BRAIN-BUSTER! (originally seen between #80 Vanishing Act and #81 Writers Block) | ||
| 52 | 75 | Steam |
| 53 | 83 | Up the Block |
| 54 | 86 | Suicide |
| 55 | 94 | Now You See It |
| 56 | 89 | Block Buster |
| 57 | 43 | Lock Block |
| 58 | 44 | Refraction |
| 59 | 48 | Mugger Square |
| "I CAN DO IT! I KNOW I CAN!" CHIP THINKS AS THE GOING GETS TOUGHER. BESIDES, MELINDA THE MENTAL MARVEL WAITS AT THE END! (originally seen between #90 Playhouse and #91 Jumping Swarm) | ||
| 60 | 53 | Traffic Cop |
| 61 | 56 | Deepfreeze |
| 62 | 58 | Loop Around |
| 63 | 59 | Hidden Danger |
| 64 | 60 | Scoundrel |
| 65 | 69 | Bounce City |
| 66 | 74 | Playtime |
| CHIP IS HALFWAY THROUGH THE WORLD'S HARDEST PUZZLE. IF HE SUCCEEDS, MAYBE THE KIDS WILL STOP CALLING HIM COMPUTER-BREATH! (originally seen between #70 Nightmare and #71 Corridor) | ||
| 67 | 80 | Vanishing Act |
| 68 | 95 | Four Square |
| 69 | 97 | Metastable to Chaos |
| 70 | 101 | Apartment |
| 71 | 104 | Jailer |
| 72 | 111 | Time Lapse |
| 73 | 117 | The Marsh |
| 74 | 25 | Blink |
| 75 | 45 | Monster Lab |
| 76 | 49 | Problems |
| 77 | 50 | Digdirt |
| 78 | 52 | The Last Laugh |
| BESIDES BEING AN ANGEL ON EARTH, MELINDA IS THE TOP SCORER IN THE CHALLENGE--AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE BIT BUSTERS. (originally seen between #100 Colony and #101 Apartment) | ||
| 79 | 72 | Reverse Alley |
| 80 | 73 | Morton |
| 81 | 88 | Spirals |
| 82 | 91 | Jumping Swarm |
| 83 | 92 | Vortex |
| 84 | 93 | Roadsign |
| 85 | 96 | Paranoia |
| 86 | 106 | Kablam |
| 87 | 110 | Chiller |
| 88 | 114 | Deception |
| 89 | 116 | Block Buster II |
| 90 | 118 | Miss Direction |
| CHIP CAN'T WAIT TO JOIN THE BIT BUSTERS! THE CLUB'S ALREADY FIGURED OUT THE SCHOOL'S PASS-WORD AND ACCESSED EVERYONE'S GRADES! (originally seen between #110 Chiller and #111 Time Lapse) | ||
| 91 | 119 | Slide Step |
| 92 | 120 | Alphabet Soup |
| 93 | 121 | Perfect Match |
| 94 | 122 | Totally Fair |
| 95 | 123 | The Prisoner |
| 96 | 124 | Firetrap |
| 97 | 125 | Mixed Nuts |
| 98 | 127 | Skelzie |
| 99 | 128 | All Full |
| 100 | 129 | Lobster Trap |
| 101 | 135 | Trust Me |
| 102 | 138 | Partial Post |
| 103 | 141 | Underground |
| 104 | 142 | Pentagram |
| CHIP HITS THE ICE AND DECIDES TO CHILL OUT. THEN HE RUNS INTO A FAKE WALL AND TURNS THE MAZE INTO A TRASH-A-THON! (originally seen between #60 Scoundrel and #61 Rink) | ||
| 105 | 61 | Rink |
| 106 | 63 | Block Factory |
| 107 | 70 | Nightmare |
| 108 | 81 | Writers Block |
| 109 | 99 | Catacombs |
| 110 | 103 | Memory |
| 111 | 107 | Balls O Fire |
| 112 | 108 | Block Out |
| IF CHIP'S GRADES AREN'T AS GOOD AS MELINDA'S, MAYBE SHE'LL COME OVER TO HIS HOUSE AND HELP HIM STUDY! (originally seen between #120 Alphabet Soup and #121 Perfect Match) | ||
| 113 | 113 | Open Question |
| 114 | 130 | Ice Cube |
| 115 | 143 | Stripes? |
| 116 | 144 | Fireflies |
| 117 | 55 | Potpourri |
| 118 | 76 | Four Plex |
| 119 | 82 | Socialist Action |
| 120 | 112 | Fortune Favours The |
| "I'VE MADE IT THIS FAR," CHIP THINKS. "TOTALLY FAIR, WITH MY MEGA-BRAIN." THEN HE STARTS THE NEXT MAZE. "TOTALLY UNFAIR!" HE YELPS. (originally seen between #130 Ice Cube and #131 Totally Unfair) | ||
| 121 | 131 | Totally Unfair |
| 122 | 132 | Mix Up |
| 123 | 136 | Doublemaze |
| 124 | 137 | Goldkey |
| 125 | 140 | Icedeath |
| 126 | 105 | Short Circuit |
| 127 | 115 | Oversea Delivery |
| 128 | 68 | Eeny Miny Moe |
| 129 | 71 | Corridor |
| 130 | 90 | Playhouse |
| 131 | 109 | Torturechamber |
| GROOV-U-LOIDS! CHIP MAKES IT ALMOST TO THE END. HE'S STOKED! (originally seen between #140 Icedeath and #141 Underground) | ||
| 132 | — | Exclusive |
| GREAT JOB, CHIP! YOU FINISHED THE CHALLENGE! NOW YOU CAN TAKE MELINDA THE MENTAL MARVEL TO THE BIT BUSTERS E-PROM! (Different from the Lynx text, which was about gaining entry to the Bit Busters. Game ends here.) | ||
| 133 | 146 | Cake Walk |
| 134 | 147 | Force Field |
| 135 | 148 | Mind Block |
| 136 | 149 | Special |
| GREAT JOB, CHIP! YOU FINISHED THE CHALLENGE! NOW YOU CAN TAKE MELINDA THE MENTAL MARVEL TO THE BIT BUSTERS E-PROM! (Different from the Lynx text, which was about gaining entry to the Bit Busters. Game ends here.) | ||
Missing levels
The following 12 levels, for unknown reasons, are absent from the NES port:
- #22 Forced Entry
- #23 Blobnet
- #30 Mishmesh
- #32 Scavenger Hunt
- #33 On the Rocks
- #87 Cityblock
- #100 Colony
- #102 Icehouse
- #126 Block N Roll
- #133 Blobdance
- #134 Pain
- #139 Yorkhouse