Which leads me up to this 2003 remake of Head Over Heels, by Retrospec.

A re-imagining of Ritman and Drummond‘s classic game, with updated visuals and sound. Does it cut the mustard? Does it live up to the greatness of the original?

In some respects, it does. In others: not so much.

On the plus side: the graphics are lovely, with great use of colour and definition. And the gameplay is generally very good. It’s very close to the original. The controls are nice and precise too.

Although there is one big niggle: getting caught on the edge of doorways. It doesn’t happen in the originals, but it does in here. And when you’re running away from a meanie then it can mean the difference between life and death. I don’t know if it is a feature or a bug, but I don’t like it.

Overall, though: I can’t fault Retrospec for a having a crack at a remake, and making a good job of it.

Head Over Heels is well worth a play if you like a challenge, and it is still free to download and play from Retrospec‘s website, I believe. It’s available for Windows, Mac, BeOS and Linux.

Update: This remake was made available on Steam on 10th August 2019, so is no longer free to download and play from the Retrospec website… but I think it’s worth buying for a few pounds or dollars… IF they’ve sorted out that issue with getting caught on the edge of doorways!

More: Head Over Heels on Wikipedia
Steam: Head Over Heels on Steam

Head Over Heels on the King of Grabs:
ZX Spectrum version, Commodore 64 version, Amstrad CPC version, MSX version, Atari 800 version, Atari ST version, Amiga version, PC version, Head Over Heels Week