Fire Rock is an obscure-but-interesting platform game that was released for the Famicom Disk System in Japan in 1988.

The game features a jittery main character who jumps and climbs around a cave-like environment.

I say ‘jittery’ because controlling him is not easy – he’s extremely responsive and will stumble on uneven surfaces. Jumping can also be tricky when the slightest touch of the controls can be the difference between standing on a platform or not… You can also climb walls too, which has a weird ‘hold’ and ‘wiggle’ mechanic. The controls in Fire Rock take some getting used to…

That said: it is very much worth mastering the controls, or at least trying to, because Fire Rock is actually quite a decent game and it gets better as you progress. As you collect the various artefacts found scattered around the caves your abilities change, making you jump further or fire different weapons. Being able to jump further opens up new areas of the map.

Fire Rock might seem a bit crappy, and a bit overly difficult initially, but it’s a hidden gem on the FDS and is well worth tracking down to play now.