Developed and published for the Megadrive/Genesis by Interplay Productions in 1994, Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure is a humorous platform game starring a ‘superhero’ whose abilities are: burping, farting, and flicking ‘boogers’ at enemies to kill them… And, while that may sound puerile and stupid to some, this is actually a game with high production values and decent gameplay backing it up.

The basic idea is to jump your way through various stages, picking up as many items as you can, while at the same time surviving encounters with hostiles. Boogerman can destroy enemies by throwing boogers at them; by bending over and farting at them; by belching at them, or by bouncing on their heads.

Boogerman‘s health is indicated by the colour of his cape, which can make survival a little confusing at times. If the cape’s red, or flashing, then you can take another hit. If the cape’s yellow, then another hit will lose you a life. Collecting extra capes will give additional chances if you’re hit. Indicators in the top left and right-hand corners of the screen show how much ‘booger juice’, and ‘gas power’, you have remaining, and you can re-fill these by collecting ammo found scattered around a level.

Boogerman is quite agile and can monkey across ropes; bounce on trampolines, and climb tree branches.

Occasionally, you’ll encounter toilets on a level, and entering these (done by standing on top of them and pressing down) will take you to a sewer sublevel where you can find more items and enemies. There will also be an exit toilet somewhere, which will take you back to the main level.

You’ll also find weird nasal transporters that will suck you up (if you press up while standing underneath them), and blow you out at the other end. Thankfully, without covering you in snot… There are piles of rubbish that you can dig through (by pressing down while stood on top of them), which occasionally hide useful pick-ups.

When you complete a level, you’re awarded a bonus depending on how many items you’ve collected, and – if you have enough items – Boogerman will build a ladder with them, allowing him to climb up and claim an extra life.

At the end of each of the six different areas is a boss battle, which you of course must win to continue, and they’re pretty challenging to beat.

The game uses visual passwords to allow you to continue from the last level you reached, and during the game you can use pop-up ‘outhouses’ as continue waypoints.

Boogerman is not a game that’s going to appeal to prudes or the squeamish, but it should entertain kids, and those with a sense of humour, for a stretch of time. If you sit down and play the game intently, then you’ll find a challenging and playable platform game underneath all the burping and farting.

A Super Nintendo version of Boogerman was also released the following year, in 1995.

Note: in America they call them “boogers“; in the UK they call them “bogeys“; on The Ren & Stimpy Show they call them “Magic Nose Goblins“… What do they call ‘congealed nasal detritus‘ where you’re from? Answer down in the comments below…

More: Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure on Wikipedia