Developed by Utopia Software and published for the Sega Master System in 1989, Montezuma’s Revenge is a nice surprise for anyone looking for a decent 8-bit ‘hidden gem’ to play now. It’s a remake of Robert Jaeger‘s classic platform game, but with updated graphics, making them look more realistic than the chunky versions seen in the Atari 8-bit original.

You still play as Panama Joe, and the aim is still to escape from Montezuma‘s fortress with his treasure. The layout of the rooms in the game is still faithful to the original, as are the game mechanics. Just as it is in every version of Montezuma’s Revenge, Joe’s jump speed and timing is something that you have to get used to. I just read a ‘review’ of this port, from some guy online, who slammed the entire game just because he didn’t like the jump timings… He was probably a Montezuma’s Revenge virgin, and didn’t know that it’s required by law that you be unsettled by the jumping in this game.

I also found this version of the game to be much more forgiving than most other versions. The timings of the killer barriers, for example, are much easier to deal with than in the original.

The SMS version of Montezuma’s Revenge is considerably different to most other versions of the game, and may not appeal to everyone, but it’s a good port and is still worth playing today.

More: Montezuma’s Revenge on Wikipedia