Monty Is Innocent is an ‘anomaly’ in the famous Monty Mole series of games, from Gremlin Graphics.
Monty Is Innocent wasn’t designed or programmed by Pete Harrap, the original creator of Monty Mole, but by Chris Kerry (who pitched the idea to publisher Gremlin after having a hit with his game Jack and the Beanstalk). Gremlin liked the idea enough to green light the game and eventually release it as Monty is Innocent in 1985.
Although Auf Wiedersehen Monty is seen as a weak link in the classic Monty Mole series by some people, I’ve always very much liked it.
I liked the ideas; I liked Monty‘s new jump animation; I liked the variety.
The original ZX Spectrum version of Monty On The Run is a real improvement over its predecessor, Wanted: Monty Mole.
Wanted: Monty Mole on the Commodore 64 is somewhat different to the ZX Spectrum version, although it does try to follow the spirit of the original.
You play as Monty, a mole who must explore a huge mine in search of, well, coal.
Back in 1984 in the UK there was an infamous, historic miner’s strike that lasted for over a year and caused hardship for many communities. Rather than sit and spectate, young Peter Harrap wrote a satirical platform game about a mining mole and published it, with all the profits going to help the struggling, striking miners. That game was Wanted: Monty Mole, and it launched Pete Harrap on his career making video games, and also the Monty Mole ‘franchise’. Although I can’t really call it a franchise because it wasn’t. It was simply a series of games.
Peter Harrap and Shaun Hollingworth‘s Auf Wiedersehen Monty is an underrated sequel to Monty Is Innocent. It was first released by Gremlin Graphics for the ZX Spectrum in 1987.
Created by Pete Harrap and published by Gremlin Graphics in 1985, Monty On The Run is the sequel to Wanted: Monty Mole, and a real step up in quality from the first game, in terms of satisfying platform action.
The King of Grabs 