Hocus Pocus

Short version:

Pros:
+ Strong visual style
+ Oldschool, fun gameplay
+ Good sountrack
+ Simple yet enjoyable story with great writing

Cons:
- Combat is repetitive
- Puzzles get old fast

"Long" version:
Hocus Pocus is a 2D sidescroller that was released in 1994 – it was developed by Moonlite Software and published by 3D Realms. You play as a young wizard called Hocus, attempting to complete several trials to prove himself worthy.
I remember playing this several times growing up – I had it on a CD rom called “Kidz Gamez” or something similar. It had games like Comander Keen, Jazz Jackrabbit and Monster Bash - I spent countless hours relishing these classics and they have a very special place in my heart.
In terms of story, Hocus Pocus features an extensive amount of text-based context as its setup. You also get to talk to Terexin, the ruler of the Council of Wizards, while playing through the levels and he will provide you with more information, insults and funny one-liners.
The writing is strong – while the game features a story that is not exactly mind-blowing, it is commendable that they put some emphasis on it and managed to succeed.
When it comes to gameplay, Hocus Pocus features decent platforming sections and serviceable, yet repetitive combat.
The enemies do not offer much of a challenge on their own, so the game tries to overwhelm you with sheer numbers. While it can work sometimes, you pretty much just have to spam the attack button and blast everything you see. The problem is that you cannot hold the Alt key to auto attack and you must press it every time you wish to throw out a lightning bolt. This might seem fine, initially, but you will need dozens upon dozens of hits to vanquish groups of enemies and it slowly becomes tedious. Flying enemies can provide a tiny extra challenge, as you must aim upwards to hit them, sometimes.
There are also light puzzle-solving elements in Hocus Pocus, but I found these rather unsatisfying. You can find some objects to interact with, like levers which open up new areas or teleportation potions, which make you warp from one location to another. While these are not bad, they can become frustrating. If I must try every single combination of 4 levers to open a single door and then the game throws 2 or 3 more puzzles like that in a matter of seconds... Yeah, it gets old. The same goes for the teleportation potion, as it often brings you to locations you were actually avoiding automatically, drops you on traps or blocks you from revisiting old areas you previously had access to.

Graphically, I believe Hocus Pocus looks amazing.
The graphics might be considered archaic, but the art direction is strong and oozes personality. I also enjoyed the enemy designs, but they are pretty much reskins of the same few ones you meet initially.
You get to visit different environments, like a mysterious castle surrounded by giant mushrooms, or an outer space fortress filled with dangerous enemies – it was a nice change of pace.

The soundtrack is a total banger – each environment has a designated track, and they are quite memorable. The sound effects are really simple but I cannot help but feel they have a charm to them.

So, having grown up with Hocus Pocus, I obviously recommend it, but some might consider my review somewhat biased. I can, however, tell you that the game might be too simplistic and ancient for newer audiences. On the other hand, if you have a soft spot for
90s sidescrollers and platformers, I confidently believe you will have a good time with Hocus Pocus.
You will most likely be able to complete the game in around 3 to 4 hours if it is your first playthrough.

Final score: 8 out of 10.

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Got the Shareware Version of this Game as a Kid. Its pure Nostalgica. The movement is accurate and the Levels are Fun to explore.

I grew up playing this and many other great DOS classics and it still hits just as well as it did back then!

It's hard to play, but not as hard as it is to play it, meaning getting it to play was hard.

Childhood.
Thank you 3D Realms for bringing all these classic memories to PCs for modern hardware.

core childhood memory unlocked, such a fun little game

Classic!