I've Been Diddled Again! Let's Play Plok!

The Rickety Bridge introduces us to a new enemy while upping the ante with some more environmental dangers and obstacles. Everything seems pleasant enough, but this arrow made out of shells is pointing straight down on this wobbly-looking bridge. I bet it'll hold somebody as light as Plok, though, so jumping on it is a good idea!



Oh noooooooooo! The bridge disintegrates as soon as our hero plants his feet on it, sending him plummeting down to an area monitored by one of those diabolical Budd Lites. Budd Lites can't be hurt or killed in any way, so the best thing to do is just avoid the small, slowly moving egg projectiles he shoots at you while attempting to get as far away as possible. Luckily for Plok, it's easy to get away when there's a Buzzsaw nearby!



The rest of the level has more rickety bridges suspended over water for Plok to traverse. The water in this game doesn't kill Plok instantly, but falling in it causes Plok to launch himself up high in the air while taking a considerable amount of damage. It's kind of like with lava in the 3D Mario games, only usually more annoying since there is no surefire way to replenish Plok's health. A couple of jumps up some floating platforms leads Plok to the upper area of the level, where the end-level flagpole just so happens to reside. Instead of finishing the level then and there, he decides to go to the left to search for any hidden goodies the level may hold.



Ehh, you might be ecstatic about fruit, pal, but I thought that was a waste of time. Just finish the level so we can move on to bigger and better things! I am puzzled as to how Plok recognizes those overalls, though; they're obviously too big to belong to him and he doesn't even wear pants in the first place.

It's time for Keh-heh-raaaazy Cradles! And referring to yourself in the third person! This little guy sure has a way with words. Moving forward through the level, Plok finds that this level gets its name from these fast-moving platforms that zip around in a particular pattern and require some well-timed jumps to be reach- oop.



Oh, phew, that was really close! Better still, there seems to be a shiny new present to tear into on that other pillar of rocks! There has to be something really good inside if Plok had to risk falling into a watery grave to get to it.



I can barely contain my excitement!



Wow! It's Fire-Man Plok! The costume even comes with little goggles and everything, making Plok the most adorable flamethrower-wielding lump of clay you ever did see.



After catching a ride on the zippy platform he missed earlier, Plok decides to take revenge on the world that so cruelly mistreated him. The flames from the flamethrower exit in a wave-like pattern and holding the attack button down keeps the flames coming in a constant stream. Turns out not even concentrated heat death can murderfy a Budd Lite, though. The platform fiendishly drops Plok off in a bowl (?) of spikes. Our hero is hurting pretty badly because of this! Hopefully a fruit or two shows up to kick his spirits back up into high gear.



Oh! He did find some fruit somewhere. I probably wasn't looking when it happened. Another zippy platform slowly takes Plok up to the flagpole of triumph as he flamethrows a couple of shells. How shooting fire at shells results in them being added to Plok's collection, we will never know. Right before finishing the level, the Fire-Man costume disappears and Plok returns to his dopey old self. This particular flag reads “Flakers,” to which our hero responds with pure, unadultered furor. Nothing could be more of an insult to a Smelltics fan like Plok!



And thus Plok has arrived at Blind Leap, the last full level on Cotton Island before the boss battle. Plok walks down the slopey path only to discover logs that suddenly drop from nowhere and roll... upwards? I don't care how whimsical you're trying to be, game, everyone knows only apples can defy the laws of gravity!

With that in mind, Plok leaps over the logs that stubbornly continue to roll up the slope as he makes his way over to a moving platform. Gibsons incessantly leap out of the water at this point in the level, and a mysterious shell arrow (arrell... sharrow...?) points up at the sky, instructing our hero to jump as high as he can to collect all them shells and get another BONUS PLOK.



Finally, something I can understand! These logs have no qualms about rolling down a slope like they're supposed to. The rest of the path is lined with Gershwins and a Rockyfella, all of which are easily disposed of with a few well-placed punches. As our hero nears the edge of a cliff, he spots a fruit-bearing tree guarded by a Budd Lite. Looks like collecting the fruit is the only way to go!



This looks like the end of the line, until Plok remembers what the name of the level is.



wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee



And thus he lands safely on another patch of land, allowing him to raise his pirate flag with utmost pride.






The Bobbins Bros., eh? I bet they won't put up much of a fight.

AHHHH! They're like lampreys with stout, humanoid bodies! Or duplicates of this guy:



Both Red and Pink Bobbins have the same attacks: jumping around attempting to stomp on Plok and shooting what I think are projectile teeth from their mouths. Teeth are easy enough to avoid, but the Bros. bounce around in an erratic pattern that can be somewhat hard to dodge. The two of them share a single life bar, too, so it can get confusing keeping track of which brother is about to kick the bucket.



They never change up their attacks; it's always just teeth and jumpin'. Plok continues to fight the two with every last fiber of his being, punching them right in their stupid headmouths whenever the opportunity rises. A Bobbin hops on Plok, but that's not enough to keep him down!



It's just an endless barrage of teeth! Is that the best you can do, you big-lipped fiends?! Well, it did kind of hurt Plok so I guess it's actually not that bad of an effort. And yet you two are at the hour of your doom! One rocketing red fist pops Pink Bobbin right in the kisser, obliterating him. Red Bobbin doesn't seem fazed by this at all; I guess they didn't have a very good relationship. Oh well, the two of them will have all the time to make up with each other in the gloomy kingdom of Hades!



I think he'd be proud of you and your SUPER BONUS too, pal! WELL DONE.



And so, all is well in the land of Poly-esta. Plok has his square flag back and nothing else could possibly go wrong, could it?

Well, that's all the time we have for today! Join us next weekend to see what cartoon characters do when they're not on adventures; I think you'll all be pleasantly surprised! Until then, have a time!

I don't know why, but I have a hard time avoiding these spikes. This is possibly because I'm not very good at this game.

Looks like a floppy disk to me.

Specifically, it looks like a 5.25" floppy. That's probably from before Demo's time, though.

And here I thought Angry Eyebrows Plok was great...

Too bad that's pretty much the entire range of expressions he has!

Well, if you're only going to have two expressions, they might as well be the best expressions ever.

The boss fight is the first time you realize how great the music is going to be for the rest of the game.

They're Mario's.

Don't you dare press those remote buttons; you've stumbled upon Saturday Morning Sundae! Why doesn't this air in the morning, you ask? The answer is an easy one, friend: you don't get a say in what we do here at the studio EVER.

That said, it's time to turn off your brains and turn up the volume for another hard-plokin' episode of Plok!

When we last left our hero, he had just finished taking his precious square flag back from the diabolical Bobbins Bros. and was on his way home to celebrate with a couple of cold ones.



Oh no! There's no time for celebration when fleas have invaded the island! Plok's animosity toward fleas has made me consider the possibility that he might be part dog. This is where the game completely changes how a majority of its levels are structured. Instead of straight-forward romps from one end of a level to the other, the levels on Akrillic are sprawling and exploration-based. Plok's mission in each of these levels is one of genocide: he must locate and exterminate every flea in the level in order to get back his precious flags. Diplomacy is out of the question!



Yes, Plok! Punch them hard and good! The first location Plok visits in Akrillic is the sunny Garlen Beach, a place of lazy waves and mysterious floating Targets and Hangers. Targets usually activate some sort of environmental element when punched; this particular target activates a pool-toy-looking (and sounding!) platform that leads our hero up toward the island proper. Whenever Plok flings one of his limbs into a target, that limb gets sent to a nearby hanger to be picked up after taking the kids to soccer practice.



A bounty of shells awaits Plok as he leaps into the air! But wait, what are those little hive-shaped things? Why, they're Fleakillers, of course! A powerup that was famously copied more than a decade later in some game about biological electricity, Fleakillers are bees that can be shot to home in on enemies. When Plok has them handy, tiny bees appear to be tormenting his head. Perhaps this is why he's so angry all the time! As our hero ventures forth, he encounters a strange spotted egg. What could this egg hold? A spotted chicken? Yolky goodness? Treasure?! Unable to contain his excitement, Plok gives the egg a hard punch, causing it to bounce around as if it has a life of its own! This must be a Ploxican Jumping Egg.



Aw, rats; it's just a stupid Flea.






Fleas are now Plok's archnemeses! They did steal all of his flags, after all. Fleas take three hits before kicking the bucket, changing color with each punch from blue, to gray, to green. Annoyingly, they also become faster and more aggressive with each punch, and they don't seem like they can be hurt by water! You viewers at home may have noticed an additional HUD element right next to Plok's health bar; this handy thing shows us how many fleas there are left to murder in the level. Plok must kill every single one if he wishes to get out of this sunny beach alive!

Plok decides to show us all a little bit of that “exploration-based” business by hopping up to a higher route. His search for fleapunks will take him all over the beach, but there are still a few areas that are tucked away from plain sight. Sometimes fleas can be very cleverly hidden! These fleas, however, are not. It's a good thing Plok can punch through walls, though! Close-quarter flea combat is extremely dangerous and should be practiced only with proper safety equipment on. The tapioca-ball things blocking our hero's path to that one flea can be destroyed with a couple of good punchings. Eating them would have been a better idea, you red and yellow bag of anger!



Buh?! I told you to wear the proper safety equipment, moron! The only reason you experience pain is because you deserve it. Killing fleas on stepped or sloped areas is another type of painful experience; fleas don't really have any particular jumping pattern, after all. They just kind of do whatever the hell they want, following the age-old philosophy of “On my way there, I'll just be doing this; if you get hurt, it's your own fault!” To combat this, Plok unleashes a Fleakiller, which buzzes around and stings a flea before dying. It's a shame they only pack about much power as a regular punch. Fare thee well, bee friend; your acquaintances and family will be seeing you very soon!



Well, well! If it isn't Plok's good old robits friend, Orson! Between you and me, Orson is actually kind of a dick; he usually just sits upside-down shooting a constant fountain of projectiles until Plok arrives to punch him right-side up. No longer an annoying moocher of a friend, Orson becomes a helpful floating platform that can be guided for a short time before disappearing. Thanks to his help, Plok can finally contin- wait a second, what's that arrow doing there? It seems to be pointing our hero in the direction of a flea that he missed! Pff, so much for those top-of-the-line exploration skills of yours, clayface.



In other news, Plok is hurting pretty badly! Those fleas pack a pretty good punch, and there doesn't seem to be any fruit in sight! He's going to have to be extra careful murderizing all those fleas he comes across; he wouldn't want to lose on of his BONUS PLOKs, after all!



Ahh, sustenance. Now Plok can be as reckless as he wants to be! He's a one-man death train with faulty brakes! There ain't no stoppin' him now! In fact, he's so pumped up by his fruit-eating session that he decides to show us a bit of his completely ridiculous crouch-walk. There's only one flea left in the level, pal; you're going to have to clear those spikes somehow if you want to get to it!

Punching the target seems to have done the trick! Unlike the target located at the very beginning of the level, this target can be punched only once. The environmental effect can't be reversed, so if there were any secrets that were reachable only in the platform's original position, Plok is pretty much shit* out of luck. Thankfully, this group of gems is still reachable! Plok puts the invincibility to good use by navigating through a spiky path that would otherwise be a world of hurt. There's even a PLOK Token there to add an additional letter to his name! Everything's coming up Plok, it seems.

*Tell your parents you learned it at school.



After finding and killing the final flea, Plok finds that his flag has a mind of its own! It leads him to the level's flagpole, where he proudly displays his triangular flag for all to see. Onward to the next area!






Sleepy Dale may have the sleepy thing going for it, but I notice a significant lack of Dale. Oh well, not every area has an award-winning name! This level is split up into three areas: the left area, the middle area, and the right area. Our hero is going to be spending most of his time in the left and right areas, but I assure you the middle will see some Plok action as well. The first thing Plok comes across on his way to the left area is the Jive Hive and some Funky B's. No, I'm not making these names up. Funky B's come out of Jive Hives to sting Plok as hard as they can; a single punch to their faces does them in quite nicely, though! Jive Hives take about ten hits to kill, but it's best to just ignore it for now.



At the left-most part of the level, Plok finds a shiny new target to hit. He punches it with all his might, but he can't seem to find a hanger anywhere nearby. Don't you worry your squishy red head, my clay friend; there's a couple of hangers over by where you started the level! Walking back to the main area to recover Plok's limbs after punching the level's many targets gets tedious quickly, so our hero's just going to rough it instead and get by with whatever limbs he has on hand. Oh look, a flea! Killing it is the first and best solution.

There really are a lot of targets in this level. Hell, by the end of it, Plok may not have any limbs to defend himself with at all! Flea extermination is sort of a pain here because most of the platforms are slanted in some way; this would be so much easier if those stupid fleas would just sit still and let themselves get punched. The good news for Plok is that Sleepy Dale also has lots and lots of shells to collect, all of which allow him to collect some much-needed BONUS PLOKs!



Uh-oh. Plok's down to one foot after knocking all those targets in. Amazingly, he can still walk just as well as he can with two feet! He must have a secret ghost foot helping him out. The last target Plok hits causes an upright platform to slope and drop a present; I wonder what new duds are inside?



Oh, it's Hunter Plok again! I say this with enthusiasm because Hunter Plok completely wrecks this level's shit. Fleas fall in less than a second flat! Tapioca balls get blown to bits! It's a shame it all has to go away soon.



After a short rampage, Plok loses his hunting license and is forced to return all the gershwin carcasses he has tied to the top of his pick-up back into the wild. The number of fleas in the level is dwindling, but it won't take long for Plok to find them with the help of those arrows and more terrain-altering targets!



Whenever Plok punches one of these targets, the altered platform or terrain usually clears a pretty wide swath of spikes that previously impeded his progress. Spikes are honestly just as bad as water, seeing as how they can end Plok in a matter of seconds. As a result of his incessant target-punching, Plok now has to search for and fight fleas without his trusty arms. Who will open pickle jars in the House of Plok now?

A lack of arms doesn't keep our hero down; fleas can be kicked just as hard as they can be punched! The last flea just so happens to be perched up on a post wrapped in barbed wire. It would be a not-good idea to touch it, so while allowing flea dropping down to Plok's level casues some unpleasant close-quarters flea-punching to occur, it gets the job done. You can rest your thinking brain now, Plok; the sentient flag will lead you home!



Punching one final target renders our hero completely limbless and defenseless; the best he can do is hop hop hop along the path back toward the level's starting point to pick up his freely hanging limbs. Though the main area leads to both the left and right areas, the intended route through the level requires Plok to go to the left first; there is no actual way to get up through the right area without having punched those targets on the way down.



The flag is leading Plok up toward the top of the main area, so he decides to take advantage of some gravity-defying rotating platforms to work his way up. To the sides of all these rotating platforms are small bundles of shells and Fleakillers. Fleakillers are useless at this point since all the fleas have been punched into oblivion, but shells are always great for their sweet BONUS PLOK nectars! Up at the very top of the level, Plok finds the elusive flag and flagpole. He sure was wrong to doubt that flag's intentions! Now nothing can stand in the way of the unstoppable duo of Plok and Flag!

Well, nothing except for the end of our allotted time slot. Be sure to return for more garishly colorful adventures in Poly-esta in next week's episode (there may just be a treat for all you oldsters watching, too)! Until then, remember to always wash your hands!

Orson is the best character I have ever seen.

I remember way less about this game than I would have thought. I guess I didn't get that far.

I'm really glad this LP exists! Plok was one of my favorite platformers as a kid, but I could never beat it, and the last LP I saw of this game was really anemic. It's only fitting that this task would go to a new generation.

This track in particular makes Plok's soundtrack my favorite out of every other 16-bit game. It fits the action perfectly well, too, for a level as exploration-focused as this one.

I love this game

This is an excellent LP!

I wish I had something more clever to say.

Sleepy Dale is the level I think of when I think of the game Plok. It's huge, it's the first to have the awesome psychedelic music, and it makes full use of Plok's detachable limbs.

Hey friends, this week's update is going to be a few days late because my Macbook Pro is still out for repairs. I'll try to make the update extra-special when it does come around, though!

Looking forward to it!

This LP almost makes me want to buy the original cart.

But all of the comments about the super hard difficulty make me want to wait until I actually get good at platformers

Well now, that was a pretty long hiatus, wasn't it? Funny story about that; the studio equipment caught on fire and had to be sent to the fine folks at the DETECHTIVES repair shop for some much-needed fixin's.

There's some good news and bad news to this, though: the good news is that there is an episode of Saturday Morning Sundae this week; the bad news is that there wasn't one last week!

Enough of the idle chit-chat; it's time to journey back to the wonderful world of Poly-esta to see what our good buddy Plok is up to!



Ah! It seems our hero has taken a quick detour to his humble abode before continuing his genocidal plot. Nothing says “Home Sweet Home” like harmful-looking blue and black mold encroaching upon your house, pal! I question the presence of the large speckled egg on your lawn, though; are you absolutely certain you didn't breed all these fleas yourself? You could have easily programmed them to snuff out all your flags, y'know. Highly suspicious.



Kill it, Plok! Kill it dead and good!



You've done well, friend. Now that you've got your super-flag back, I bet it's time to take a well-deserved nap.



Lost amulet? Where the hell did that come from? Maybe Plok can help us figure out what he means by falling back on a classic flashback-triggering ritual. It kind of pains me to be the bearer of bad news for you, pal, but reaching into your memory can't give you any new information.



Wait, wuh?



BUH?!



WHOOAAAAAAA!



What's going on?! This wasn't in the job description!

Oh god, it really happened. We are now smack-dab in Legacy Island, graced by the presence of the mightily-mustachioed Grandpappy Plok! What makes him different from regular Plok? Well, just look at him! Grandpappy may have the stylish whiskers, but his moveset is the exact same as his garishly-colored grandson's. Legacy Island takes the game on a slight detour back to the simple “get to the flagpole” objective that was the entire basis of Cotton Island, so we won't have to bother searching for any fleas in this string of levels.



Legacy Island introduces us to a new, absurdly irritating foe that goes by the name of Lily Mace. These things constantly bob up and down and will adjust their position accordingly to get in the way of Grandpappy's jumps. They're invincible, but punching them gives Grandpappy a little more space to get past 'em. Doesn't sound so bad, right? Well, Lily Maces are usually found in groups of two or three; avoiding one is no problem, but Grandpappy is pretty much guaranteed to take a hit when trying to clear a group of them.



The rest of the level is a short, breezy romp very much like the beach on Cotton Island. These totally inconspicuous mounds of dirt at the end of each level are Grandpappy's end-level flagpoles. Not content with merely handing over its buried goods, the pile of dirt decides to show its true level of generosity by also granting Grandpappy a coveted PLOKONTINUE. Godspeed, you noble dirt pile; your people's war against the holes will surely end in your favor.



LET THE DIGGING COMMENCE!



Could... could it be?!



That is not the amulet.



Maybe Grandpappy will get lucky at the next giant pile of dirt; one can always hope! There couldn't possibly be any shenanigans at work at good ol' Fool's Gap!



Fool's Gap might just be the easiest level in the game, actually! Grandpappy speeds through about 90% of the level in buzzsaw form, slicing gershwins in half and crossing all sorts of gaps. I wasn't lying when I said that the time duration for the buzzsaw power up varies greatly, fool!

The buzzsaw conveniently drops Grandpappy off at another mound of paydirt, which he promptly digs into to find a nutritious carrot. Now now, Grandpappy, getting angry at carrots never got anyone anywhere!






If you haven't noticed it by now, Legacy Island lays the buzzsaws on pretty heavily. Cutting through dudes at super-fast speeds is exhilarating and pleasing to the senses the first few times, but sometimes it gets kind of boring just watching levels go by as everything you run into dies. It's a good thing this level is super short, too!



I've gotta be fair to Zig Zag, though; the level is actually pretty punchingly-focused. Most of the buzzsaws take Grandpappy about two feet before disappearing. There seems to be a fair amount of tasty fruit around here, too! Why waste food that gets bigger when punched? Put that in your mouth, Grandpappy, and savor the flavor! It's a shame none of the Legacy Island levels are long enough to let you hear the entire Legacy Island theme; it deserves to be listened to in full by the hearingest of ears.



A simple jump, skip, and hop leads Grandpappy to another delicious dirtpile. Who knows what sort of treasures lie beneath the heap? Gold? Diamonds? Dog food?



It sure was.

Sp...Sponges?!





This level starts out by dropping a log(s) right on Grandpappy's head. He gets about less than a second to dodge them, so unless you know they're going to fall, Grandpappy's gonna get bonked.




Sponge Rocks likes to throw LOGS on Grandpappy at the most inopportune times. They have a zero tolerance policy for letting Grandpappy live, and the Budd Lites don't help his survival situation at all. Hell, you might say they even get in the way! Mustache finally manages to find one of the titular rocks, but one can't help but notice that the rocks don't look very sponge-like at all. They look more like... oat clusters?



It's not so bad once you get past the possibility of plummeting to your watery grave, Grandpappy. There's even some more of that fancy fruit you like so much! Fruit-punching may have been the Olympian's sport back in the roaring '20s, but these days, such an event is barely appreciated.



I-I... I don't know.



It looks like someone gave Grandpappy the boot! I assume one of the members of the Plok family has a club foot, otherwise the only reason they would keep a pair of those around is to ride in them and pretend they're automobiles.

IT ENDS HERE, but do not cry! For being such a patient group of viewers, you're getting a double-dose of Saturday Morning Sundae this weekend! That's right! I'm going to stay right here in the studio just for you! Don't bother trying to come visit me! If you do, they'll find out I never left and that will result in SEVERE CONSEQUENCES for your best TV friend.

You wouldn't want that... would you?

See you in a couple!

I eagerly await, good sir.