SPITTING IMAGE
Original Release: Domark, 1988, Commodore 64/Atari ST/Amstrad/ZX Spectrum
Other Releases: Amiga (1989)
A clunky parody fighter featuring 80s world leaders
Spitting Image (Amiga, Domark, 1989)
Where to Buy: eBay
How to Emulate: Amiga Emulation Guide
Review by: C. M0use
Before there was Celebrity Deathmatch, there was Spitting Image. The British puppet show was a big hit in the 80s and 90s in its native land, but overseas we never saw much of it except for its guest appearance in Genesis' Land of Confusion music video.
The show did wide-ranging political and social satire using grotesque puppets, but this licensed game limits itself to its caricatures of major world leaders of the 80s. With a level of honor absolutely unheard of in non-puppet politicians, these leaders agree to duke it out in Street Fighter matches to decide who will run the world as a means of averting nuclear catastrophe.
The biggest selling point is the cool stage backgrounds with an impressive level of detail. Unfortunately, the gameplay is pure cheeks. The CPU is scripted to walk right near you, keeping to a position where neither of you can hit each other. On the occasions you can actually land a blow, it auto-dodges with a ridiculously high success rate.
I nevertheless managed to win through with the Ayatollah and his nut fondling tactics, but your reward for all this clumsy brawling is just a screenshot of a confused Rambo? With no enjoyable gameplay to speak of, the only selling point left here is the humor. That was a little overly on the nose in its own time, and at this point I'd imagine Zoomers and beyond have absolutely no clue who any of these people are except MAYBE Ronald Reagan.
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