Released by Hi-Tech Expressions.
STORY : Harley is a brilliant scientist who has had many successful experiments. After a period of working on mutations, he began to build a shrinking machine. After his first version was finally completed, he got ready to test it. His subject.... his current lab rat. However, during the experiment, something went horribly wrong! (TsuramiSea got hit by a cliché! 524 HP of damage to TsuramiSea!) The machine backfired, shrinking Harley, and then promptly exploded! (If it didn't, this would be an awfully easy game.) Harley, like most people, considers being the size of a bug a disadvantage. Now, he must travel all around his house to find the parts that the stray mutation experiments have stolen and reassemble the machine. Of course, there are problems. The same mutant bugs and other creatures that are loose are roaming around his property. They are quite a hazard, being very territorial and/or hungry. Even worse, the lab rat who was supposed to be the shrink subject... he ALSO was a mutation recipient. The experiment increased its intelligence, and it realizes what Harley wanted to do to it. Now, it's out to get him! With his house a vast dungeon, violent mutant fish and bugs on the loose, and his vengeful lab rat coming for him, will Harley ever restore himself to normal?
CHARACTERS :
Harley : Harley is the scientist with a hot streak! Yes, he has an "H" shaven out of the hair on the sides of his head, and is always working on some incredible invention! However, he sometimes gets a little careless with his experiments, as you can see. Now he has to reverse the situation that he has brought upon himself! By gathering various household items, he can fight off the mutated creatures throughout his house and reclaim the parts of the shrinker machine! Harley is very resourceful, but it's going to take all the intelligence he can muster to brave the dangers of his house at his current size....
Fly : Flies are annoying, aren't they? They're especially annoying in this game. They buzz around, often crashing into you when you're jumping up a level. And, positioning themselves above you.... they will regurgitate their meals on you. (turns green) Oh wow, flies have the BEST manners.... (runs to the bathroom)
Bee : These bees will zoom back and forth in one area, waving up and down. If you accidentally wander under them, they'll swoop down to give you a good sting. They're relentless, and will occasionally appear in large groups. When they do, prepare for a brawl.
Ant : EVIL. If you hit them, they break into a head and legs separate from each other, both can still damage you. (Ah, the joys of mutant ants.) Then the head proceeds to track you down until you destroy IT. Worse yet, if you don't destroy it, it will grow back into a full ant, which can also break in two. (HARLEY, WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING?! STOP PERFORMING MUTATION EXPERIMENTS!)
Fire Ant : Rather mindless, and counts on force. It walks in one direction, only changing its course when it hits an obstacle. If it come to a ledge.... off it goes! While they walk, they shoot balls of REAL fire straight ahead, which can burn you. (Gee, the chemical that produces the sting of fire ants must have really flamed up during the mutation.) They take TWO hits to defeat. For some reason, these little freaks are often positioned in narrow passages. Be wary.
Termite : Very common and the least trouble of all. It's just that they appear in tricky areas. They wander back and forth mindlessly on platforms and between objects, trying to chew right through you. Not much of a pain if you react quickly.
Tick : These things don't have the eight legs that most ticks do.... they don't seem to have any legs at all. They are furry and bounce around insanely. Not much trouble, but they come up on you fast.
Ball : They often bounce around in the playroom or your room, acting as a general nuisance. One good hit will rid them from your life, though.
Staple Remover : They leap across flat areas, chasing you, and trying to remove YOU from the scene. (In thinking, why are balls and staple removers attacking you? It's one thing to mutate bugs, but has Harley given inanimate objects life? This guy could probably blow up the world if he wanted to. Good thing he's a good guy.) These staple removers CANNOT be destroyed. Duck under them, and RUN.
Rat : It does not like you. It will do everything in its power to kill you for what you were going to do to it (shrink it, that is). It hoards weapons that you can pick up whenever you encounter it. In your first meeting, it jumps around, making 10 gram weights fall from the sky (?!) and trying to gnaw you into strings. But Harley blows away its legs, and the miserable creature hops away legless. When next it finds you, it has replaced its legs with a spring that it uses to hop around as it throws gears at you. Harley just ducks the gears, and mercilessly shears off the rodent's arms and the top of its head. (AAACCK! Where are the animal cruelty prevention people? How did this game get past them?) Through a biological horror, the rat is still alive, even though the area where a rat's brain usually is has been cut off. (Oh well, it IS a mutant....) It attempts to kill Harley one last time before Harley reassembles the shrinking machine to reverse it, with a cannon welded where the top of its head used to be, firing cannonballs at Harley constantly as it bounds around. Harley finishes the job, killing his evil lab rat once and for all. (*sniff*.... poor lab rat... I kinda feel sorry for it. Wait, I know, I'll just report Harley, hehe....)
ENDING : (You may want to avoid looking at this if you want to see it yourself.)
After collecting all of the parts to the shrinking machine, reassembling it (quite a lengthy task at his current size), and reversing the programming, Harley brings himself back to normal size. His quest for normal stature, and overall safety, is over! Now, he just has to clean out those stupid mutant bugs who gave him so much trouble when he was shrunken (hehe), and continue on with his successful life and experiments until he has to go on ANOTHER adventure... (Pretty depressing to think about something like this happening again.)
TIPS : Here is one important tip : If you walk up against certain walls with the control pad, jump, and press the X button while pushing against and up on the wall, you can climb up walls. THIS IS CRUCIAL AT CERTAIN POINTS IN THE GAME. Sometimes you can't proceed if you don't climb walls that you need to. Well, of course there's always jetpack fuel, but that's only if it's available. And then, sometimes getting that fuel can require a lot of unneccesary effort. Climbing walls can make your whole day easier. For example, the evil bathroom level can be a breeze if you just climb the right side of the bathtub and leap up. From there, it's just a jump to the soapdish, which holds the soap that you need to float into the air and complete the level. If you didn't know to look up here, you might never find the soap and be stuck on this heckish board forever. (shivers) Not very nice.
MY OPINION : This game is a fun diversion. You might get frustrated sometimes, but if you put in just enough effort, this game won't give you too much trouble. Standard side-scrolling fare that's good for a bit of entertainment. If side-scrollers are your cup of tea, don't pass this game up.
The SNES list is always the same size (until I update it, that is).