Moog Hills

Moog Hills is a platform video game developed by Kuboian game studio Sqweek Interactive. It is notable for its use of easy listening and avant-garde music inspired by 1970s-style moog synthesisers. The game was released for the Mega Drive in Europe on 30th April 1993 and was also released in Brazil and Japan shortly afterward.

Gameplay
In Moog Hills, the player controls Perry, an anthropomorphic wind-up mouse, through thirteen side-scrolling levels. The controls are simple; pressing the A button allows Perry to jump, although the A button must be held in order for the jump to cover any reasonable distance; pressing the B button allows Perry to throw Silver Screws that are scattered throughout levels. Enemies can also be defeated by jumping on their heads, though most have a way of either protecting their heads or being able to reflect Silver Screws.

Although enemies can stun Perry, they cannot directly harm them. Instead, Perry has a life meter which depletes over time (but not when Perry is standing still), and dies if it runs out. The meter can be filled by collecting hearts from defeating enemies.

The game has no save feature, although the player is given a password after clearing each level which they can enter on the title screen to continue from that level.

Development
After completing the development of The Incredible World of Riddles: Kacie's Adventure, Sqweek Interactive started work on Moog Hills in late 1991. For the game's soundtrack, the development team took inspiration from music made from moog synthesisers, and particularly took inspiration from Pat Prilly's 1972 album Moog Generation. The characters and overall feel of the game meanwhile were inspired from vintage European children's programmes, toys and literature.

The game's protagonist, Perry, was named after musician Jean-Jacques Perrey, though was mostly based around the nursery rhyme "Hickory Dickory Dock". Meanwhile, most of the game's enemies were inspired by characters from the Dutch children's television series Fabeltjeskrant and the French children's television series Le Manège enchanté, which aired in Kuboia as The Daily Fable and The Magic Roundabout respectively.