A Look At: Mr. Nutz: Hoppin’ Mad

I have so many great memories tied to this game, and one of the biggest reasons is personal. I knew one of the developers quite well back in the day. We used to exchange code snippets and tricks through good old snail mail over the course of several years. So, yes, I might be a little biased, but regardless, this game will always hold a special place in my heart.

Amiga Magic In The Making…

Mr. Nutz is clearly a love letter to Sonic the Hedgehog and other lightning-fast platformers of the era. There’s also a noticeable nod to Super Mario Bros., especially with the inclusion of a Mario-style world map screen. And just when you think you’ve seen it all, the developers throw in a tunnel-style level featuring some impressive pseudo-Mode 7 effects—Amiga-style, of course—using clever C2P scaling and programming trickery.

Sounds like a winning formula, right? Well, not everyone agrees. Some players found the map screen too slow-paced, others thought the platforming was a bit too fast, and of course, there were criticisms of the design, graphics, and music from a few corners.

But here’s where I think the confusion (and criticism) stems from: Mr. Nutz was a licensed character, and the Amiga version is a completely different beast from the console versions. Aside from sharing the main character, the Sega and Nintendo iterations have very little in common with this one, and honestly, I think those versions fall flat compared to what the Amiga delivered.

The map screen in Mr. Nutz isn’t just for show; it actually has a fair bit of gameplay packed into it. You’ll need to complete various tasks, most notably finding bombs to clear rock obstacles, in order to progress to the next main level. Visually, it still holds up really well, with crisp, colourful graphics. The music is pleasant and fits the tone nicely, although I’ll admit it can become a bit too mellow after extended play sessions—borderline sleep-inducing if you’re not careful!

There are plenty of clever little touches throughout Mr. Nutz, one of my favourites being the way you can glide and steer your jumps, just like a real squirrel would. The controls might feel a bit awkward at first, but once you get the hang of them, you’ll be soaring through the levels with ease. Full diagonal movement support really helps elevate the gameplay once it clicks.

That said, the game can feel a bit twitchy, especially early on. The scrolling is sometimes too fast for its own good, making it a challenge to react in time. This issue is even more noticeable when playing on emulators—judging by many YouTube videos, the game often doesn’t perform quite as it should outside of real hardware.

Mr. Nutz delivers a solid mix of huge bosses, twitchy controls, and fast-paced platforming action. While some levels do run a bit long, the game stays engaging thanks to its varied layout and the constant hunt for new paths and hidden exits. It never really feels stale.

I actually replayed and completed the game again just last week. I managed to find most of the exits fairly quickly, no surprise there, considering how many times I finished it back in the ’90s!

Most levels in Mr. Nutz have their own distinct look and design, keeping things fresh and challenging without becoming too easy or repetitive. To spice things up even more, the developers included tunnel-style warp sequences between worlds—an impressive technical and visual touch.

These warp levels were coded by the legendary demoscener Chapter of Sanity. If you’re familiar with his work, you’ll recognise the effect instantly. At the time, he had just released a stunning demo called Roots (or possibly Roots v2), which used a very similar tunnel effect.

While the warp levels look fantastic, it’s a bit of a shame that Mr. Nutz himself had to be altered, appearing in a more monochrome, greyed-out form, to blend into the effect properly. Still, it’s a cool crossover moment between the demoscene and commercial Amiga gaming.

Who can resist buying a game with this kind of front box art?, definitely one of the better box designs of the later Amiga games,  the back side has the standard 1993-5 style which i personally think suck. The box style looks quite a bit like the hit squad series, messy back with screenshots and text laid out in a way that makes it look rushed.

Keeping receipts tucked inside game boxes is a habit I picked up early on—and looking back, it turned out to be a pretty smart move. Now, over 20 years later, finding those old slips of paper has become a nostalgic trip down memory lane. What amazes me most is how vividly I can recall where and when I bought certain games, like something I picked up in 1989, yet I can’t even remember what I had for dinner two weeks ago.

Funny how the brain works, isn’t it?

Pretty standard fare for the box contents, although it’s worth noting that the manual is in full colour, not just the cover. That was quite rare for the time, especially from OCEAN. In fact, the only other coloured manual I can recall from them during that era was for Jurassic Park.

I clearly remember that the early cracked versions floating around were spread across four floppy disks, so when I finally bought the official release, I was convinced one disk was missing. The same thing actually happened when I picked up Aladdin!

The Verdict, Totally Worth it…

Mr. Nutz was only released once—no re-releases, no budget editions, nothing. I suspect that poor sales played a major role in that, which is a real shame. The game was even announced for the CD32 at one point, but like so many other planned OCEAN titles from the 94/’95 era, that version never saw the light of day.

Haven’t tried the game yet? Do yourself a favour—track it down or grab a digital copy and give it a go. It definitely deserves more attention than it got.

Thanks to Hall Of Light For Screenshots.  Box shots are, as always, from my own Collection.