My Favorite PC Games - Back to the 90s - Titus the Fox (1992)

While friends with consoles grew up with platformers like Donkey Kong and Super Mario, me and my sisters spent hours playing a totally different platformer, that was named after its main character: Titus the Fox.

This post was written with the help of my twin sister, who might have played this game even more than me.

Check out the difference between the next two screen shots. The very first screen that appears when you've double clicked the game file and the loading screen that follows it. I find both of them awesome - they remind me of good old times! - but the contrast is huge.

It's funny how, as a kid, you're never aware that something is often a remake or reboot of something else. Whether it's a movie, a book, a song or a game. Apparently - I just discovered this - Titus the Fox: To Marrakech and Back was the international version of a 1991 French game with a different title, built around a song by a French comedian, Lagaf.

Lagaf - La Zoubida

I just watched the music video and listened to the song and it's terrible, haha!

Check it out at your own risk!

Let's go back to the game, that was actually pretty great:

and fat men (tramps) who kind of look like turtles - at least that's how I saw them back in the days - and who shoot darts at you.

Unlike games like Mario - where the platforms are very outstanding - in Titus, they are usually more integrated into the scenery. It's very much about making use of things like lamp posts, crates, window sills, roofs and so on. These days we would call this 'parkour'. You fight enemies by throwing stuff to them, things you find on your way. Mainly wooden crates, glass bottles, blue balls (I heard you laughing!), buckets with paint and even a skateboard. You can use the latter to drive through enemies. It's not just fun but also the best and easiest way to eliminate them.

In Titus, It's all about timing. To get rid of a single enemy, if you weren't using a skateboard, you needed to be at the right spot, bend your knees, lift a crate, bottle or whatever you had available and then throw it before the enemy reached you. I believe it was important to get into some kind of flow. If you weren't able to reach that state, you would be GAME OVER very soon.

I almost forgot that you could also pick up your enemies - approaching them from behind - and throw them towards other enemies.

No short cuts or walkthroughs

My twin sister just reminded me of the fact that - as we were the only people playing this game and we didn't even have internet back then - we weren't able to ask others for advice when we were stuck. It was also impossible to use a walk through or to Google for cheats or short cuts. You really had to figure it all out yourself. Everything new was a total surprise. Those were the days!

It was all about timing, making use of the things you find (in the right way) and a lot of patience.

If I think about it, this is probably one of the reasons why I played games like these for so many hours, days and months: they weren't easy. You needed a lot of practice. The difficulty level was a huge part of the fun. These games were very challenging.

Of course there are always people who are either extremely skilled - or who have no life ;) - who (were eventually able to) play games like these in a single sitting. In case you feel like seeing the full game, here's a 14 minute speed run to cap it off:

Source

Play Titus The Fox

And if you really want to experience the nineties PC gaming vibe, you can play the game HERE

This is part 3 of my 'Back to the 90s' series. You might enjoy part 1: Lotus and Part 2: Skyroads