| Plok! | |
|---|---|
 North American cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Software Creations |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Designer(s) | Ste and John Pickford |
| Programmer(s) | John Buckley |
| Artist(s) | Lyndon Brooke |
| Composer(s) | Tim Follin Geoff Follin |
| Platform(s) | Super Nintendo Entertainment System |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Plok! is a platform game developed by the British studio Software Creations for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was released in late 1993 by Tradewest in North America, Nintendo in Europe, and Activision in Japan. Players control the hood-headed titular protagonist, the king of the island Akrillic, who is defending it from fleas spawned by the Flea Queen, hidden beneath the island's surface, as well as other bosses attempting to usurp Plok's power. His versatility lies in his four detachable limbs, which can be used to attack targets and enemies, along with various power-ups scattered throughout the game's colorful stages, referred to as "presents."
The history of Plok! began in the late 1980s as a self-funded coin-op project by Ste and John Pickford called Fleapit. They developed it while working at Zippo Games and programmed it for Rare's 'Razz Board' hardware. The project was canceled in 1990 following the closure of Zippo Games but was later revived as an SNES game developed at Software Creations after the Pickfords were promoted to higher positions, with Ste becoming an art director and John a producer. Software Creations self-funded the game, with the Pickfords retaining ownership of its intellectual property rights. A port for the Sega Genesis was planned but was canceled for unknown reasons.
Plok! received positive reviews from critics, who praised its innovative ideas, variety, music, presentation, versatile protagonist, and level design. However, some critics noted skepticism about its similarity to other colorful platform games of the era. The Pickfords attributed its underwhelming sales to the market saturation of mascot-driven platformers.
- ^ a b c Edge 1994, p. 44.
- ^ "Super NES Games" (PDF). Nintendo of America. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 29, 2003. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
- ^ "Plok (SNES / Super Nintendo) Game Profile". Nintendo Life. 19 September 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2021.