Blinky 3

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Blinky 3
Blinky3Title.gif

Release type: Freeware
Release date: December 9, 1995
Levels: 32
Author: Jeremy LaMar
Website: Otto Germain's Comic Wasteland Related games: Blinky, Blinky 2, Blinky 4

The third Blinky is a bit more convoluted than its predecessors. At some point, Jeremy LaMar stopped development and let the game sit on the shelf for a while. That makes sense, in that Blinky 3 is perhaps more ambitious than it is joyous. It’s still amongst the upper echelon of Game-Maker games, and an impressive work on several levels; it’s just that you can feel the work behind the design.

Unlike its predecessors, the third Blinky is a side-scroller. Rather like Sonic 3 (or indeed Badman 3), the game offers a choice of characters – Blinky, Doughnut, and a new character named Chum – each with unique abilities and a distinct path through the game. Furthermore, the levels are tightly wound together with several branching paths.

LaMar also hit on an interesting quirk, whereby for any given level neglecting to establish a character in Integrator causes the game to simply carry over the existing character. The knock-on effect is that once the player chooses a character, the game is free to direct that character into any level without need to establish a separate instance of the level for every possible character. It’s a simple trick, yet it greatly cuts down on the headache of advanced level design.

There are plenty of other neat little tricks, like LaMar’s solutions for melee attacks or using text files over static images to generate dialog – and it’s these tricks that stick in the mind. The game itself is respectable. Unlike The Return of Blinky it’s tougher than it needs to be, and sometimes more frustrating than it is rewarding. Still, full points for trying something new and then finishing the job.

Chomping away in Blinky 3

It may also be notable that Blinky 3 appears to be the more fondly remembered of the two games, and indeed for years after AOL took down its kids section it was LaMar’s only Game-Maker game to remain in circulation. It’s only within the last year that someone found a backup of The Return of Blinky and began to redistribute it, to relatively muted fanfare. The third Blinky is what everyone seems to remember.

Before he lost all of his data LaMar also completed some small work on a fourth Blinky, which was to have followed in the model of Blinky 3, except with improved controls.

Previous Current Next
Blinky 2 Blinky 3 Blinky 4
Blinky series

Story[edit]

Blinky3.gif

Shnookwad had been defeated two times before, and it seemed he would not return again. But now he's back, and he's MAD!!!!

Shnookwad decided he was not going to take over Funky Forest, he was going to BURN it! As Shnookwad's troops marched across the burning forest, it appeared nothing could stop him.

But all is not lost! For now three heroes (Blinky, his friend Chum, and his cat Doughnut) will try their skills against Shnookwad and his evil minions. Will they succeed? Only time will tell.

Instructions[edit]

The Forest level in Blinky 3

Moving around[edit]

Use the numeric keypad to move around 

   ----- ----- ----- 
  |  7  |  8  |  9  |
  |     |     |     |
   ----- ----- ----- 
  |  4  |  5  |  6  |
  |     |     |     |
   ----- ----- ----- 
  |  1  |  2  |  3  |
  |     |     |     |
   ----- ----- -----
7- Jump to the left
8- Jump straight up
9- Jump to the left
4- Walk left
5- nothing
One of many pirate ships in Blinky 3
6- Walk right
1- Crawl left
2- Duck
3- Crawl right
 ----- ----- ----- -----
|  N  |  M  |  <  |  >  |
|     |     |  ,  |  .  |
 ----- ----- ----- -----
>- short range attack right
<- short range attack left
M- long range attack right
N- long range attack left
   ----- ----- ----- 
  |  1  |  2  |  3  |
  |     |     |     |
   ----- ----- -----
There is even an airport in Blinky 3
1- Do a little dance
2- Another dance you can do
3- Yet another pointless dance

Hitpoints and lives[edit]

You start with 200 hitpoints and 4 lives. whenever you are hurt you lose hitpoints. When your hitpoints reach zero, you lose a life. When you run out of lives, the game is over.

Eating boxes of doughnuts gives you 10 hitpoints, and touching a blinky doll gives you 1 life.

Three different characters[edit]

You can choose to be one of three characters, either Blinky, his friend Chum, or his cat Doughnut. Press left and right to get to the character you want, then press Enter. Each has their own attributes. Blinky is slow and can't jump high, but has the best attacks. Doughnut is the fastest runner and highest jumper, but has the weakest attacks. Chum has average speed, jumping, and attacks.

Many exits[edit]

There are many levels to this game, which may have 1, 2, or even three exits, each leading to a different level.

There are thirty levels in all, including the final battle with Shnookwad (although you will only travel through 12 during your journey).

Monsters[edit]

There are many minions of the evil Shnookwad in this game, some of which are immune to certain attacks. It's up to you to find out their weakness.

HAVE FUN!

Credits[edit]

Jeremy LaMar presents... Blinky 3

Background[edit]

Character selection in Blinky 3

Jeremy LaMar:

I think it was only a couple months between finishing Blinky 2 and the beginning of work on Blinky 3. Blinky 3 was one of those projects I picked up and put back down several times, however. I always had several games going at once. I remember it sat unfinished for quite a while before I decided to just sit down and put together the last couple of levels, and finish the damn thing.
I think I just wanted to make a side-scrolling platformer, to see if I could pull it off under the constraints of the program. Trying to play it now, it's an exceedingly difficult game... and the between-level art is just horrendous. I remember I was using an extremely limited paint program at the time, but it's still pretty embarrassing.
Still, it seems like the Blinky games hold some nostalgia value for other people as well, so I'm glad they've been recovered.

Availability[edit]

Available for many years on the AOL Kids game board.

Archive History[edit]

Blinky 3 was added to the Archive on November 1, 2010. It was located on the Sidescrolling Games list at DOSGames.com, thanks to the following text string:

It was created with the old Game Maker utility, and while compared with other Game Maker games its pretty good...

Links[edit]

Shnookwad's tower in Blinky 3

Fan Works[edit]

Interviews / Articles[edit]

Listings[edit]

Misc. Links[edit]

Downloads[edit]

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