Hocus Pocus (DOS)

Hocus Pocus

Platform:	DOS
Year:	1994
Developer:	Moonlite Software
Buy:	Amazon

Hocus Pocus is another one of many platform action games published by Apogee. This time you play an apprentice wizard who is trying to earn his pointy-hat, so to speak. Each stage contains several magic crystals that must be collected. When the final one is found, you move on to the next level and as you get further in the game you will eventually impress the other wizards enough to let you join the Council. The final goal is to marry your sweetheart Popopa.

Hocus Pocus was out of date in 1994 compared to other platformers like Jazz Jackrabbit (DOS) or Earthworm Jim (SNES). The maps get repetitive pretty quickly, and there are an annoying amount of lever puzzles. Over all, the game is fun for awhile, but becomes pretty dull after you beat the first couple stages.

Screenshots

The title screen.

Early in the game.

Level 2.

Level 3.

Episode three.

Later levels.

Music

Despite being a ho-hum game, the music of Hocus Pocus is pretty catchy. Several of the tracks will surely be a trip down memory lane for those who played this game in their childhood. However, nothing stands out as exceptional.

Most of the titles come from their ripped name, though a couple have meta data. Tree 10 is the introduction of Felix Mendelssohn's "Wedding March". The Apogee Theme was composed by Bobby Prince.

The recordings were made using various options. They are marked by following song prefixes:

- Gravis UltraSound (original patch set)
- Gravis UltraSound (Pro Patches Lite v1.60)
- General MIDI
- Sound Blaster / Ad Lib (OPL2)

Recording

#	Title	Composer	Arranger	Length	Download
101	Apogee Fanfare	Bobby Prince	Rob Wallace	0:10	Download
102	Hocus Pocus Theme	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:05	Download
103	Level 1	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:09	Download
104	Scary	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:03	Download
105	Squeal	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:06	Download
106	Highland	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	5:00	Download
107	Spooky	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:29	Download
108	Taj Mahal	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	3:12	Download
109	Hit Bell	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:05	Download
110	Wedding Song	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:45	Download
111	Search	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:50	Download
112	Tree 10 (Wedding March)	Felix Mendelssohn	Rob Wallace	0:12	Download

#	Title	Composer	Arranger	Length	Download
201	Apogee Fanfare	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	0:10	Download
202	Hocus Pocus Theme	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:07	Download
203	Level 1	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:10	Download
204	Scary	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:04	Download
205	Squeal	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:07	Download
206	Highland	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	5:03	Download
207	Spooky	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:29	Download
208	Taj Mahal	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	3:12	Download
209	Hit Bell	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:02	Download
210	Wedding Song	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:46	Download
211	Search	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:51	Download
212	Tree 10 (Wedding March)	Felix Mendelssohn	Rob Wallace	0:12	Download

#	Title	Composer	Arranger	Length	Download
301	Apogee Theme	Bobby Prince	Rob Wallace	0:09	Download
302	Hocus Pocus Theme	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:05	Download
303	Level 1	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:09	Download
304	Scary	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:02	Download
305	Squeal	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	1:07	Download
306	Highland	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:33	Download
307	Spooky	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:30	Download
308	Hit Bell	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:05	Download
309	Search	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:49	Download
310	Taj Mahal	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	3:12	Download
311	Wedding Song	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:46	Download
312	Tree 10	Felix Mendelssohn	Rob Wallace	0:10	Download

#	Title	Composer	Arranger	Length	Download
401	Apogee Fanfare	Bobby Prince	Rob Wallace	0:11	Download
402	Hocus Pocus Theme	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:06	Download
403	Level 1	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:10	Download
404	Scary	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:03	Download
405	Squeal	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	1:08	Download
406	Highland	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	4:58	Download
407	Spooky	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:29	Download
408	Taj Mahal	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	3:12	Download
409	Hit Bell	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:02	Download
410	Wedding Song	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:46	Download
411	Search	Rob Wallace	Rob Wallace	2:50	Download
412	Tree 10 (Wedding March)	Felix Mendelssohn	Rob Wallace	0:11	Download

Credits

Ripper: Malvineous
Recorder: Cancer (GUS, OPL), TheAlmightyGuru (GM)
Game Credits:
- Music: Rob Wallace
- Sound System: Jim Dosé credited as Jim Dose
- MIDI Timbres: George Sanger credited as George Alistar Sanger
- MIDI Timbres: Kevin Phelan credited as K.Weston Phelan

(Sources: 1, 2)

Game Rip

Format	Download	Size
	Download	66 KB

The MIDI files were ripped from the Hocus.dat file. It is unknown where the beta IMF files came from. The MIDI soundtrack was recorded using Winamp's MIDI plugin. Tree 10 and Tree 10A are roughly the same song, but the A version is probably designed for FM synthesis cards.