Drelbs
| Drelbs | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Synapse Software |
| Publisher(s) |
Synapse Software U.S. Gold (UK) |
| Designer(s) | Kelly Jones |
| Platform(s) |
Atari 8-bit (original) Apple II Commodore 64 |
| Release |
1983 (Atari) 1983 (Apple II) 1984 (C64) |
| Genre(s) | Maze |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Drelbs is a maze game written by Kelly Jones for the Atari 8-bit family and published by Synapse Software in 1983.[1] An Apple II port by Jonathan Tifft was released the same year.[1] A Commodore 64 version followed in 1984 implemented by Miriam Nathan and William Mandel.[2]
Jones later teamed with fellow Synapse designer Bill Williams on the biofeedback game suite, Relax.[3]
Gameplay
The playfield is a maze of gates, similar to the Lady Bug arcade game, which can be rotated 90 degrees by walking into them.[4] The player controls a walking eyeball called a Drelb, with the goal of flipping the gates so they create closed boxes. Pursuing the Drelb are square Trollaboars who can also use the gates, but can't seal them into boxes. There is an empty border on the outside the maze patrolled by screwhead tanks which shoot at the Drelb.[5]
Occasionally one of the boxes becomes a "Drelbish window to the dark corridor." These lead to a separate screen where the goal is to free—by touching—as many Drelbs as possible while avoiding Gorgolytes.[5] Completing the dark corridor, or kissing a randomly appearing "mystery lady," awards a bonus based on the number of completed boxes.
There are eight rounds, each named after a gemstone, and three difficulty levels: Novice, Tough, and Super.[5]
Reception
In a 1984 ROM magazine review, Tim Ruscheinsky concluded "I highly suggest that you get your copy of Drelbs, especially if you enjoy well made maze games" and scored the game an 8.8 out of 10.[6]
In a 2009 write-up about the C64 version for "Retro Videogames Reviewed," the author commented, "Even today, this game manages to captivate me with its unique ambience and absolutely weird, but fun gameplay," and "the game is such fun and so easy to discover and is so captivating...."[7] In "Forgotten Gems of the Maze Chase Genre," Sean Wheatley called Drelbs "one of the oddest maze chase games out there."[8]
References
- 1 2 The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers
- ↑ "Drelbs". Lemon 64.
- ↑ "Relax". Atari Mania.
- ↑ "Drelbs". Electronic Fun. March 1984.
- 1 2 3 Drelbs Manual. Synapse Software. 1983.
- ↑ Ruscheinsky, Tim (June 1984). "Product Reviews: Drelbs". ROM (6): 38.
- ↑ "Review: Drelbs (C64)". Retro Videogames Reviewed. May 28, 2009.
- ↑ Wheatley, Sean (April 2, 2007). "Forgotten Gems of the Maze Chase Genre". The Next Level.
External links
- Drelbs at Atari Mania
- Drelbs at Lemon 64
- Drelbs can be played for free in the browser at the Internet Archive