Wriggler (video game)

Wriggler
Developer(s)	Romantic Robot
Publisher(s)	Devonshire House
Platform(s)	ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC
Release	1985
Mode(s)	Single-player

Wriggler is a Spectrum & Amstrad maze game published in 1985 by Romantic Robot.

Gameplay

Wriggler is based around a concept of a maggot racing other maggots. The player controls a maggot (often mistaken for a worm) and has to escape a maze consisting of 256 screens. The maze is divided into sections:

• Garden
• Underground (Includes the following as sub-levels)
• Hell
• Planet Surface
• The Dungeon

Development and History

The graphics, animation and cassette inlay artwork were created by the young Allin Kempthorne who was still at school. He went on to become a writer and cartoonist for The Sun newspaper. He later became an actor and comedian, most noted for writing and starring in the comedy feature film The Vampires of Bloody Island. The Spectrum version was programmed by his twin brother Matthew Kempthorne, and the Amstrad version was programmed by Matthew Kempthorne and David Vivian. Wriggler became the Star Game in Personal Computer News^[1] and the Game of the Month in Crash, a noted computer magazine at the time, and was one of the most popular games in 1985.

A version of Wriggler was developed for the Enterprise (ported directly from the Amstrad version). Due to the commercial failure of the Enterprise this version was never released.

The Making of Wriggler appeared in issue 114 of Retro Gamer Magazine. Written by Graeme Mason, it contained interviews with both Matthew and Allin Kempthorne.

Song

The original release of Wriggler contained an instrumental track on the B-side entitled "Moons of jupiter", composed by Alexander Goldscheider

References