Trolls

In between the not-bad-at-all Trolls and the not-to-good-at-all Oscar, Flair released an A1200 version of the former game which turned out to be one of the Amiga’s nicest platformers to date. Now they have stuck on the traditional CD soundtrack and brought it to the CD32, and it is still one of the Amiga’s nicest platformers.

Trolls sure have changed a lot since I was little, reading stories about the terrible ogres that lived under bridges and molested goats. Now, it seems trolls are small and sweet, with lovely, fluffy hair and a big smile for everyone they meet. Children used to be terrified, and now all they want are cute little troll dolls. This game doesn't actually have anything to do with the mega-popular toy, but the main character is similar.

Do you believe in fate? Do you put it down to bad karma when you walk into a lamp post as you are checking how cool you look in a shop window, or just particularly poor urban planning? My fate, if fate exists, seems to have drawn me closer and closer to ugly little creatures with blue eyes and nasty hair, and I do not mean the rest of the AMIGA POWER team. Being a new kid both in the quaint, historical town of Bath, as well as at AMIGA POWER, I have been doing my homework and generally nosing around the place. Flicking through back issues every night as I am tucked up in bed, I have noticed that AMIGA POWER reviewers seem to have caught onto ‘console-esque’ as being THE key word to refer to cute platform games involving humorous ants/goldfish/eggs/etc leaping around onto the heads of equally humorous bad guys.

Pink, punk platform frolics abound as the Trolls entertain in this floppy-enhanced CD32 outing. And hey, do these little creatures have tremendous haircuts? Well yes. They do.

Trolls is a great game, fun to play and fun to watch. Some might not like the extreme use of bright colors, but it's a good change from all the dark, shady games where you don't see what happens two steps in front of you. If you either have kids, are a kid or a drug addict, this game is the perfect download for you.

Remember when no exam hall was complete without the sight of desks full of ugly – masquerading as cute – little creatures, with button eyes and a vibrant tuft of hair, who went by the name of Trolls? Well, they are currently enjoying a revival, along with Abba and Thunderbirds. In this game of the name, the idea is to dodge enemies in various guises while collecting a required number of baby trolls. Once you have found them, you must then find the pig stop where Pigasus, the mythical flying pig, will take you to the start of the next level. It is derivative of other platform games – but hell, if it is good, who cares?

Flairs Vorgänger zu “Oscar” ist nicht ganz os bunt und umfangreich, dafür gefällt die Musik besser; zudem sind die friedlichen Kunddel-Plattformen nicht zuletzt wegen der exakteren Steuerung einen Tick spielbarer. Fazit: gleicher Preis (79,- DM), gleiche Wertung

Fazit: Unter dem Strich rechtfertigt die überarbeitete Präsentation zwar nicht gerade einen Zweitkauf, aber alle sprungstarken 1200er-Besitzer, die klugerweise erst einmal abgewartet haben, dürfen jetzt hemmungslos zuschlagen!

Die Invasion der geklonten Konsolenhelden nimmt und nimmt kein Ende: Nach "Zool" und "Tearaway Thomas" ist nun ein weiterer Verwandter von Segas Turbo-Igel "Sonic" am Amiga aufgetaucht. Damit es auch schön japanisch aussieht, hat Microvalue die 35 auf sieben Plattformwelten verteilten Level erbarmungslos mit knallbunten Grafiken vollgestopft. Dazu löst fast jeder zweite Schritt des Helden ein wahres Sternchen-Feuerwerk aus, während gleichzeitig hektische Musik und Sound-FX um die Wette hämmern. Achja, der Held: mit seinem lila Haarschopf und dem Knautschgesicht sieht er schwer nach Spielzeugladen aus; passend dazu sammelt er mit Leidenschaft Spielzeug-Puppen ein...