Trolls

The Good
Looking for something positive, you get an introductory FMV sequence that’s not on the floppy version.

The music tracks on the disc do actually help liven up the proceedings a bit. What you get are some fairly pleasant tunes that compliment the somewhat leisurely pace. A good selection of meaty sound and speech samples round out the audio side of things nicely.

I was rather taken by the Soda pop world. These levels play sort of like the swimming parts of Sega’s Alex Kidd, married with standard platform antics, and I thought this combination worked quite well.

Also of note was Media land, which combines a black and white foreground with a colourful background that makes for an interesting design contrast. This also made to discern between the two planes a lot easier than most of the other designs.

Some inspiration from the old classic Bubble Bobble is that you can collect letters to spell out words like BONUS or BOGUS, that grant similar timed sequences as for the aforementioned game.

The game scrolls reasonably smoothly in all directions, and there aren’t any genuine problems with slowdowns, since there aren’t any really intensive visual routines. The main Troll sprite is well animated.

The Bad
The pace isn’t exactly fast, and if you try to hustle a bit you normally end up dead. The game levels move all over the place, So the play doesn’t always flow seamlessly.

The yo-yo is somewhat difficult to use for the grappling hook function, and getting a positive lock on a platform can be a very trying exercise in frustration. This can be quite annoying since it is sometimes necessary to get to new areas. A potentially decent idea poorly implemented.

This game doesn’t employ the CD-32's battery back-up, or have any kind of password system. If you want to complete it, you have to do it in one sitting.

In terms of controls, the multi button controller hasn’t been utilised. An option to use a button for jumping would have been welcome, as it is your stuck with pushing up on the directional pad.

The levels are generally too cluttered. A cleaner and simpler design usually works better in this type of fare.

The game itself hasn’t been enhanced in any way from the Amiga original floppy version.

The Bottom Line
History dictated that Amiga CD-32 games would be synonymous with the term shovel-ware, and this title was no exception.

On top of this, one of the pack in games with the machine, Oscar, also from Flair, is essentially the exact same game as this, bar different themes and of course the licensed little ugly pugs. Both games even share sound effects and graphics, making this an exceptionally cheeky outing for a quick buck.

Trolls is a fairly playable platform romp, which seems okay in the short term, but is marred by a decidedly slow pace and particularly gaudy visual style which doesn’t exactly entice. Yet another mediocre entry for the ill-fated system. Rest assured, a certain hedgehog and plumber didn’t lose any sleep over these critters.