Trolls and Tribulations

The Good
Trolls and Tribulations is an unusual early 8 bit platform game. While a lot of games of the era start out brutally difficult by today's standards, Trolls plays fair and gives you a good chance to get into the game before dropping the hammer.

The movement in the game requires some precision and creates a flavor of play that is one part action and one part puzzle. You can't expect to just storm in with quick reflexes and win. You need to take a step back and see the best approach if you want to collect all the treasure from a given level.

The Commodore 64 version features some excellent music which changes with each level. The graphics are also very well done being cute and distinct despite the low resolution.

While essentially a simple game, it features a mix between action oriented shooting and more methodical treasure hunting. Both sections of each level work well and create some variety in game play.

The Bad
The later levels get brutally difficult and feel slightly unfair given the nature of your character's movement. This doesn't happen too early in the level progression though, so even a mediocre player will be able to work through several levels.

The Bottom Line
In Trolls and Tribulations you play the troll who is sent to explore caves and recover lost treasures. The tribulations come in the form of various monsters and tricky maze layouts.

Movement is unusual in the game as you move based on the tiles the mazes are made of. You will always move one full tile when you move in any given direction. Rather than detracting from the game this creates a unique puzzle feel to the action.

The first section of most levels involves you shooting creatures known as Cretins. When you shoot them they turn into eggs which must be pushed off into the water below. You have a limited number of shots and have to reload at the center of the map if you run out. Once you clear the Cretins it's off to the main treasure hunting portion of the level.

Treasure is located all over the maze, sometimes only accessible by use of trampolines to increase your jump height. Monsters such as skulls and buzzards are also present and unlike the Cretins cannot be shot. There is a time limit to each level which means you have to way available time left versus reaching the trickier treasures.

A unique combination of action, puzzling and trying to increase your score gives this game longevity. I still play it now, over 25 years since it was released.