Drol
{{Short description|1983 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = Drol
|image = Drol Cover Art.jpg
|caption =
|developer =
|publisher = Broderbund
Sega (SG-1000)
|designer = Benny Aik Beng Ngo{{cite web|title=The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers|url=https://dadgum.com/giantlist/|last1=Hague|first1=James}}
|released = 1983: Apple, Atari, C64
1985: SG-1000
1991: Amiga
|genre = Action
|modes = Single-player
|platforms = Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, PC-88, SG-1000
}}
Drol is a video game published by Broderbund in 1983. It was written for the Apple II by Benny Aik Beng Ngo, then ported to the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers.{{cite journal
| last = Anderson
| first = John J.
|date=April 1984
| title = Commodore's port
| journal = Creative Computing
| volume = 10
| issue = 4
| pages = 214
| url = http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v10n4/214_Commodores_port.php
| accessdate = 2005-12-09
}}
Versions were released for the SG-1000 in 1985 and Amiga in 1991.
Gameplay
The player controls a robot walking or flying through a four story maze, attempting to rescue people and animals while avoiding traps and enemies such as alien creatures, snakes, eagles, magnets, arrows and axes. There are only three levels, but the game repeatedly starts over in a more difficult version if the third level is completed. In the third level of some{{which|date=April 2018}} versions, in order to reach the final floor without being eaten by a plant sprouting from out of nowhere, the player must choose between three different trapdoors, and the correct trapdoor varies from game to game.{{cite journal |date=October 1984 | title = Drol | journal = Computer Games World | volume = 4 | issue = 5 | pages = 25|url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/issues/cgw_4.5.pdf }}
Reception
When reviewing three new games in February 1984, ANALOG Computing said that Drol was "by far the best thought-out", with "refreshing sound effects and some of the best pseudo-3D graphics I've ever seen", reminding the reviewer of a scene from The Ninth Configuration.{{Cite magazine |last=Kelley |first=Patrick J. |date=February 1984 |title=Three New Games |url=https://archive.org/details/analog-computing-magazine-16/page/n116/mode/1up?view=theater |magazine=ANALOG Computing |pages=115–116 |access-date=2023-12-07}} Run, reviewing the Commodore 64 version in May 1984, gave it an "A"—its highest rating—and described it as "fun, funny, and exciting", although the magazine criticized the slow loading times.{{cite journal | last = Annucci | first = Marilyn |date=May 1984 | title = Software Gallery: Drol | journal = RUN | volume = 1 | issue = 5 | pages = 21–22 | issn = 0741-4285 }} InfoWorld's Essential Guide to Atari Computers cited it as among the best Broderbund arcade games.{{Cite book |last=Mace |first=Scott |url=https://archive.org/details/InfoWorlds_Essential_Guide_to_Atari/page/n85/mode/2up?view=theater |title=InfoWorld's Essential Guide to Atari Computers |date=1984 |publisher=Harper & Row |isbn=978-0-06-669006-3 |pages=75}} Ahoy! called Drol "an amusing little game."{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/Ahoy_Issue_05_1984-05_Ion_International_US#page/n55/mode/2up | title=Drol | work=Ahoy! | date=May 1984 | accessdate=27 June 2014 | author=Marsh, Jamie | pages=56}} Electronic Fun with Computers & Games gave it 4 out of 4.{{cite journal |last1=Berman |first1=Marc |title=Drol |journal=Electronic Fun with Computers and Games |date=March 1984 |volume=2 |issue=5 |page=64 |url=https://archive.org/details/Electronic_Fun_with_Computer_Games_Vol_02_No_05_1984-03_Fun_Games_Publishing_US/page/n65/mode/2up}} Reviewer Marc Berman wrote:
{{blockquote|Once in a while a home game comes along that has hit written all over it. Often it's from an arcade hit or a spinoff of another game. But occasionally it's a totally original idea. Games like that are as rare as honest politicians. Drol is one and I heartily endorse it.}}
David Stone reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World, and stated that "the high quality of the animation, the cleverness of the animated foes, and the nonsense of the theme, all make Drol well-worth the money."{{cite magazine |last=Stone |first=David |title=Atari Playfield |magazine=Computer Gaming World |date=October 1984 |volume=1 |issue=18 |pages=25}}
In 1984 Softline readers named Drol the seventh most-popular Apple program of 1983.{{cite news | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1984&pub=6&id=16 | title=The Best and the Rest | work=St.Game | date=Mar–Apr 1984 | accessdate=28 July 2014 | pages=49}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Atarimania|id=1744}}
- {{lemon64 game|id=785|name=Drol}}
- {{Lemon Amiga game|id=2368}}
- [https://segaretro.org/Drol Drol] at Sega Retro
- [https://archive.org/details/C64Gamevideoarchive29-Drol/ Video from the C64 version] on archive.org
Category:Atari 8-bit computer games