Previous Next

Micro Power published a great many games for the Electron (the collection being notable for its colourful "graph paper" multicoloured backgrounds) but, of all its simplistic arcade games, it's Rubble Trouble that has aged the best. An overhead maze game based on the classic Pengi, it's a game of considerable arcade skill where the aim is to flatten a legion of mutant "krackats". You do this by using the boulders that comprise the maze itself, using your caveman to crush any boulders that bar his progress before positioning him in front of a long empty stretch of maze. It's then a question of lying in wait for an unlucky Krackat to line up with the boulder you're standing behind. When it does, a quick tap of the Return key will hurl the boulder in its direction.

In an ideal world, every push would land a prize but the quickly-moving Krackats occasionally manage to get out of the way - and that's when the "trouble" of the title becomes startlingly evident. Boulders you've pushed travel forwards, ricochet backwards then roll forwards again, only a little more slowly. Hence why it's not advisable to hurl them into very short stretches of maze - you need to give yourself enough time to run out of the way in case you miss and then get smacked in the face by the very rock you triggered!

The pace of the game is frantic, and it runs in the Electron's four colour high resolution mode, giving a full-screen, very pleasing display. Although, strictly speaking, you could argue that there's not a terrible amount to do, the skill of playing Rubble Trouble is really an acquired one. As you learn how it handles, you'll be able to reach higher and higher levels - and when you're up against eight double-speed Krackats, adrenalin really kicks in if, against all the odds, you can power through to success.

Written by the same Morgan brothers who produced the excellent Drain Mania, Rubble Trouble is noteworthy for a few other special inclusions too. The first, and the weirdest, one is the presence of one or more radioactive rocks within the maze. Attempt to push one of these and the screen will flash white as the game is consumed by a nuclear holocaust. The presence of these rocks feeds into the nightmarish "scenario" of the game which imagines a world of cavemen and Krackats is the future we can look forward to in the event of another World War. Fair enough, I suppose but these rocks are very clearly distinguished from their fellow boulders and the player is therefore so unlikely to trigger them by accident that their presence is just plain weird.

The other bonus inclusions are the additional "modes" of play - known as Hayfield and Vanishing. Although these tweak the regular game only slightly, they are well enabling for a game or two.

In the regular game, the overhead maze looks exactly as you would expect - rows and columns of boulders with obvious pathways between them, a number of Krackats in eggs proportionate to the screen you have reached and the obvious radioactive rocks which you must steer clear of. There are also ten boulders with "150" (points) emblazoned across their faces - push or crush these for the obvious score increase. But play Hayfield and every block in the maze begins as a boulder. Only by tentatively feeling your way left, right, up and down can you clear the "virtual" boulders away, revealing the regular maze. This effect alone would be an extremely tough task... but there's now a difference now in how those 150-marked rocks behave. Now crush one of these and the Krackats are "frozen" in place or about five seconds, making it easier to dispose of at least one of them.

Alternatively, play Vanishing and you'll be faced with no regular boulders at all bar the 150s and the obvious no touchy-touchies. Ease your way over to a 150 block and successfully crush it to light up the maze for five seconds, enough time to commit its layout to your own memory and plan how to take care of at least some of those marauding monsters.

With three lives and a time limit on each screen, Rubble Trouble is clearly one of those games that you can never really "win" - the pace is such that you'll probably be dead on screen six. Reaction to it was fairly positive on release, although the drab cover art undoubtedly cost it a few sales. These days it can still be found second hand for just a few quid, but I don't think that'll last much longer. So if you're looking for a Pengi variant that's also a good investment, I'd very much recommend picking up a copy of Rubble Trouble.