Triple X
| Developer: N/A | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Axxiom | Sound: |
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| Year: 1989 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Three strikes, you’re out | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
4/10 | |
When a game opens with a title screen sporting a typo, you know exactly what you’re in for. Triple X, also known as Tripple-X, is a sort of maze game, somewhere between Dig Dug (arcade, 1982) and Pacman (1980), where you wander around hunting for treasures and dodging monsters. There are rocks that can be pushed or flung at enemies, though unlike in Dig Dug, they defy gravity. You also have bombs to blow up walls and, on rare occasions, a gun (with very limited ammo).
To progress to the next level, you’ll need to collect all the objects shaped like blue floppy disks and then head for the exit (a giant square labelled “Exit”). This can take a while, since each level spans 36 screens, which you’ll inevitably end up combing repeatedly—because, naturally, the final floppy disk you need to open the door will always be the hardest to find…
On paper, I’buy. All right, I’d download. But after an hour of playing, my enthusiasm has evaporated. Between enemies respawning right next to you (or worse, you spawning right next to them), causing you to lose several lives in quick succession through no fault of your own; enemies shooting through walls; your character randomly refusing to move—or worse, dropping a bomb instead of shooting and then refusing to move again, resulting in a double penalty of losing a life and a bomb—when does the fun start, exactly?
Honestly, this game might have been enjoyable if the levels weren’t so long and tedious, if the enemy behaviour were more predictable, and their respawning less blatantly unfair; if the character controls were more responsive…
In short, if it were called Boulder Dash, or maybe even Bomberman, it might actually be fun.
Note: On an emulator, choose an “A500, OCS, Kickstart 1.3” setup (the “O” is critical).
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