Q*bert

Other products by Atari

Product Details

• ASIN: B00001QHXE
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,033 in Video Games (See Bestsellers in Video Games)

Product Description

Editorial Review
What's a Q*bert? He's a cantankerous little orange feller with an anteater-like snout and a penchant for swearing in an alien tongue. Don't worry, parents, his swearing is cutely expressed in asterisks and squiggles, accompanied by an audio clip of garbled electronic noises. Q*bert was the star of his very own coin-op video game that debuted back in 1982, challenging players to hop from cube to brightly colored cube while avoiding missteps and collisions, and this PlayStation remake contains that old game in its entirety. Also here is a brand new set of challenges spanning 24 lamp-lit levels.

Q*bert doesn't make a very smooth transition from arcade to PlayStation, mostly because of its lack of decent control. In the original, coin-op version, players used a joystick that could move only on the diagonal to hop along cubes, changing their top color. In this version, the existence of the two sticks on the PlayStation analog or dual shock analog controllers is ignored. Instead, you must tilt your controller and use the D-pad to diagonally move Q*bert across the playing field. Still, the game has an inspired design, with cute characters, funny sound effects, and plenty of power-ups. But the control interface has a huge impact on gameplay, and in this case it's negative. --Jeff Young

Pros:

• Includes the entire, original arcade game
• Groovy, psychedelic graphics

Cons:

• Very hard to control
• Confusing menu designs

GameSpot Review
The typical retro-game update these days takes a pretty standard approach. Find a 2D classic arcade game, put it in polygons, give it some sort of quest-type feel, and put it on shelves. While the 1982 arcade game Q*Bert already had a bit of a 3D element to it, it's been given the standard treatment. But awkward level design and poor presentation make the 1999 release of Q*Bert a dull endeavor, to say the least. Not too many gameplay elements have changed here. Q*Bert is still a crazy orange... uh... ball thing. OK, picture a ball with two legs, two eyes, and a vacuum-cleaner hose as a nose/mouth combo sort-of-thing. Your world is made up of tons of connected cubes. Your job is to change the color of the cubes by hopping from cube to cube. Each cube you touch changes color. Various obstacles and monsters stand in your way - from bouncing balls to returning evildoers Coily, Ugg, and Wrong-Way, who all hop around on the cubes hoping to land on our hero, which, as in the old version, causes Q*Bert to emit a bellow of cartoon cursing. While every level in the original game (which is contained on the disc and is playable with classic or updated graphics, though the between-level music is different than the original) was a simple pyramid, the updated game goes crazy with its level design. The problem here is that it's occasionally very hard to judge depth, and at times the levels look like they came right off the desk of MC Escher himself. This makes hopping around a real chore, and it's occasionally tough to see how all the cubes line up. In the game's standard mode, along with all the old Q*Bert gameplay elements, are things like power-ups. Shields, keys, bombs, torches, and more can be found on the game's various levels. The items don't really mix up the gameplay at all, and the game gets boring within 30 minutes. A two-player head-to-head mode is also included where you can try to recolor your cubes before your friend can change all of his. The game's graphics have been updated in the most basic way. Everything has become polygonal, but that's about it. So Q*Bert looks a little more robust now, and he squashes down when he lands from a jump. The new sounds used in the game really don't add anything to the game, and the trademark noise that Q*Bert made when he jumped still sounds much, much cooler. It would have been nice to see a history section, complete with clips of the short-lived Q*Bert cartoon. Also, the Q*Bert sequel, Q*Bert's Qubes, and the never-released Faster, Harder, More Challenging Q*Bert would have made nice additions to the classic section of the game. As it stands, the game just doesn't have enough substance to last more than a day. If you absolutely, positively must know, do yourself a favor and just rent it.--Jeff Gerstmann--Copyright © 1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!, November 23, 1999

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Playing the new Qbert reminds me why some of the classics are so much better than todays games: gameplay. The graphics are great, but what makes this game is that it is easy to play, yet really challenging at times. The game is really 3 games in one: a new adventure game, a multiplayer game and the classic arcade game. The adventure game is faster than the original, with way better graphics and sounds. It also has a lot of variety in the levels. The classic game is exactly as I remember it, complete with your choice of the original or newer graphics, and head to head is a blast with 2 players trying to hop on all the cubes and screw up the other player at the same time!

Control takes some getting used to, especially since Sony's controllers are terrible at diagonals, but you can play with the pad rotated (here's a tip: use the pad rotated right, and hold the controller with one hand).

All in all, a great game.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Oh for a 2600-style joystick, October 23, 2001

By	Robert S Michaels "bobm" (Fairfield, CT United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The classic version would be great, if only I could substitute the shoddy PS controller for a real Joystick. As for the 3D adventure version, I find the perspective really wacky. It's sometimes really difficult to guess which way you're supposed to jump. Maybe I'm just less tolerant than I used to be.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT GAME!, June 28, 2000

By A Customer

Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Q*BERT shows why some of the orignal video games are still the best. Its the gameplay that sets them apart. Q*Bert wont dazzle you with graphics or music, but it will have you hooked with its great gameplay. The first night I fired this game up I couldn't quit playing it for 2 hours. It is easily addictive as Tetris, and that is a great thing. There is a little learning curve as the control can be a little tricky, however if you are using a Dual Shock controller, the analog pads are the way to go. I highly recommend picking this game up, it is a must own!