Q*bert

Q*bert () is an arcade video game developed and published by Gottlieb in 1982. It is a platform game that features two-dimensional (2D) graphics. The object is to change the color of every cube in a pyramid by making the on-screen character jump on top of the cube while avoiding obstacles and enemies. Players use a joystick to control the character.

The game was conceived by Warren Davis and Jeff Lee. Lee designed the titular character based on childhood influences and gave Q*bert a large nose that shoots projectiles. His original idea involved traversing a pyramid to shoot enemies, but Davis removed the shooting game mechanic to simplify gameplay. Q*bert was developed under the project name Cubes, but was briefly named Snots And Boogers and @!#?@!? during development.

Q*bert was well received in arcades and by critics, who praised the graphics, gameplay and main character. The success resulted in sequels and use of the character's likeness in merchandising, such as appearances on lunch boxes, toys, and an animated television show. The game has since been ported to numerous platforms.

Gameplay

Q*bert is an isometric platform game with puzzle elements where the player controls the titular protagonist from a third-person perspective. Q*bert starts each game at the top of a pyramid of cubes, and moves by jumping diagonally from cube to cube. Landing on a cube causes it to change color, and changing every cube to the target color allows the player to progress to the next stage. In later stages, each cube must be hit multiple times to reach the target color. In addition, cubes will change color every time Q*bert lands on them, instead of remaining on the target color once they reach it. Jumping off the pyramid results in the character's death.

The player is impeded by several enemies: Coily, a purple snake that chases after Q*bert; Ugg and Wrong-Way, purple creatures that run along the sides of the cubes; and Slick and Sam, green gremlins that revert the color changes that have occurred. A collision with purple enemies is fatal to the character. Colored balls occasionally appear at the top of the pyramid and bounce downward; contact with a red ball is lethal to Q*bert, while contact with a green one will immobilize the on-screen enemies. Upon dying, Q*bert emits a sound likened to swearing. A multi-colored disc on either side of the pyramid serves as an escape device from danger, particularly Coily. The disc returns Q*bert to the top of the pyramid, tricking Coily to jump off the pyramid if the snake was in close pursuit. The basic ideas were thought up by Warren Davis and Jeff Lee. The initial concept began when artist Jeff Lee drew a pyramid of cubes inspired by M. C. Escher. Lee felt a game could be derived from the artwork, and created an orange, armless main character. The character jumped along the cubes and shot projectiles from a tubular nose at enemies. Enemies included a blue creature, later changed purple and named Wrong Way, and an orange creature, later changed green and named Sam. Lee had drawn similar characters since childhood, and based them on comics, cartoons, and characters from Mad magazine and by artist Ed Roth. Q*bert's design later included a speech balloon with a string of nonsensical characters, "@!#?@!?", which Lee originally presented as joke.

Thiel was tasked with using the synthesizer to produce English phrases for the game. However, he was unable to create coherent phrases and chose to string together random phonemes. Theil also felt the incoherent speech was a good fit for the "@!#?@!?" in Q*bert's speech balloon. Following a suggestion from technician Rick Tighe, a pinball machine component was included to make a loud sound when a character falls off the pyramid. The machines have since become collector's items; the rarest of them are the cocktail versions. Author David Ellis echoed similar statements, calling it a "classic favorite". 1UP.com's Jeremy Parish included Q*bert among the higher-profile classic games. In 2008, Guinness World Records ranked it behind 16 other arcade games in terms of their technical, creative and cultural impact.

Video game critics focused on the gameplay and visuals. Kim Wild of Retro Gamer magazine described the game as difficult yet addictive. William Brohaugh of Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games described the game as an "all-round winner" that had many strong points. He praised the variety of sound effects and the graphics, calling the colors vibrant. Brohaugh lauded Q*berts inventiveness and appeal, stating that the objective was interesting and unique. The show is set in a United States, 1950s era town called "Q-Burg", and stars Q*bert as a high school student. In the cartoon, Q*bert's design was altered to include arms and hands, as well as the ability to shoot black projectiles from his nose. Characters frequently say puns that add the letter "Q" to words. Obtaining the highest score for the game became a goal for players. Doris Self, credited by Guinness World Records as the "oldest competitive female gamer", set a record score for Q*bert in 1984 at the age of 58. Her record was surpassed, and she continued attempting to regain the record until her death in 2006. Creators Davis and Lee expressed pride at the longevity of the game's legacy; Davis is also surprised people still positively remember the game. Despite its success, the two creators did not receive royalties as Gottlieb had no such program in place at the time. Following its 1982 release, the game was ported to several platforms including the Magnavox Odyssey², Texas Instruments TI-99/4A, Commodore VIC-20, and several Atari consoles. The different ports received mixed receptions. Many home versions poorly replicated the controls on game controllers. Davis considered the ColecoVision home version the most accurate port of the arcade. Arthur Leyenberger of Creative Computing praised the gameplay and audio-visuals, and listed it as the second best arcade adaptation for the console. In 2008, however, IGN's Levi Buchanan rated it the fourth worst Atari 2600 arcade port, citing poor visuals and a technical problem that makes the game excessively difficult; a lack of animations for enemies while jumping between cubes made it impossible to know which direction they travel until they land.

A remake with three-dimensional (3D) graphics was released by Hasbro Interactive on the PlayStation in 1999 and on the Dreamcast the following year. It features three modes of play: classic, adventure, and competitive multiplayer. Allgame's Brett Weiss praised all aspects of the game, while Parish called it a poor adaptation. It was manufactured by Mylstar Electronics, and used the same hardware as the original. The player navigates the protagonist around a plane of cubes while avoiding enemies. Jumping on a cube causes it to rotate, changing the color of the visible sides of the cube. Another sequel, Q*bert 3, was released in the early 1990s for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It features gameplay similar to the original, but has larger levels of varying shapes. In addition to new enemies (Frogg, Top Hat, and Derby), enemies from the first game attempt to impede the player from changing the cubes' colors.

Gottlieb also released a pinball game, Q*berts Quest, based on the arcade version. It features two pairs of flippers in an "X" formation and audio from the arcade. Gottlieb produced fewer than 900 units. Feeling that the original game was too easy, Davis decided to develop Faster Harder More Challenging Q*bert (also known as FHMC Q*bert) in 1983. The project, however, was canceled and the game never entered production. Davis later released FHMC Q*berts ROM image for fans to play via MAME, an arcade emulator.

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