Drelbs

arcade game for Commodore 64, 1984

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INTRODUCTION

In the many ages since the beginning of all things, in the time
of sorcerers and unicorns, magic rules all kingdoms. Dreibs
happily came and went as they pleased and hardly a cloud
passed through their unhurried lives.
Then the Trollaboars came. They brought with them evil
schemes and sought to enslave all men and Dreibs, and to
rule the worlds of love and light.
One by one they caught the hapless Dreibs and trapped them
in worlds where the light never came. It is into these dark
places that you, as the last of the Dreibs, must venture in order
to save your comrades and restore love to its rightful place.

HOW TO PLAY

You first appear on the atomic flip grid in the centre of the
Drelbish kingdom. You will notice that as you hop around the
grid your movement couses gates to shift position 90 degrees.
Your object is to close off as many of the squares as possible by
flipping shut gates of completed squares (this may sound
far more complicated than it really is). When a JA sealed box is
closed by a gate flip it will turn into a pulsing square. In each
round you must secure all of the squares possible on the grid
The Trollaboars also can flip gates, however they cannot
complete squares of their own (the Trollaboars are not
builders-they are mean and nasty destroyers).
You can also trap the evil Trollaboars inside of the squares that
you complete. This immobilizes them only for a short time,
whereupon they break free and escape. When you have
completed all squares possible on the grid, the squares will
begin to fill up with Grogolytes and Drelbish windows (see
below). Wait patiently and jump through the drelbish window
into the dark corridor.
There are eight rounds to complete the game. They are as
follows: Sapphire, Ruby, Emerald, Topdz, Peridot, Agate,
Amethyst.

DRELBISH WINDOWS TO THE DARK CORRIDOR

When this window opens you must hurry as quickly as your
Drelbish legs can hop you there, and leap through the
window into the land of the Gorgolytes, cousins of the
Trollaboars, and slavemdsters to the Drelbs.
Then quickly, ever so quickly, you can free every Drelb that
you touch. But go carefully into that dark place for the
Gorgolytes will perceive your presence and hunt you
relentlessly until you are tossed back onto the grid.
If, however, you are successful in freeing all of the enslaved
Drelbs then you will be transported to the bonus screen, and
there your bonus points will be entered towards the goal of
freeing all Drelbs from their awful fate.

HEARTS

After a certain time hearts will appear along the corridors of
the flip grid. You must pursue these for they ore magicol
indeed.
When you run over a heart it will freeze the Trollaboars for five
seconds during which you con hop quickly and trap them in a
square.

BONUS SCREEN

You will enter the bonus screen either by kissing the lady that
appears in the Gargolyte boxes or by completing a round of
the dark corridor. You will be awarded a bonus equivalent of
250 times the number of completed squares on the atomic flip
arid. Then, automaticolly, you will be transported back to the
flip grid to begin the next round.

THE GORGOLYTES

The Gorgolytes will try to pop into the flip grid. You will see their
ugly faces haunting you. Don’t let them intimidate you. While
they are deadly in the dark corridor they connot harm you on
the grid. However, they will destroy the boxes in which they
appear, and be a general nuisance

THE MYSTERY LADY

Whenever this beautiful face appears in one of the Gorgolyte
squares, hop quickly to the square and steal a kiss from this fair
damsel for she is sad and confused in d Gorgolyte prison. If
you are successful in stealing a kiss, you will jump to the bonus
screen. After all the enslaved Drelbs are freed, you will
discover the secret of the mystery lady!

DIAMONDS

Occasionally, a magical diamond will appear somewhere
on the flip grid. Hurry, hop quickly to the diamond, (for it will
quickly disappear) and pass over it. This will open a Drelbish
window into the dark corridor.

THE SCREWHEAD TANKS

The screwhead tanks control the perimeter of the atomic flip
grid. They fire dreadful bullets that ricochet oft the gates of the
grid. Be careful to avoid both the tanks and their bullets,
otherwise it's goodby Drelb.

TROLLABOARS

These ugly square heads hunt Drelbs just for fun. Stay far away
from them if you know what is good for you.

LIVES

You have five (5) Drelbish lives to complete your mission.

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Some useful keyboard shortcuts
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       [PAUSE] - stop/continue game
          [F9] - quick load game state
         [F12] - quick save game state (still stored after leaving the site)
         [F11] - toggle fullscreen mode
  [ScrollLock] - quick switch control ports
    [PageDown] - make a screenshot (320x200)