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Gribbly's Day Out | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Andrew Braybrook |
Publisher(s) | Hewson Consultants |
Designer(s) | Andrew Braybrook |
Platform(s) | |
Release | 1985 |
Genre(s) | Action |
Mode(s) | Single Player |
Gribbly's Day Out is a Commodore 64 game by Andrew Braybrook, released by Hewson in 1985. [1] It was written over a three-month period. [2] The game is set on the planet Blabgor and centred on the exploits of Gribbly Grobbly and his attempts to rescue errant 'gribblets' from the landscape and return them to safety. A revised version was released on the Rack-It budget label. [3]
Blabgorians possess the gift of psychic ability which allow them to levitate and move items with their minds, as a result they evolved without hands (as they do not need them), a single foot (good for bouncing) and an oversized head (handy for containing large quantities of psychic energy). Gribbly Grobbly is a typical Blabgorian, and is tasked with the safety of the 'gribblets'.
'Gribblets' are infant Blabgorians; they have an armoured shell to protect them, but when flipped on their backs they expose their vulnerable belly and are unable to right themselves. They also have a tendency to leave the safety of home in search of adventure. Unfortunately Blabgor is not a safe place; there are hordes of beasts roaming the landscape, eagerly searching for vulnerable Gribblets.
Another challenge is a large energy web, which covers large portions of the landscape and needs to be navigated carefully. Contact with the web is harmful, however certain sections of the web may be turned on and off to allow travel around the landscape. It was created to contain Seon, [4] a mutated Blabgorian [5] who was corrupted when he absorbed evil psi-energy. He was deemed insane and thought too dangerous to be free, so the web was meant to keep him out of trouble.
The basic premise for the game required the player to control Gribbly and navigate him through each of the 16 surreal 8-way scrolling landscapes in an attempt to locate and rescue eight baby Gribblets and returning them to the safety of the home cave.
Gribbly can hop and levitate [6] around each of the levels and can blow bubbles to defend himself. [7] Once a Gribblet is located, Gribbly can pick up the hapless offspring and carry it to safety. [8] Once only a single Gribblet remains on a level, the energy web fails, freeing Seon. [9] This usually results in a mad rush to get the remaining Gribblet to safety before succumbing to his attacks. Once all the Gribblets are either saved or killed, the level ends and Gribbly is transported to the next level.
A port by Coin-Age to the Acorn Archimedes (titled Gribbly's Day Out on the Arc) [10] [11] was released in 1992.
Seven years after its release Gribbly's Day Out featured as the theme to a secret level found in the 1992 Amiga game Fire and ICE also designed by Andrew Braybrook. This level includes Seed Pods, Gribblets and an overall Blabgor landscape.
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