Granny Vinnie Reviews

7800 Rank: 1st Genre Rank: (Action/ Adventure) 1st Awards: Best Graphics, 3rd Best Originality, 9th Best Value It's a Frog! And a Thing! And Another Thing! Pros: Excellent Graphics/ Unique Puzzle Game/ Challenging Cons: Controls Can Feel Sluggish At First De-Turd the Shrimp!

Overview: Tower Toppler is a game where you take control of a little frog-guy who's task at hand is trying to figure out how to climb 8 different polluting towers, in order to destroy them all and save a new planet's ecosystem. Sometimes this game feels like a puzzle game, because of the different obstacles and traps that cause you to constantly use your noodle. And sometimes it feels more like an action game, especially when you are trying to escape from that annoying molecule bully and you only have 20 seconds to go...

Graphics: Graphically, the game is nearly breath-taking. The main character is in a fixed position for the entire tower climbing process, and the tower itself moves around the hero beautifully. Underwater scenes in the ship "BA-1" may be the best graphics sequence for the 7800 ever. The colors are vivid, and do not clash together. If there is a flaw, it might be that some of the towers' color schemes are very tacky... but hey, bad guys aren't supposed to be worried about paint jobs, are they?

Sound: Sound for this game is not too bad. There is even an option to turn the music off in the main menu. Sounds for the bouncing balls are good, and even the tippy-tap of the hero's feet is kind of reassuring in this strange, dark world. Nothing here is outstanding, but unlike most 7800 games, nothing really annoys you.

Gameplay: Gameplay is all around pretty solid. But sometimes, when the robots are bouncing, the molecule is hot on your trail, and you are firing a shot, climbing stairs, or falling through platforms, there can be a small amount of slow-down. Also, your control over the frog mutant hero seems sluggish at first, but not enough to make you sick. Gameplay is simple...you basically shoot, jump or climb, and the task at hand is easy to understand: Get to the top of the tower as fast as possible. Collision detection is good, and the ability to sometimes jump in mid-air makes the game more interesting.

Originality: This is one of the most original games of all time. The fixed camera angle on the main hero has become popular lately in games like Crash Bandicoot and Tomb Raider, but still, not like this. This game is a perfect mix of action and problem solving...to a degree I have never seen since. The gameplay is very unique and the subject matter of the game is very original as well. On a system known for it's quirky games, this one may be the quirkiest.

Value: There is no two player variation of the main game, so when you beat the game, there is nothing really calling you back to play it time and time again, although the hours you spend going through the mission the first time will justify the purchase of the cart. And there is always the challenge of beating the game faster, better and finding more efficient ways to climb the tower.

Overall: In this reviewer’s opinion, this is far and away the best game for the system. The graphics are good looking even by today's standards. The challenge of the 8 towers will baffle video game pros for hours. This is a game that's main strength is originality, and if I had to rank the top 50 video games of all time, I would include Tower Toppler, and probably rank it high. This is one heck of a game!





Other Reviews:
CV's Atari 7800 Panoramic Froo-Froo: 4.5 out of 5.0 (Excellent)
The Atari Times: 9 out of 10
Atari Gaming Headquarters: 8 out of 10
Video Game Critic: C+



Check out the "Name That Tower Toppler Guy Contest" at Froo-Froo! You can win a CD collection and a rare 2600 game!




Additional Info: I would like to take this time to thank Mitch Orman, owner of The Atari 7800 Page for allowing the use of his screenshots for this review.

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