• Platform: ColecoVision
• Release Date: 1983
• Similar Games: Q*bert's Qubes (Arcade), Q*bert's Qubes (Atari Video Computer System), Q*bert 3 (Super NES), Q*bert's Qubes (ColecoVision)

Game Description

You are Q*bert, a curious little fellow with a round body, a long snout and stumpy legs. Your job is to hop around on a pyramid of cubes, changing the color of each cube. When you have changed all of the cubes to the destination color, you advance to the next level. As you progress through the game, the action speeds up, and you will reach levels in which you need to change the color of the cubes more than once.

While you hop about, Coily the snake and other creatures will follow you around and clutter up the screen, getting in the way of your progress. A little guy named Slick will reverse your color changes from time to time, so be prepared to retrace your tracks. If you hop on one of the bouncing green balls that occasionally appear, all of your enemies will momentarily freeze.

If you get in a tight spot, you can hop aboard a flying disc that will drop you off at the top of the pyramid. The number and placement of the discs depends on which round you are in. When Q*bert gets trounced by an enemy, he lets loose with a garbled curse word such as #!@*$&!.

Based on the 1982 Arcade classic, Q*bert ends only when you run out of lives. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Roots & Influences

Q*bert is based on the 1982 Arcade game of the same name. Cutesy games like this with simple controls began in 1980 with Pac-Man. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Enjoyment

Thanks to accurate controls and the inherent fun of the original quarter-muncher, this is a very enjoyable game. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Overall

When Parker Brothers began licensing popular Arcade games for the ColecoVision in 1983, gamers rejoiced. Finally, you could play high quality versions of such titles as Popeye, Star Wars: The Arcade Game and Gyruss on what was then the most advanced gaming system available. Along with Frogger, the most highly anticipated of the Parker Brothers games was undoubtedly Q*bert.

With its 3D playing field and quirky lead character, Q*bert was a hard game to convert to home systems. Whether programming for the Intellivision, the Atari 5200, the Commodore 64 or the ColecoVision, game designers had a formidable task on their hands. Luckily, Q*bert for the ColecoVision is a very good port, all things considered.

One of the biggest challenges when converting Q*bert to the home is the control system. The Intellivision version of the game is almost unmanageable, especially if you don't have a controller upgrade, and the Atari 5200 rendition is tricky as well. The ColecoVision Q*bert, however, is a breeze to control. If you hold your joystick just like the instruction booklet tells you, you will almost never jump in a different direction than you intended.

Like all Q*bert games for home systems of the time, the graphics, sound effects and music are little more than shadows of their Arcade counterparts, but they are about as good as you could expect. The playfield is effectively three dimensional, and all of the creatures are instantly recognizable. Also, Q*bert's enemies move in patterns very similar to those in the Arcade game.

Q*bert is a solid entry in the ColecoVision library. So many of the Coleco-produced games are based on Arcade oddities that it's nice to see an overly familiar face for a change. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Graphics

Q*bert himself looks sickly, but the pyramids and enemies are nicely rendered. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Sound

The music is merely a brief intro to each level. The hopping noises are simplistic, and the cursing sounds are weak. Overall, the sounds are serviceable, but nothing special. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Replay Value

There's rarely a dull moment in this game, and the challenge level is high in later rounds. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide

Review: Documentation

The instruction booklet has all the information you need, but no pictures or drawings of the playfield. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide