Originally written for the Apple II and later ported to the C64 and other systems, Broderbund’s Drol was an excellent and very creative game, and has long been one of my all-time favorites. You are a cute robot who is on a mission to rescue people and other creatures trapped within a sidescrolling maze of hostile creatures and objects. The monsters populating the maze are bewildering and amusing, from bouncing scorpion-like creatures to spitting snake/seahorse aberrations. There’s also an angry witch doctor, magnets that foil your ability to shoot, carnivorous plants, and flying arrows, swords and cleavers; overall, the amount of different objects and creatures in the game is pretty impressive. You have an infinite supply of bubble-like bullets and a little jetpack strapped to your back that can fly you to the ceiling, a needed function in order to shoot the monsters and projectiles that attack at multiple heights. To end the first 2 levels you must capture the animals (also wearing jetpacks) that are wandering around the map, a dinosaur and an alligator. The third level has a captive lady that you must rescue at the bottom of the screen. You have a minimap available which shows the position of oncoming monsters and objects, but not the creatures you need to rescue. There are only 3 levels, however it presents a good challenge, and upon winning the 3rd level the game restarts with a higher difficulty. There is no in-game music but it’s honestly not needed; a great title theme and excellent range of sounds within the gameplay keep it from feeling monotonous. Add to that the excellent animation, colours and character design, and you have one of the best games not only for its time (1983) but for multiple platforms in general. The theme makes no real sense and it doesn’t have to, as the cuteness and creativity of the design make it a lot of fun to play, and it’s held up quite well over the past 36 years.
Not just a fan favorite, Drol did very well when it came to critic’s reviews as well, with Run magazine and Computer Gaming World among just a couple to give Drol their top rating. Programmer Benny Aik Beng Ngo doesn’t have a lot of work listed to his name - other than Drol, he also worked on games Bandits and Gamma Goblins. His brother Tony Ngo designed another popular title, Squish’em, aka Squish’em Sam.
