Time for a game that is inspired by one of my favourites, Boulder Dash. Find out in this Repton Review if it reaches to the same heights.
The setup is, you need to to dig your way through the earth and avoid the falling stones. You need to use your smartness so not a falling stone blocks the dimamonds you need to collect.
Find your way with the picked up map. Longer into the game, from level 2 you will meet reptiles. Make sure not to cross their way as this becomes the end for you.
I really nice game actually, even though it does not really meet up to the splendidness of Boulder Dash. I really miss the blinging diamond animations. Repton gets quite flat in its animations and colours. The area you are playing is quite “mapified” and by that quite easy to complete.
The movement of the character is smooth and it makes the game respond to what you want to do. This is a game you finish once and it does not encourage into a second round. Also you have many objects that look like they would be explosives or something similar, but they are not.
And don’t misunderstand me. Firstly I really recommend you to play it, invest the time and you are ready for a nice experience. And if you are into retro, you need to play Repton.
A really good game from Superior Software.
%
Our Playability rating.
In the Magazines
REPTON is the latest, and claims to be the best release from Superior Software, one of the leading Electron software houses., in short it is. It’s one of those arcade style adventure games with you playing the part of our hero. Repton. His mission is to retrieve all the diamonds from a series of twisting underground caves. Unfortunately, the caverns are also full of precariously-balanced rocks that tend to drop on you if you dig under them.
They’re often arranged so that if you loosen some before others, they fall in the wrong order and seal off the passage to certain diamonds forever. In later caverns the diamonds lie underneath giant eggs which fall and hatch into ferocious reptiles when you take the diamond. Needless to say, they then spend all their time chasing after you. In even later caverns you have to open a safe using a special key that you must find.
Now for the technical side. The entire screen acts as a window on to the area of the cavern you’re in, so that you can only see a sixteenth of the cavern. As you move the view through the window scrolls very smoothly in the appropriate direction. Repton is a colourful green-headed character and is beautifully animated. If you don’t move him, he starts looking round of his own accord. Not to be outdone, the reptiles strike a fearsome pose with their webbed feet and yellow bellies.
At any time during play you can look at a map of the entire cavern to see where the remaining diamonds are. After completing each screen you’re given a password enabling you to skip that screen in future. There are 12 caverns in all getting progressively harder. This is an astounding game reaching new heights in Electron arcade adventures. So if you feel that you’re an Indiana Jones type then go out and buy it today.
From Electron User September 1985 by Philip Tudor
On the Covers
Who doesn’t love the blue Superior Software covers. We really get a great but simple design. Mostly releasing their titles on the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron. Even though a few titles are released on a couple of other machines. To the Repton cover, we find our friend trying to get past the locked position with a rock on either side. Our diamonds are there. The reptile is waiting for a grab.
I also like the like, simple, graffiti like and printed on a ticket. One thing I have always wondered about is if they at any time considered that the SS signum could be unappropriate. What do you think?
%
Cover Rating
INSTRUCTIONS The object of Repton is to collect all the diamonds on each screen avoiding the falling rocks and lurking reptiles. You have a limited amount of time in which to complete each screen: the TIME indicator starts at 6000 and decreases down to 0; you then lose a life. There are 12 screens (denoted A to L). Basically, each screen requires you to solve a series of puzzles by determining your routes to collect the diamonds. A rock or an egg will fall if it is unsupported, and if a falling rock lands on you it will kill you.
On screens A to H, a map is available for viewing. Only l/16 th of the full area covered by the map is shown on the main screen at any time. On screens I to L, there is no map available. To view the map, you must first pass over the MAP character during the game play; the map may then be seen whenever you press the “M” key. Screen A is relatively easy to complete. After the screen has been completed, a password is given. Entering this password at the start of the game will then take you straight onto screen B.
Likewise, passwords are given at the completion of all further screens. From screen B onwards, eggs, safes and keys are present. When an egg falls, it cracks upon landing and a reptile emerges. Contact with the reptile is fatal. In order to open the safes, the key must be located. When you pass over the key, all the safes open to reveal a diamond. It is possible to complete each screen without losing a life.
