213: Tower of Babel

Number 213
(7.5 points)
Tower of Babel
1991: 50 (5.1)
1992: 89 (2.4)

Finally, we see another double entry, the first time since Golden Axe way back at number 283, and this time it's for a puzzle game that's very much an acquired taste.

So there's a 3D landscape in front of you, and you can control three types of drone, called 'spiders' in the game. These are the Zapper, the Pusher and the Grabber. The basic object is to complete each level (called a Tower) by satisfying an objective, which is often to use the Grabber to collect Klondikes - little purple boxes placed around the Tower. There are fixed Zappers which can zap your spiders, so you need to take care when moving them around, which is done using a mouse-driven on-screen interface. The 3D perspective makes this a unique take on the puzzle genre, and one that can take a lot of getting used to, but there hasn't been anything quite like it since.

The fact that this is one of the few games that survived the cull between the 1991 and 1992 lists suggests there's something to it, and it certainly seems like the kind of puzzler that could draw you in for hours. Having said that, it'll take me a bit longer to figure out all the details than I'd like, and I've never been the biggest fan of puzzle games anyhow. Definitely one to add to the pile of games worth trying today, because it sure hasn't been replicated.

Recommended TOSEC disk(s):
Tower of Babel v1.0 (1990)(Rainbird)[cr QTX]