Trampoline Terror!
System: Genesis
Release Date: March 1991
Developer: NCS
Publisher: DreamWorks
Genre: Puzzle
Save the planet by jumping and hitting switches in Trampoline Terror! The queen has been kidnapped by some baddies from outer space. There’s only one person who can stop them, and that is the finest gymnast in all the land, because there are trampolines everywhere. 33 levels stand between you and your goal of beating the aliens, so good luck!
The goal of each level is to step on a set number of switches. You can see how many of them there are on the right side of the screen. As you walk over the switches, they will explode after a moment. You can walk on tiles, but these are thousands of feet above the ground, so you don’t want to fall off. Your jump gets you from one block to an adjacent one, but try to go any further and you fall to your death. Trampolines are in existence and these give you an extra square of clearance. You can jump from a trampoline or bounce on it. Every time you bounce on a trampoline, it changes color from green to blue, to yellow, to red, to destroyed.
The switches you must step on come in one of four colors. This is important, because stringing together 3 or 4 like colored switches will give you some powerups. Yellow gives you big score bonuses. Green restores trampoline colors by one step and then gives you an extra life. Red freezes enemies for a moment, then destroys all enemies on the level for a moment. Blue removes enemies, then immediately clears the round. This was great in a particularly painful later level.
Levels are straight forward and you can ignore the switch powerups for the most part, but there are some levels that require you to repair the trampolines to get through. It’s not so simple though, as there are enemies on the levels, too. If they touch you, you’re dead, but you can jump over them. On many levels, you can pick up a weapon to shoot with the B Button. These bounce along until they stop on a tile, or fall off the edge. The biggest pains are the Bullit Head, these guys move vertical or horizontal a certain number of tiles and will be in your way when you don’t want them to be.
Most levels take about a minute to get through. The hardest level is 25. I spent several lives and a number of continues before I finally got through. The final level is a boss battle. You pick up P-Balls around the edges of the level and have to hit the boss at a number of spots. If you can pull it off, you win and save the world!
Graphics: 2.5
The sprites are charming and the background moves in a way that is entertaining.
Sound: 2.5
The music is upbeat and entertaining, but not amazing.
Gameplay: 2.5
The player character moves slowly and you’d think a world renowned gymnast could jump a bit further than he does.
Difficulty: 3.0
You get to choose to start with 3 to 5 lives and five continues afterward. Plenty of chances.
Fun Factor: 3.0
This is an enjoyable mixture of puzzle and action that I wasn’t expecting.
Overall Rating: 2.7
Trampoline Terror! earns a B-. I’m as surprised as you are. This isn’t a bad game at all and it’s quick enough.