You can add Flip the Kangaroo and Mitch the Monkey to the growing list of color-changing game celebrities which already includes Achmed (Pharaoh's Pyramid), Mr. Cool and, of course, Q*bert. These escapees from a circus alternate as the star character in one of the most charming yet challenging contests around.


Nangano has axed the now-familiar pyramidal stack of colored cubes in favor of a network of platforms connected by short ladders. Each platform is sectioned into squares. Some are blank but most contain either a square pattern or pulse color. The kangaroo or monkey must visit each of the patterned squares without getting caught by a pursuer or falling off the construction. The flashing squares are traps which hold whatever lands on them in place for several seconds. If the player maneuvers the pesky Zookeeper or his net, depending on whether Flip or Mitch is in the spotlight, onto a snare, it gives the gamer's on-screen representative some more breathing room.


The home arcader starts with five "lives" and earns an extra one for completing each level. The computer permits selection of 13 levels prior to the start of play but novices should stick to the first two until they get the hang of the control scheme.


The disk gets its name from the use of alternating playfields. Odd-numbered ones feature Flip moving around the top of a platform system seen in three-quarter perspective. Each even-numbered field is physically the same as the preceding odd one but Mitch the Monkey is shown swinging from box to box on the undersides of the platforms. The change in perspective is dazzling and the same platform looks strange and unfamiliar when seen from a fresh viewpoint.


There are no pursuers on the first two levels but the Zookeeper pops up for the first time on third level and his net chases Mitch starting on fourth. The arrangement of ladders and platforms becomes more extensive as the skill level rises until Flip is hopping around on what looks like a whole city of them.
One or two computerists can play Flip and Flop. By pre-setting the controls, two participants can have their own joysticks or share one back and forth.


As in First Star's Astro Chase (now published by Parker Brothers), Flip and Flop rewards good performance by providing an animated intermission after ever fifth playfield. These cute vignettes involve Flip or Mitch returning to the big top and cavorting with their animal friends.


The control scheme can be frustrating. It's very easy to swing Mitch right out into thin air or hop Flip over the infinite abyss. Get past that hurdle, though, and you've got one super game. Flip and Flop strikes a happy medium between splashy audiovisuals and intriguing play-action.