Every once in a while a game comes along that you like for no immediately obvious reason. Trolls and Tribulations is one of those games - for me, at any rate. Neither the gameplay nor the "script" is particularly original, and the graphics, while pleasant enough, are not what you'd call eye-popping. On the other hand, I'm still playing it with an almost missionary fervor in an up'til-now vain attempt at getting past the buzzards.


Trolls and Tribulations is also one of those games where the connection between name and game is somewhat obscure. It's as if someone thought up this pretty clever pun and then just looked around for something to slap it on. Tribulations abound, but you'll look high and low for anything resembling a troll. Since you're the troll, maybe this is just as well, given the physiognomy of the species. What your character in T and T looks most like is a happy plumber in a hot-pink cap with an arrow tucked under his arm. He makes his way through a series of dungeons that are altogether more cheerful than any dungeon has a right to be - they look more like Ed Norton's sewer system. The atmosphere may not be consistent with the peril and skullduggery associated with adventure and treasure, but it has a certain charm of its own.


Gameplay is straightforward: At the beginning of most levels, your intrepid troll must shoot eight cretins - little green guys who march like automata. If you run into one, it unceremoniously picks you up and throws you into the water. When you shoot a cretin, he turns into an egg which must be kicked into the water before it hatches. When you've finished the clean-up operation, you move on to the main door of the level, which looks exactly like a used doubleedged razor blade. Once into the level, your task is to pick up everything that isn't nailed down, especially the keys, and get to the door at the other end. At higher levels you start running into more serious obstacles, such as the chomping, ambulatory skulls, and buzzards that can turn on a dime and get you from behind. You can't shoot anything except the cretins, so the game is essentially a question of stealth and jumping. Occasionally you run into a situation where you have to leap almost to the top of the screen. To help you out there are one-man trampolines - an excellent graphic touch with a realistic "sproinnnggg" effect. I'm really quite fond of the trampolines. I spent more time than I care to admit just bouncing up and down trying to figure out how to get off.


Sound effects are adequate, if minimal, but the music is good-at least on the Commodore. (It can be toggled off if you don't agree.) There are a few unusual joystick maneuvers, but on the whole this program is not especially unique. It's just that it is a lot of fun - except for the buzzards.