It wasn’t until the retro gaming boom of the early noughties that I discovered just how big a deal Q*bert was. It was always common knowledge that the 1982 arcade game was a hit, resulting in dozens of conversions to all manner of formats, but I was oblivious to there being Q*bert merchandise and even a Saturday morning cartoon. He was, for one brief period before the infamous 1984 market crash, almost as popular as Pac-Man and Donkey Kong.
The Q*bert license is in a funny place, currently held by Sony Pictures Entertainment after a succession of corporate buyouts. With this in mind, it’s easy to see why somebody would want to create their own spin on the Q*bert formula and release it to the masses. Let’s not also forget that the last game in the series – 2015’s Q*bert Rebooted, seemingly released just to tie-in with the movie Pixels – was critically panned too.
Jump forth Hoppy Hop, a single-screen isometric platformer that sees our rabbit star attempt to return home after spending a hazy day guzzling carrots. For those unaware, the idea is to leap on every block spread across an isometric playing field to change its colour, all the while avoiding enemies that have their own deliberate movement patterns. To progress, you’re going to need to become familiar with the way every enemy moves so you can start to anticipate their paths.
Helping to even the odds, a few teleport blocks are scattered around – including rabbit holes and bouncy mushrooms – while at least once per stage an invisibility power-up appears. In time, you may even be able to foresee its appearance. Clearing a majority of a stage with a single power-up feels satisfying, while also benefiting both the game’s pacing and sense of progression.
Just like the game that inspired it, it takes some time to acquaint with the controls. Due to the isometric perspective, our carrot crazy critter can only move diagonally. Two control options are available on the minimalistic icon-driven options screen and it’s worth experimenting to see which one suits best. I managed to make some headway pressing diagonally on the Switch’s d-pad, but eventually went back to using the analogue stick, flicking it for each hop instead of merely holding it. It took around ten minutes to find an ideal set-up, all the while learning the movement patterns of the initial bunch of enemies. After that, it was smooth sailing. Well, hopping.
After beating a trio of stages the settings alternate, going from grass, to underground, to something far more bizarre and ‘out there’. After this, palette swaps are the order of the day – the grasslands receive an autumnal makeover, for instance. Stages become larger too, spreading blocks further apart while introducing blocks that vanish and reappear. It can be a little deceptive in places – one floating enemy simply slowly follows our plucky protagonist, appearing on a stage that has paths with dead ends. If you aren’t careful, it’s easy to become cornered. It took a while to learn how to draw them to the furthest reaches of the screen to create a distance. Less clever: two enemies seemingly ‘stuck’ in loop, leaping around in circles – leaving no option but to take a hit.
As an inexpensive indie release (£4.49 on the Switch eShop) Hoppy Hop is somewhat predictably a little light on extras, with no noteworthy features other than an intro and a high-score table. The general presentation is fine, though – the pixel art is well drawn, and the music jolly. There’s a bonus stage upon obtaining a set of bonus items too, taking the form of a short side-scrolling platforming level involving leaping on mushrooms to grab carrots. How frequently this appears is all down to how adept you are at grabbing those score-boosting extras.
I’ve come to enjoy the short, inexpensive, arcade-style revivals that periodically show up on Switch. This is another commendable effort that complements the likes of Donut Dodo and Murtop. It isn’t as immediately accessible, but still very enjoyable all the same. Xbox owners can get in on the retro action this time, too.
Josyan’s Hoppy Hop is out June 16th on Switch, Xbox One, and PC.