Collection essentials #283: Troddlers (SNES)

Here’s one of the very first games I ever played, the very obscure game Troddlers!

There was a home computer released in the 1980s called the Amiga that became quite popular in Europe but didn’t really catch on in North America. There were quite a few video games released for it, the majority of which (if I’m not mistaken) were made by European developers since that’s where the Amiga was popular. Troddlers was one such game, originally developed by the Swedish company Atod for the Amiga. Some Amiga games got ported or remade on home consoles like the SNES, and Troddlers made the jump very effectively with much better audio than its original incarnation.

The story of Troddlers involves a couple guys named Hokus and Pokus who work for a sorcerer named Divinius. Hokus and Pokus are quite mischievous, and one day after getting in trouble for playing pranks, Divinius orders them to clean a large storeroom that hasn’t been tidied up for hundreds of years. While down there, they notice a box containing ingredients to make little magical creatures called Troddlers. The two troublemakers figure they can create a bunch of Trodders to do their work for them, so they try to do just that. Well, they succeeded in creating a large army of Troddlers, but instead of cleaning up the storeroom, the Troddlers instead wandered off and escaped through a teleporter in the room. Divinius finds out, and furiously orders them to immediately pursue and bring back as many of them as possible.

In terms of gameplay, Troddlers is rather unique so it’s a bit difficult to describe. For those well-versed in old-school games, I can tell you that it’s sort of a mixture of Lemmings and Solomon’s Key, and that gives you a pretty good idea to start with. The game is divided into many levels, and each one takes up a single screen with no scrolling, no more and no less. Every level has an objective which must be met to win. Most of the time this involves rescuing some number of Troddlers, though some levels have no Troddlers and instead may require the player to collect gems. 

Troddlers come out of a designated door which has an arrow pointing in the direction they will walk, and a Troddler will always walk straight forward unless forced to turn around. And they can walk on walls and ceilings, too (which Hokus and Pokus cannot). Levels with Troddlers will contain at least one exit which the Troddlers must reach in order to be rescued. Naturally there are many hazards that are lethal to our little Troddlers, such as moving balls of fire, grinder machines, cannons, and more. There are also zombie Troddlers! You often have to kill those guys before they escape, and if they cross paths with a normal Troddler then both will be destroyed.

You play as Hokus in single player mode, and player 2 plays as Pokus in multiplayer modes. These apprentice magicians have the power to erase and place certain blocks that appear throughout the game. They often start with some supply of blocks already at their disposal, but they may also have to erase (thereby storing away) blocks that are already present in the level. Obviously these blocks are useful for directing the Troddlers’ paths and keeping them away from danger, but they can also be used to help Hokus and Pokus climb, and they can even be used as a weapon against zombie Troddlers. On top of that, there are a variety of different blocks in the game that affect Troddlers in different ways. This can be negative, such as ice blocks which can cause a Troddler to slip and fall to their death, or mines which explode on contact with Troddlers. They can also be helpful, such as the “Bouncer” which saves Troddlers falling from a lofty height. Of course, there are hazards to Hokus and Pokus too, though they are able to endure some damage without dying unlike our little Troddlers. Beating this game requires using your head a bit to figure out the right course of action, and then sometimes the ability to act quickly since levels do have a time limit which at times is strict.

There are 100 single-player levels in the game, plus 60 two-player co-op levels and 14 two-player “war” levels. The mulitplayer is really well done, with levels that often require the two players to work together to achieve the objective. The versus mode is also fun but a little silly because it can easily degenerate into the two players trying to place blocks on each other to do damage, but it’s still an amusing addition.

This may seem like a kids game, being that the name is one letter off of the word “toddlers”, but it can actually be a bit gruesome. Troddlers can fall to their death resulting in a splatter of blood, which granted is very small and shown very briefly. There’s no blood when they enter a grinder machine, but it’s pretty obvious what’s happening to them as they get scattered into a thousand pieces. And when Hokus and Pokus run out of life, they turn into skeletons. Yeesh!

As stated before, this was an early childhood game of mine and one of the first video games my family ever owned. The cartridge seen in the photo is the very same one I played all those years ago, and that “Sam” sticker has been there for roughly three decades now. The box and inserts shown were obtained in adulthood, though I do still think I have my original instruction manual too, with some pages missing. 

My mother very seldomly plays video games, but this is the one that she and I used to play together when I was a young kid. Back then we were both amused by the game’s catchy music. To this day she can still roughly remember the game’s first level melody. I don’t think we ever beat co-op mode together and I think I wound up doing that with someone else, though I could be wrong.

I’ve always been very fond of Troddlers and heralded it as a quality game, so I was surprised when my family got the internet and I found that it’s a game almost nobody ever talks about. Even among retro gaming circles, where people like to talk about “hidden gems” of gaming history, this is one that you won’t see mentioned often at all. But on the rare occasions I do see people talk about it, it always seems to be positive. Many years ago I wrote a review for this game on the once-popular site gamefaqs.com, and to this day it remains the only review the game has there.

Troddlers is a real diamond in the rough that has somehow remained obscure even after a lot of gamers like me have revisited classic console libraries. It’s definitely worth checking out, especially if you have a friend to play with. Go play this wonderful essential of mine that I was privileged to grow up with! (Or hit me up and we’ll play together!)