Trog - Nintendo NES

Trog! for Nintendo NES

Trog! for Nintendo NES is a maze action game set in the prehistoric land of Og. You control Bloop or Spike, two small dinosaurs stealing eggs from one-eyed cavemen. On each island you collect the eggs of your colour and then find the spot marked HOME. Trogs wander around along the way, seeing you as their next meal. The open playing fields let you watch the eggs, pursuers and dangerous edges from above.

You can keep a Trog away with a punch, but special items are available for bigger problems. A pineapple turns you into a large Tyrannosaurus rex that eats cavemen. A hot tamale lets you shoot fireballs, an ice cube freezes the Trogs and a red flower increases your speed. Tar pits, rolling stone wheels, water and fire force you to change direction. Teleporters and catapults sometimes open a route to another part of the island.

You play the fifty islands alone or with two players simultaneously; playing together requires two standard controllers. Each of you hunts your own eggs and tries to get home first for extra points. The second player can join during play. Easy, Advanced and Expert let you start on different islands. The original cartridge has no battery-backed saving and uses no progress passwords. After losing your lives, you can continue a limited number of times within the same session; switching off does not preserve your attempt.

Region and language

Our Nintendo NES games are PAL editions, unless stated otherwise. This product contains a loose cartridge for the European market. A box is only included if explicitly stated in the product details. We note any different region in the product details. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.

Manual

With Trog! for Nintendo NES, you receive a loose cartridge. A box and manual are not included unless we explicitly state otherwise in the product details. This is the standard way we supply this copy.

The history of Trog!

Trog! began in 1990 as a Midway arcade game. The original cabinet combined dinosaurs, one-eyed cavemen and a race for collectible objects on compact islands. Its characters had a look created through clay animation. This gave the chase a very different appearance from the lines and simple shapes of older maze games. The dinosaurs were both prey and hunters: picking up an item could completely reverse their position against the cavemen.

Acclaim released a NES adaptation in 1991, developed by Visual Concepts. This version limits the playable dinosaurs to Bloop and Spike and supports no more than two people simultaneously. The arcade cabinet's four-player feature therefore does not belong to this cartridge. The characters were also rebuilt for the NES display. The islands retain the combination of collecting, chases and temporary power-ups, with fifty playing fields introducing new obstacles and different routes.

The home release uses the same action buttons for punching and the attacks associated with collected items. This keeps the controls consistent when you change from a small dinosaur into a large T-Rex. Meanwhile, collecting by colour adds a contest within the same playing field. Bonus rounds include hunting Trogs or diamonds. The result is a NES game retaining the arcade's short rounds while organising its shared chase around two standard controllers.

Similar games for Nintendo NES

Pac-Man for Nintendo NES shares maze-clearing and temporarily eating pursuers with Trog!. Power Pellets play roughly the same role as the pineapple. Pac-Man uses a fixed network of corridors and has two players take turns. Trog! puts two dinosaurs simultaneously on more spacious islands and gives each player separate eggs. You must also run to HOME after collecting, with a points advantage for whoever arrives there first.

Clu Clu Land on Nintendo NES lets two players collect simultaneously while enemies move through the field. Instead of eggs lying openly on an island, you search for hidden gold bars between posts. Bubbles swings around those posts to change direction; Bloop and Spike move directly with the directional pad. Clu Clu Land's electric wave keeps opponents away, whereas Trog! has various items for speeding up, protecting yourself or attacking.

Bomberman for Nintendo NES also combines an overhead view, roaming enemies and corridors where you must keep a safe escape route. You use bombs to create new paths through walls and must defeat every enemy before using the exit. Trog! mainly has you follow existing routes to reach eggs. The original Bomberman is a solo challenge; in Trog!, a second player can cross your planned route simultaneously and compete for points.

Wrecking Crew on Nintendo NES links short playing fields to completing a set of objectives. Mario smashes all the marked walls, while Bloop and Spike collect their coloured eggs. Ladders and floors determine Mario's route, unlike Trog!'s flat islands and teleporters. Wrecking Crew has two players take turns; Trog! keeps both on screen simultaneously. Lingering too long can be dangerous in either game as enemies increasingly restrict your movement.

Like Trog!, Ice Climber for Nintendo NES puts two players simultaneously in an environment with collectibles and troublesome enemies. Popo and Nana break holes in ice floors and jump ever higher, while Bloop and Spike walk around an island. In Ice Climber, a fast climber can leave the other player below the screen. Trog! displays the entire island but makes the race competitive by giving extra points to the first dinosaur to reach HOME.