Adventures of Lolo 3 -- Final Victory

[hepcat]

Yesterday, on my flight home from a long weekend in Seattle, I finally beat Adventures of Lolo 3. I’ve been playing the game for several months now on my GP32 and it may be the toughest game I’ve ever completed. I wish there were more games in this series! Anybody have any stories on their efforts to beat this game or the other two games in the series? Can anyone recommend a similar game, preferably from the 8-bit era?

 

--Jason

[NE146]

Only thing I can think of is the Gameboy version... I love those games too

[Raijin Z]

After I beat the first one on a rental in the far flung past of 1987, I pretty much abandoned the series. I love the theme to this day, though.

[Bratwurst]

There were quite a few Lolo releases (Eggerland) for the MSX and one extra for the Famicom in Japan.

 

Kickle Cubicle is a neat little puzzler in the same vein by Irem, only thing is it is really easy until the final 1/3rd of the game.

[Jess Ragan]

I can't think of any games similar to Lolo (except Kickle Cubicle, which someone already mentioned), but there are a handful of early puzzle games that you should really check out.

 

Solomon's Key is a great mixture of arcade-style play mechanics and devious puzzles. Unlike Lolo, it's a side-view action game, and gravity is often a concern. You can create and destroy blocks, and you'll need this ability to stay one step ahead of the monsters in each room. There are power-ups hidden inside each of the rooms, along with tough to find mystery items. It's really fun and challenging, and you can find the game for both the NES and the Game Boy (although there, it's called Solomon's Club and has different puzzles).

 

There are even puzzle games for older game systems. Look into Rock 'n Bolt and Zenji for the ColecoVision... they're both challenging and satisfying. In Rock 'n Bolt, you're a red-haired construction manager who's got to rachet a series of moving platforms in place. In Zenji, you must rotate sections of the screen to create paths to a source in the center, bringing the entire screen to life.

 

JR

[KaineMaxwell]

Solomon's Key is a great mixture of arcade-style play mechanics and devious puzzles.  Unlike Lolo, it's a side-view action game, and gravity is often a concern.  You can create and destroy blocks, and you'll need this ability to stay one step ahead of the monsters in each room.  There are power-ups hidden inside each of the rooms, along with tough to find mystery items.  It's really fun and challenging, and you can find the game for both the NES and the Game Boy (although there, it's called Solomon's Club and has different puzzles).

 

There's also the "sequel" to Solomon's called Fire & Ice.

[Dones]

Agreed! If you like Lolo you will enjoy Tecmo's Solomon's Key for the NES. Like many other puzzlers, Solomon looks and plays in a deceivingly simple fashion, but you will soon discover there is a lot more to it. The search for hidden powerups is essential for survival --- there are warp opportunities at some levels, and even with that the game will still challenge you.

[Jess Ragan]

There's also the "sequel" to Solomon's called Fire & Ice.

 

No, it really is a sequel. It was called "Solomon no Kagi 2" (Solomon's Key 2) in Japan. I do feel that it isn't nearly as good as the first game, however. The gameplay's too restrictive, feeling less like an arcade game and more like a straight puzzle game, with only one way to solve each level.

 

JR

[NE146]

Oh! I have a suggestion and it's a game I only recently discovered. It's from Konami and is a different puzzle game but it's very much fun in the same way Lolo is. I think you'll dig it. I know I do.

 

It's MOAI KUN: You can probably find the rom for it.. or heck, I'll just post it here. It stars the Easter Island head that's always trying to kill you in the Gradius games. Basically as you can see you try to figure out how to get to the door while manipulating parts of your environment. It's a side based puzzle as opposed to Lolo which is overhead. But they're very much in the same vein. Check it out!

 

Rom is attached.

moai_kun__j_.zip

[KaineMaxwell]

It's MOAI KUN: You can probably find the rom for it.. or heck, I'll just post it here. It stars the Easter Island head that's always trying to kill you in the Gradius games. Basically as you can see you try to figure out how to get to the door while manipulating parts of your environment. It's a side based puzzle as opposed to Lolo which is overhead. But they're very much in the same vein. Check it out!  

 

Rom is attached.

 

Dude, you rock!! I have tha ton my NES multicart and I love it!!

[figgler]

I'm pretty stuck on the 4th floor in Lolo 1. But I love it and pick it up every now and then. I've never been able to find the second two games. Pretty hard to find, being that almost everyone that has them, keeps them forever.

 

Also, Solomon's Key has another sequel, Solomon's Club for GB which is better than the original IMO

 

Pointless trivia: Lolo and Lala make a cameo appearance in Kirby's Avalanche for SNES

[Jess Ragan]

They're in the Kirby cartoon as well... but who'd want to watch that, anyway?

 

JR

[hepcat]

I'm pretty stuck on the 4th floor in Lolo 1.  But I love it and pick it up every now and then.  I've never been able to find the second two games.  Pretty hard to find, being that almost everyone that has them, keeps them forever.

 

I'm surprised you're stuck that early in Lolo 1, which is rather tame compared to some of the boards in the second two games. Keep trying, you can do it!

 

I'm going to give this Moai Kun game a try this weekend.

 

--Jason

[pinball22]

Yay for the mention of Zenji... I love that game so much. I want to go play it now.

It exists for the 5200 and C64, too (and probably some other platforms that I haven't played it on).

[Pitfall Harry]

Yesterday, on my flight home from a long weekend in Seattle, I finally beat Adventures of Lolo 3. I’ve been playing the game for several months now on my GP32 and it may be the toughest game I’ve ever completed. I wish there were more games in this series! Anybody have any stories on their efforts to beat this game or the other two games in the series? Can anyone recommend a similar game, preferably from the 8-bit era?

 

--Jason

 

There's a pretty cool puzzler for the TurboGraphX 16 called Boxy Boy, that I've played and strongly recommend. It's a little tough to find, though, especially if you don't collect for the TG-16. However, I have heard there is a clone of this game for another system, and I think that other system is the NES.

 

I don't remember the title, though. Can anyone help here?

 

Oh, and congrats on Lolo 3. I've heard a lot about how challenging it is. Now, if I could only FIND that game to see for myself! Lolo and Lolo 2 totally rock.

 

 

Ben

[Pitfall Harry]

...and I think that other system is the NES.  

 

I don't remember the title, though.  Can anyone help here?

 

 

Nope. It's Boxxle for the Game Boy, and Shove it for the Sega Genesis that I was thinking of. Check it out. It's a great puzzler, tho not as good as Lolo, I must admit.

 

Ben

[Student Driver]

There's a pretty cool puzzler for the TurboGraphX 16 called Boxy Boy, that I've played and strongly recommend.  It's a little tough to find, though, especially if you don't collect for the TG-16. However, I have heard there is a clone of this game for another system, and I think that other system is the NES.  

 

I don't remember the title, though.  Can anyone help here?

 

Someone else already mentioned Boxxle for GB (When this came out originally, a manager at an EB told me it was recalled and replaced with an "easier" version- anyone know if there are two roms?), and I seem to recall a Boxxle 2. There's also the Spectrum Holobyte release of Soko-Ban for computers, marketed in an attempt to create another foreign-themed-puzzle craze after Tetris.

 

I'm kind of surprised no one's mentioned the Chip's Challenge games, probably my overall favorite in the overhead-moving-things-around puzzle genre. There's also Tricky Kick for TG16- I far prefer this one over Boxy Boy.

[+uosipa llamxew]

I remember an Eggerland demo that was available for PC. It was Japanese, but once you got past the intro screen, it played very much like the others. I ran a quick query and found a little page that lists a bunch of Eggerland games as well as clones and variants.

 

I am also a fan of the Sokoban (Boxyboy) games and Solomon's Key. A couple of others off the top of my head that you might like to try are Flappy and Kwirk.

[MegaManFan]

There is a Boxxle 2 for GB, but it's a very short print title and I think I've only seen it once - don't have my list in front of me to check if I bought it when I did. I own the first one CIB though.

 

There's a "box shove" variant for at least a half dozen different systems. I could swear I've even played one on N64 or Dreamcast, one that actually compounded the difficulty by having snakes fly at you (seriously) as you shoved the boxes, so you had to shove and duck out of the way, or shove boxes into their path so they couldn't hit you as you moved OTHER boxes.

[Radio F Software]

Lolo was one my most rented games when I was real young. I remember the day I found a secret password by accident. I dont know how far in the game it got you though. The pass was either all 2's or all +'s.

[Redcurrie]

A couple of others off the top of my head that you might like to try are Flappy and Kwirk.

 

I'll have to look for Flappy as I've never played it but I can play Kwirk for hours. I stumbled on it by accident and was damn glad to find it. Boxxle / Shove-it gets old after a while but one I found this weekend that's actually pretty addictive in the action/puzzle genre is Pac Attack. I picked it up for the Genny but am now looking for the SNES version. It actually takes a different way of thinking than any of the other action/puzzlers that I usually play.

[Cootster]

There's a pretty cool puzzler for the TurboGraphX 16 called Boxy Boy, that I've played and strongly recommend.  It's a little tough to find, though, especially if you don't collect for the TG-16. However, I have heard there is a clone of this game for another system, and I think that other system is the NES.  

 

I don't remember the title, though.  Can anyone help here?

 

Someone else already mentioned Boxxle for GB (When this came out originally, a manager at an EB told me it was recalled and replaced with an "easier" version- anyone know if there are two roms?)

 

Wasn't it actually recalled because some feminist group whined about the storyline? I seem to remember that from VG&CE back in the day . . .

[Cootster]

Just checked every B/W GB rom site I know of, there's only one Boxxle 1 ROM, but it's labeled v. 1. 1. . . Undumped (and possibly insanely rare) v. 1.0 variant out there, perhaps?

[Redcurrie]

Just checked every B/W GB rom site I know of, there's only one Boxxle 1 ROM, but it's labeled v. 1. 1. . .  Undumped (and possibly insanely rare) v. 1.0 variant out there, perhaps?

 

I have an old GB multicart and it has both Boxxle 1 and Boxxle 2 on it. They have the same look but do appear to be different games...

[Cootster]

Well, yes, 2 is a completely different game, a sequel . . . There are supposed to be two released versions of the first one, though. . .