Q*bert – No. 797

Q*bert is the title character of an arcade video game developed and published by Gottlieb in 1982. It is a 2D action game with puzzle elements that uses “isometric” graphics to create a pseudo-3D effect. The object is to change the color of every cube in a pyramid by making the on-screen character hop on top of the cube while avoiding obstacles and enemies. The game was conceived by video game programmer Warren Davis and artist Jeff Lee. Lee designed the orange, armless title character and the original concept by drawing a pyramid of cubes inspired by M. C. Escher. The character jumped along the cubes and shot projectiles, called “mucus bombs,” from a tubular nose at enemies. Q*bert was developed under the project name Cubes, but was briefly named Snots and Boogers and @!#?@! during development. The game was Gottlieb’s most successful video game and among the most recognized brands from the golden age of arcade video games.

I obviously didn’t have to modify the 8-bit arcade sprite of Q*bert very much to fit the format of my Mascot Mashup: Gorillas artillery game. I’m surprised it took me almost 800 characters to make him. When I think of Q*bert, I think of playing the Atari 5200 cartridge at my cousin Brian’s house at Christmastime in West Virginia. I never owned a copy of the game, but I was fascinated by its pyramid structure.