Arcade Hit Q*bert Coming to Steam with Classic, Rebooted Modes

[MarlaDesat]

Arcade Hit Q*bert Coming to Steam with Classic, Rebooted Modes

The platform puzzle game returns July 8 with an optimized classic 2D mode and a 3D Q*bert Rebooted mode featuring new enemies and playable characters.

The arcade classic Q*bert is getting a new life on Steam. The isometric platform puzzle game will be released for PC on July 8, exclusively on Steam. Priced at $4.99, Q*bert includes two gameplay modes. Q*bert Classic is the 2D original game, optimized for modern PCs and updated gamepad controls or mouse and keyboard. Q*bert Rebooted remakes the game in 3D, adding seven new playable characters, three new enemies, and the ability to replay previously unlocked levels. The tiles in Q*bert Rebooted are hexagonal rather than the square tiles in Q*bert Classic. The game also includes ten achievements, with separate achievements for each gameplay mode. Mobile and tablet version of Q*bert will follow, for Android and iOS.

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"With renewed interest in Q*bert, in part due to the cameo in the recent Wreck It Ralph animated feature film, we are delighted to re-introduce the game and characters to current fans as well as a new generation of gamers who are experiencing Q*bert for the first time," says Mark Caplan, Vice President, Consumer Products, Worldwide Marketing & Distribution at Sony Pictures Entertainment. The original Q*bert, first released in 1982, was a success in arcades and went on to be released in home versions and to appear in an animated cartoon [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/6779-Tooned-Out].

Sony teamed up with indie studios Galaxy Pest Control and Gonzo Games to develop the game. Previous releases of the original Q*bert have come to on several consoles, including the NES and for PlayStation via the PlayStation Network. The addition of Q*bert Rebooted and the revamped Classic mode distinguish this latest release from previous iterations. "We have a chance to pay homage to the original title while expanding it in some new directions," says Jamie Ottillie, co-founder and CEO of Galaxy Pest Control.

It seems to me that the game might an especially good fit for touch controls on tablets. What do you think? Does Q*bert press your nostalgia buttons?

Source: Sideline Amusements [http://www.sidelineamusements.com/qbert/]

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[JCAll]

Good for Q*bert. For being ported to nearly every system ever, the little guy doesn't get much love.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

Only and exclusively on Steam?, so no consoles of any sort and no DRM free version on say GoG?, I guess they don't want my money then as people usually say.

 

[superguin200]

Am I the only person on the internet who has no idea what Qbert is about or how it plays?

 

[Ten Foot Bunny]

OMG, I still have my mini-arcade Q*Bert from when I was a kid! How cool that it's coming back in some form. The game is hard as balls though.

I also have the mini-arcades of Donkey Kong, Pac Man, and Zaxxon. They all still work, too.

 

[StriderShinryu]

For that price I may just have to pick it up. QBert is one of the few "classic arcade games" that I don't find to have aged extremely poorly.. as long as it's taken in small enough doses. I'd rather have it on my Vita but I'll take a Steam version.

Am I the only person on the internet who has no idea what Qbert is about or how it plays?

Probably not. Even given it's classic status, it's not really a game that get's a lot of love. It's a pretty simple game all told as most classic arcade titles are. You, as QBert, have to jump on every square in coloured pyramid to make every square the same colour (the colour of the block changes when you land on it). While hopping around various enemies also move around the pyramid in an effort to kill you. Some of the enemies also have the ability to change the colours of the pyramid blocks too which can make thing extra frustrating.

 

[TheSchizoid]

Q*Bert was one of two games that I was amazed never had a modernizing/rerelease. One down, one to go. Your turn Berzerk!

 

[deserteagleeye]

I feel like I'd still rather play the PS1 Q*Bert. That version was God-like.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

I realized something today. Aside from Pitfall, which is famous for being the game that founded Activision, and of course Donkey Kong and Mario Bros, I tend to think that all well-known games from the pre-NES era were either made or eventually bought out by Atari. But it's not even close. Frogger was one of Sega's first titles. Pac-Man is still owned by Namco, which is very much still in business. And Q*bert has always been the property of Columbia Pictures. And yet, I'm pretty sure Atari has published remakes of all three at some point.

Did Atari actually make anything besides Pong?

 

[blackbishop]

After reading that, the first thing that I thought was this:

Glad to hear he's coming back to business .

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

Oooh, I remember this. I had so much fun playing Q*bert when I was young.
Nice to see it still being relevant enough for a reboot.
However, since it's on steam only, no thanks.
I'll dig up my older copy (where is that floppy disk doyathink?) instead.