Nebulus Tower Toppler Amiga 1988 John M. Phillips Hewson

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Nebulus Tower Toppler

Hewson Consultants of the U.K. released Nebulus aka Tower Toppler for Amiga in 1988. Nebulus is an innovative and colorful vertically-scrolling and rotationally-scrolling puzzle-platform game.

The shoot 'em up bonus rounds in Nebulus feature horizontal parallax scrolling.

In Nebulus players control a little green blob-like alien named Pogo. First, Pogo appears at the base of a tower in a submarine. Via platforms and lifts Pogo must climb to the top of the tower in order to topple it. En route to the top Pogo goes up against other aliens and obstacles that can knock Pogo down from the platforms or into the water, which results in life-loss.

Pogo can walk left and right, jump, shoot snowballs, enter doors and go up and down lifts. The controls are precise and responsive. Some aliens and obstacles are destructible. Pogo can be crushed by lifts and some platforms disappear, causing him to fall.

The tower rotates 180° when Pogo enters doorways. Evoking revolving lighthouses, the effect was impressive in 1988. The colorful sky gradients and rippling and relective water impressed in 1988 as well.

Each tower constitutes a stage of Nebulus. Each tower is descriptively named and time-limited. Points are accrued by killing aliens, destroying flashing bricks and toppling towers. An extra life is awarded per 5,000 points amassed.

Nebulus was designed, programmed and drawn by John M. Phillips of Hewson. Phillips programmed the original 8-bit versions of 1987 as well.

Nebulus Features

• 16-color 320x200 resolution
• 320x176 active drawspace
• 8x tower stages with bonus stages
• Sky gradients & rippling and reflective water
• Vertical and rotational scrolling at 25 FPS
• Multi-layered parallax horizontal scrolling at 50 FPS
• Single-player or 2-player alternating

Also programmed by John Phillips, Atari ST Nebulus was released in 1988 as well:

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