Software:Timeball
Timeball is a puzzle video game released by NEC for the TurboGrafx-16. The object of the game is to guide a ball along pieces of track by moving tiles like a sliding puzzle. The game's name in Japan is Blodia, an anagram of Diablo, the title of a computer game upon which Blodia is based. Versions of Blodia were released exclusively in Japan for the original Game Boy and the X68000. A spin-off titled Blodia Land: Puzzle Quest was released for the Famicom, replacing the ball with cartoon dinosaur-like characters. These versions were developed by Tonkin House and published by Broderbund.
Gameplay
The grid on screen is composed of tiles. Some tiles have a piece of road, and a black tile represents "the void", an area where one can drag the tile nearby in order to complete a road which will be taken by a ball that will follow the path. Players must arrange the tiles such that the ball traverses all sections of track. The ball can be sped up by pressing a button. If the ball reaches a tile without a piece of track, it falls out of play.
The game also includes a level editor which allows for the creation of custom puzzles. An earlier "prototype" version without the level editor was published for the TI-99/4a and other computers as "Diablo" in 1985.
Release and reception
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Timeball was released as Blodia for the PC Engine in Japan on February 23, 1990.[2]
See also
References
- ↑ "Da raucht die Birne" (in de). Aktueller Software Markt: 42. May 1990. https://archive.org/details/Aktueller_Software_Markt_-_Ausgabe_1990.05/page/n31/mode/1up. Retrieved August 1, 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Famibo, Tofuya; Mizuno, Bucho; Morishita, Mariko; TACO•X (March 2, 1990). "新作ゲームクロスレビュー" (in Japanese). Famicom Tsūshin (ASCII Corporation) (95).
- ↑ "Bloodia [sic"] (in fr). Génération 4 (21): 70. April 1990. https://archive.org/details/generation4-magazine-021/page/n93/mode/1up. Retrieved August 1, 2026.
- ↑ "発売直前 REVIEW 1/31~2/28" (in ja). 月刊ＰＣエンジン: 119. March 1990. https://archive.org/details/gekkan-pc-engine-issue-18-march-1990/Gekkan%20PC%20Engine%20-%20Issue%2018%20-%20March%201990/page/n116/mode/1up. Retrieved August 1, 2026.
- ↑ "Blodia" (in de). Power Play: 122. May 1990. https://archive.org/details/powerplay_1990-05/page/122/mode/1up. Retrieved August 1, 2026.
External links
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