Q*bert 3

Q*bert 3 is a 1992 Super NES action-puzzle sequel developed by Realtime Associates and published in North America by NTVIC. It is a distinct follow-up to Gottlieb's 1982 arcade Q*bert, not a straight arcade conversion: the original confines its action to a 28-cube pyramid, while this cartridge builds on the same diagonal hopping idea with themed, unusually shaped boards. The game supports one or two players from its title screen, and its options let players choose among four controller layouts, toggle music and backgrounds, and select stereo or mono sound.

The objective remains immediate to understand but increasingly demanding. Q*bert hops diagonally from surface to surface; every landing changes that surface's color, and a round ends only when every surface matches the displayed target color. Falling off the playfield costs a life. The opening rule is simply to land on each cube at least once, but each group of four rounds begins a new level with a changed requirement. Level 2 calls for at least two landings per cube, while later rules can make a second landing undo a target color or require two exact landings. Pausing shows an overview of the whole board, including Q*bert's position, unfinished surfaces, and remaining disks.

Its defining expansion is spatial variety. Instead of relying on one familiar pyramid, Q*bert 3 presents more than 100 differently shaped playfields across multi-screen worlds. The layouts can taper, split, curl into circuits, introduce dead ends, or route the player toward different exits, so planning a safe diagonal path matters as much as reacting quickly. A newly shaped board follows every completed round, and the changing layouts make the locations and usefulness of escape disks part of each puzzle rather than a fixed feature of a single pyramid.

Many hazards preserve the arcade game's recognizable cast. Sad Balls fall from the top of a board, and Coily Balls hatch into Coily when they reach the bottom; Coily then pursues Q*bert across the playfield. Ugg and Wrong-Way travel across the cube faces from their own dimension, while Sam and Slick descend through the board and reverse surfaces Q*bert has changed. The sequel also adds Frogg, another pursuer, plus Top Hat and Derby, which jump through fixed positions. Lefty and Righty travel in left and right circles, and a Beacon fires fast red mini-balls, broadening the range of hazards that must be read alongside the board itself.

Items create brief opportunities to recover control. A Freeze Ball stops the other characters temporarily, while apples, strawberries, and cherries add score. Flying disks allow Q*bert to leave the board safely and carry him to a particular spot before disappearing; permanent disks can be used repeatedly. The manual specifically encourages using a disk with Coily close behind, because Coily can be lured into jumping off the board, clearing most of the other active characters as well. That makes the familiar escape device both a route between sections and an offensive tool.

Q*bert starts with five lives, earns an extra life at 5,000 points and then another every 15,000 points thereafter. Surfaces score 15 points for a landing or 25 when that landing makes the surface reach its target color. The score table also rewards Freeze Balls, captured Sam and Slick, fruit, and sending Coily off the board. Completing a round supplies a bonus that begins at 750 points and rises by 250 on subsequent rounds to a 5,000-point maximum. After losing all lives, a player may continue from the beginning of the most recently started level with the score reset, or end the game and start over.

Q*bert 3 therefore keeps the original's color-changing, diagonal movement and enemy-dodging foundations while shifting the emphasis toward an extended Super NES campaign of varied board geometry and evolving color rules. Its use of both legacy characters and additions such as Frogg, Top Hat, Derby, Lefty, Righty, and the Beacon makes it a sequel in its own right, rather than a description of the 1982 arcade game or one of that game's conventional home ports.