Splitz (GB)
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- For other games in the series, see Split Personalities.
Splitz is a sliding puzzle game, and is a Game Boy conversion of the game Split Personalities. The Game Boy version was developed by British software house Enigma Variations, courtesy of Richard Naylor, who also did graphic design for the Commodore 64 version. Interestingly, the game saw release and Europe and Japan, but not the United States.
The entirety of the game takes place on a 6x5 board. On the top-left corner is the dispenser, which dispenses tiles along the top row until that row is full. A total of 25 panels are present each stage (leaving four empty spaces the player can use). However, the dispenser has a secondary function, as it highlights the area in the board a panel is supposed to go when the cursor is placed on it. The middle of the north, west, and south walls contain doors that open and close. The player can use them to their advantage, but they can also be problematic if the player accidentally slides a panel out the door, and that panel will be sent back to the beginning of the dispenser's queue. There are also cracks in the walls, especially a permanent one in the middle of the east wall. If a panel touches the crack, it gets bounced back the direction it came from. After the first three stages, a new mechanic is introduced where lone panels that are hit by another panel will cause the lone panel to also bounce back. As the game progresses, so do the cracks in the walls. Fortunately, most of these are temporary, and the player just has to study their patterns.
Occasionally, when the player orders more panels from the dispenser, it will sometimes shoot out "bonus panels". These should be combined with like items to score points. For example, a finger and a ring awards a 5000-point bonus, while a pistol and a bullet awards extra time to finish the level. However, there are also a few hazards to watch out for as well. The most notable of which is the bomb, which gives the player only a few seconds before it explodes, costing the player a life. To remedy the bomb, the player can do one of three things; combine it with a water tap panel for 5000 points, move the bomb panel out one of the three doors, or the player can hit the bomb panel with a diamond panel to make it disappear, but this does not have a point bonus. Also, the player must be careful not to let the gas tank and match panels touch each other, or it will have the same effect as the bomb explosion, costing the player a life.
After every three levels, the player must challenge a bonus level. Here, all the doors stay shut and the cracks gone, and all the panels are dispensed automatically, so the player must use the four empty spaces to win. The bonus levels all share the same image of the developer and publisher logos.
All of the puzzles are of famous people such as Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Ronald Reagan, and Elvis Presley.
The game does not have any kind of save feature, so if you lose all three lives, you will have to start from the beginning.
Contents
Screenshots
Music
Splitz borrows its soundtrack from Split Personalities, albeit heavily arranged. These songs were written by the legendary composer David Whittaker, who coded the music in Z80 assembly into his sound driver. The main theme plays a lot slower than the Commodore 64 original, and has also been shortened.
The title music sounds similar to Michael Jackson's Bad. The arpeggios are also missing from the Commodore 64 version.
The song previously titled Unknown plays shortly after the first Stage Clear jingle.
Recording
| # | Title | Composer | Length | Listen | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Title Screen | David Whittaker | 1:36 | Download | |
| 02 | Press Start | David Whittaker | 0:03 | Download | |
| 03 | Lost Life | David Whittaker | 0:02 | Download | |
| 04 | Game Over | David Whittaker | 0:08 | Download | |
| 05 | Stage Clear 1 | David Whittaker | 0:05 | Download | |
| 06 | Stage Clear 2 | David Whittaker | 0:01 | Download |
Credits
- Ripper:
- Recorder: Doommaster1994
- Game Credits
- Uncredited Composer: David Whittaker
(Sources: C64 version, interview with David Whittaker; game lacks credits.)
The game only credits Richard Naylor for programming. However, not only does the original game credit Whittaker for music, but David also confirmed in an interview specifically working on the Game Boy version.
Game Rip
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Audio Devices
The game uses the DMG-CPU B of the Game Boy. It uses David Whittaker's sound driver.
Releases
Links
- gamefaqs.gamespot.com/gameboy/569619-splitz-nigaoe-15-game - GameFAQs.
- mobygames.com/game/gameboy/splitz_ - MobyGames.
