Eggerland series
Encyclopedia
The Eggerland series consists of several puzzle games
Computer puzzle game
Puzzle video games are a genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles to be solved can test many problem solving skills including logic, strategy, pattern recognition, sequence solving, and word completion....

 developed by HAL Laboratory
HAL Laboratory
is a Japanese video game developer that was founded on February 21, 1980. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. Its name comes from the HAL 9000 computer in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The company is most famous for its character Kirby, the protagonist of the eponymous game series, as well as...

. Its first release was in 1985 for MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...

 computer systems. Many titles were made in the series and the gameplay is almost exactly the same in every game as well. Only a few changes were made over the years (mainly graphical).

The hero of most games is Lolo, a blue
Blue
Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...

, spherical
Sphere
A sphere is a perfectly round geometrical object in three-dimensional space, such as the shape of a round ball. Like a circle in two dimensions, a perfect sphere is completely symmetrical around its center, with all points on the surface lying the same distance r from the center point...

 character with eyes, arms, and legs. The story mainly deals with King Egger, the villain, capturing princess Lala, who is similar to Lolo, only colored pink
Pink
Pink is a mixture of red and white. Commonly used for Valentine's Day and Easter, pink is sometimes referred to as "the color of love." The use of the word for the color known today as pink was first recorded in the late 17th century....

 or red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...

. Lolo must rescue Lala by travelling through Egger's domain and solving the puzzle rooms laid out before him.

List of titles

Many video games of the Eggerland series were only released in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and some only in the West. Below is a list of all video games and their respective releases.

Because there was no Japanese equivalent of the western video game Adventures of Lolo, the western releases Adventures of Lolo 2
Adventures of Lolo 2
Adventures of Lolo 2 is a puzzle game released in 1990 by HAL Corporation for the NES/Family Computer. It is based on the Japanese Eggerland video game series. It was the second game released in the U.S...

 and Adventures of Lolo 3
Adventures of Lolo 3
Adventures of Lolo 3 is a puzzle video game released in 1991 by HAL Corporation for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is based on the Japanese Eggerland video game series. It was the third and final installment of the Adventures of Lolo series released in the U.S...

 were known as Adventures of Lolo and Adventures of Lolo 2 in Japan, respectively. The Japanese versions share the same graphics and game engine as their western counterparts, but feature some different, and, for the most part, harder levels.
Japanese Title
Western Title
Regions
Release
Platform(s)
Eggerland Mystery
Eggerland Mystery
Eggerland Mystery is a puzzle game that was released in 1985 by HAL Corporation for MSX computer systems. It's the first game in the Eggerland series.-Story:...

Eggerland Mystery JP, EU 1985 MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...

Meikyū Shinwa (lit. "Labyrinth Myth") Eggerland 2 JP, EU 1986 MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...

 and MSX2
MSX2
MSX2 may refer to:* Msh homeobox 2, a human gene* The second generation of the MSX home computers...

Eggerland - JP 1987 Famicom Disk System
Famicom Disk System
The was released on February 21, 1986 by Nintendo as a peripheral for the Family Computer console in Japan. It was a unit that used proprietary floppy disks for data storage. It was announced, but never released, for the North American Nintendo Entertainment System...

Eggerland – Revival of the Labyrinth - JP 1988 Famicom
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...

Eggerland – Departure to Creation - JP 1988 Famicom Disk System
Famicom Disk System
The was released on February 21, 1986 by Nintendo as a peripheral for the Family Computer console in Japan. It was a unit that used proprietary floppy disks for data storage. It was announced, but never released, for the North American Nintendo Entertainment System...

- Adventures of Lolo NA, EU 1989 NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...

Adventures of Lolo
Adventures of Lolo 2
Adventures of Lolo 2 is a puzzle game released in 1990 by HAL Corporation for the NES/Family Computer. It is based on the Japanese Eggerland video game series. It was the second game released in the U.S...

Adventures of Lolo 2 JP, NA, EU 1990 NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...

Adventures of Lolo 2
Adventures of Lolo 3
Adventures of Lolo 3 is a puzzle video game released in 1991 by HAL Corporation for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is based on the Japanese Eggerland video game series. It was the third and final installment of the Adventures of Lolo series released in the U.S...

Adventures of Lolo 3 JP, NA, EU 1991 NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...

Lolo's Great Adventure Adventures of Lolo JP, EU 1994 Super Game Boy
Super Game Boy
The is a 16-bit adapter cartridge for Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as the Super Famicom in Japan. The Super Game Boy allows game cartridges designed for use on the Game Boy to be played on a TV display using the SNES/Super Famicom controllers. When it was released in...

Eggerland Episode 0: Quest of Lala
Eggerland Episode 0: Quest of Lala
is a puzzle game released in 1996 by HAL Laboratory for Windows. It is based on the Japanese Eggerland video game series. This game was the first of three Windows releases and is a demo, consisting of 30 stages, to show players what the full-version release of Eggerland for Windows 95 would be...

- JP 1996 Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

Eggerland for Windows 95 - JP 1996 Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...

Revival! Eggerland - JP 2000 & 2001 Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...


Basics

The player must guide Lolo through a room of 11X11 tiles and have Lolo collect all of the Heart Framers (sometimes referred to as HF's) in the room. Doing so opens up a Jewel
Gemstone
A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...

 Box, which contains an item (sometimes a key or jewel). Successfully acquiring the contents of the Jewel Box will clear the room of all monsters and open the way to the next room(s). Players will need to navigate Lolo past the many monsters seen throughout the rooms — some harmless while others deadly. For more information on the monsters, skip ahead to the Monsters section.

Lolo's only weapon is a Magic Shot . Two shots (and always two shots) are obtained by collecting certain Heart Framers (sometimes referred to as SF's for Shot Framers). Heart Framers containing magic shots are not differentiated in appearance from regular Heart Framers. Collecting a Heart Framer that does contain magic shots, however, is normally indicated by a different sound effect than a regular Heart Framer's. Magic shots allow Lolo to temporarily turn enemies into Eggs
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...

, which can be pushed around, but not pulled. Monsters in eggs will hatch after a few seconds. If Lolo shoots an egg a second time, it will fly off the screen, though the monster will reappear in its original starting point a few seconds later. Reappearance is typically indicated by an outlined box of sorts and then the monster physically appearing very shortly after. Lolo may move through the outlined box unhindered.

If a monster's starting point is covered with an Emerald Framer or another monster and there are no warp holes in the level, its reappearance will fail and the monster will not return to the level. Lolo himself cannot cover a monster's starting point to cause this to happen. If Lolo is on a monster's starting point and it reappears, Lolo will basically be "on top" of the monster and can usually walk off of it, though some monsters like Almas or Skulls will kill Lolo if he is standing on their starting points.

Terrain and obstacles

There are various types of terrain and obstacles in the levels. Emerald
Emerald
Emerald is a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5–8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness...

 Framers, or EFs, are green blocks that Lolo may push around freely, but he cannot pull them. Lolo cannot push multiple, stacked EFs at one time. This is similar to the game Sokoban
Sokoban
is a type of transport puzzle, in which the player pushes boxes or crates around in a warehouse, trying to get them to storage locations. The puzzle is usually implemented as a video game....

. EFs are typically used to block dangerous monsters or ranged attacks from other monsters. One type of terrain is the grass (sometimes called flower bed), which Lolo may walk freely on, yet any mobile monster cannot enter the grass on its own. If Lolo pushes a monster in an egg onto the grass, the monster will try to walk off after the egg hatches. Another type of terrain is the sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...

. Lolo will only move at half speed while on the sand, but any mobile monster is unaffected by the sand's slowing effects. If Lolo is only halfway on the sand, he will not be affected.

Some other obstacles include tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

s and rocks. Both of these block movement from Lolo and monsters. Monsters that have a ranged attack, like Medusas or Gols, can shoot through the trees, but Lolo cannot. Rocks prevent shots from both Lolo and monsters. Another obstacle is the one-way arrows. Lolo can enter these arrows from any direction except the direction the arrow is pointing. For instance, if the arrow is pointing up, Lolo cannot walk down against the arrow. One-way arrows do not stop monsters in any way, nor do they prevent any shots from Lolo or monsters.

Some levels contain water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

 or lava
Lava
Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...

. Neither prevent shots from Lolo nor monsters from going through and both prohibit movement from Lolo and monsters. There are sometimes bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

s going over the water and lava and both Lolo and mobile monsters can cross the bridges freely. With water, Lolo can push a monster in an egg onto the water to act as a temporary bridge. Typically, levels are laid out so Lolo can go to the other side of the waterway. An egg sinks quickly after being pushed into the water. If Lolo is on an egg and it sinks, Lolo will be killed. Some waterways even have currents which Lolo can ride eggs on to other parts of the level. Eggs will sink upon reaching the end of the current. An egg that sinks in the water will remove the monster from the level temporarily, but the monster will reappear in its original starting point (just like with hitting it an egg with a second magic shot). There can only be one egg any water part of the level at any time. A second egg may not be put into the water until the first one sinks. Eggs may not be pushed into the lava.

Another tricky obstacle that was only featured in The Adventures of Lolo 3
Adventures of Lolo 3
Adventures of Lolo 3 is a puzzle video game released in 1991 by HAL Corporation for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is based on the Japanese Eggerland video game series. It was the third and final installment of the Adventures of Lolo series released in the U.S...

 is the crumbling bridge. These bridges can only be crossed twice. The first time will make the bridge crack. The second time, the bridge will crumble away, leaving either water or lava behind. Lolo must be fully in the bridge to qualify it for being crossed. If Lolo only walks halfway on these bridges and walks off, they will not be damaged. Any monster walking over these bridges will not cause any damage to them.

Warp holes

One final trick that appears in most games are the warp holes. Some levels, but not all, have pre-defined locations for a monster to alternately appear if it is removed from the screen and its original starting point is covered. Its starting point may be covered with an EF or another monster. Also, an object need only cover a part of the original point. For instance, if an EF were only on 1/4 of the monster's original starting point, this would be sufficient enough to cover it. Lolo himself cannot cover a monster's starting point and cause it to be sent to a hole. For a demonstration of how a warp hole works, see the image to the right showing a 3 step process.

The holes go in a numbered order and the monsters go to the lowest numbered hole available. If there were two holes, for instance, and both the monster's starting point and the first hole were covered, the monster would go to the second hole. Many games had a maximum limit of 8 holes per level, though rarely ever used this many.

One important thing to remember is that the monster's original spot needs to stay covered to send it to a hole. If Lolo removes a monster that was sent to a hole and its original starting point was uncovered, it would not continue going to the hole, but rather back to its original starting point. Though in some rooms, monsters may need to be sent back to their original starting point in order to solve the room.

If a monster is in the process of reappearing and Lolo covers its spot while this is happening (i.e. when the outlined box indicating a monster is about to reappear is there and gets covered), the reappearing process will fail and the monster will be permanently removed from the level. It will not be sent to a hole.

Powers

In some levels, Lolo can obtain certain powers to help him. These powers include the Hammer, the Bridge, and the Arrow Turn (sometimes called a One-Way Pass). To obtain a power, Lolo must collect a certain amount of hearts, which is pre-defined in the data for any level that gives a power. This value varies from level to level. The maximum amount of powers a level can have is three. If the next heart to be collected will give Lolo a power, all hearts in the room will flash as an indicator.
  • A hammer
    Hammer
    A hammer is a tool meant to deliver an impact to an object. The most common uses are for driving nails, fitting parts, forging metal and breaking up objects. Hammers are often designed for a specific purpose, and vary widely in their shape and structure. The usual features are a handle and a head,...

     allows Lolo to break one rock.
  • A bridge may be used on an area of water or lava, though if used on lava it will burn down a few seconds after use. A bridge that was naturally built over lava at the beginning of the level will not burn down.
  • The arrow turn allows Lolo to rotate a one-way arrow clockwise.


To use any of these powers, Lolo simply needs to face the respective obstacle the power is used for and use the magic shot button. For arrows, Lolo may be facing the arrow from any direction, though care must be taken to ensure that Lolo is standing in the proper position, or a shot will be fired by accident instead.

Main characters

Below are the characters who appear in nearly all the games in the series.
  • King Lolo - The hero of the story and the playable character in nearly all games. He and Lala are destined for each other. He is known as a master musician.
  • Queen Lala - The young woman who is usually captured by King Egger. Lala doesn't really have any different attributes than Lolo. She's an inspired dancer.
  • Prince Lulu - Son of Lolo and Lala after they got married and became King and Queen. He is still a small child, and is a very vulnerable target (appears only in the 1994-95 Game Boy
    Game Boy
    The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...

     release of The Adventures of Lolo).
  • King Egger - The main villain of all games. Lolo even fights against him in later titles. He is the leader of the Great Devils Evil Empire.


Interestingly, Lolo and Lala weren't always married. In Eggerland Mystery, Lala was still a princess, and Lolo was a brave adventurer who stepped up to rescue her. In the sequel, Eggerland (2), Lolo and Lala got married at the end. Thus, they're eventually recognized as King and Queen in later titles, especially the Game Boy Adventures of Lolo, which had a lot more in-game text and called them as such, also introducing their son, Lulu. Before that, Lolo wasn't royalty at all.

Alma

Almas, also known as Armmas or Armarks, are grey or red armadillo monsters. They may move freely around the levels and will try to chase Lolo. If an Alma catches Lolo, the touch is fatal. If an Alma is aligned with Lolo horizontally, the Alma will roll into a ball and head in Lolo's direction. If Lolo steps to the side, the ball will keep rolling until hitting something, after which the Alma will begin chasing Lolo again. This is usually key to avoiding an Alma.
  • Almas were always an enemy since the very first MSX
    MSX
    MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...

     computer game Eggerland Mystery.
  • The Alma's AI
    Ai
    AI, A.I., Ai, or ai may refer to:- Computers :* Artificial intelligence, a branch of computer science* Ad impression, in online advertising* .ai, the ISO Internet 2-letter country code for Anguilla...

    , like most mobile monsters, was a little poorer in the old days, but improved in the Nintendo
    Nintendo
    is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....

     game, Eggerland.
  • The Almas were originally red, but changed to grey in Adventures of Lolo.
  • In the Windows version of the game, Almas are once again red.

Other characters

  • Grandpa - The old, yellow ball-like creature who lives in the training trees in Adventures of Lolo 3
    Adventures of Lolo 3
    Adventures of Lolo 3 is a puzzle video game released in 1991 by HAL Corporation for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is based on the Japanese Eggerland video game series. It was the third and final installment of the Adventures of Lolo series released in the U.S...

    .

External links

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