Libble Rabble
1983 · Puzzle · Arcade
Overview
Libble Rabble (1983) is the Namco twin-stick puzzle game begun by Toru Iwatani, in which two arrows joined by a line wrap it round poles to fence in creatures.
Deep Dive
The player steers Libble (red) and Rabble (blue) at the same time. The line between them wraps around poles to enclose Mushlins and enemies, while a timer runs around the edge of the screen. A life is lost if an enemy touches an arrow or time runs out, and uncovering treasure chests leads to a bonus stage.
Developer Story
Iwatani started the design and produced the game; Seiichi Sato took over design partway through and added the treasure chests. Kazuo Kurosu programmed it and Nobuyuki Ohnogi composed the music. It ran on Namco's System 16 Universal board.
Did You Know?
- The 1994 Super Famicom version came with a D-pad cover to mimic the twin-stick controls.
- Retro Gamer later called it an underappreciated puzzle classic, comparing it favourably with Qix.
Sources & further reading
- Libble Rabble — Wikipedia
