So the muncher is going about a game board minding his own business (in the style of the game board from the classic Muncher games) when all of a sudden this weird living rocket comes along and abducts the muncher and just laughs. We cut to a spinning newspaper that says Muncher kidnapped by aliens on the front cover.

TROG

We are then introduced to Magenta who is a scientist and the owner of the dog we control in the game and she knows what really happened to the Muncher, it wasn’t the aliens that kidnapped him it was actually a robot troggle named Trog and he was built by Doctor Frankentroggle and he wants to take over the world with mutant Troggles. She shows us what is practically a Smartphone precursor, a Troggulator, which acts as a calculator, a phone and it can recharge itself when you answer some math questions on the device, but it’s primary focus is to troggulate the Troggles and make them go away. There is an optional troggulator tutorial in this game which might be a good idea to use it if you’re a first time player. The way it works is that if Sparky howls that means Troggles are coming so click that troggulator button (it has a red lightning bolt) fast you need to count (or better yet click on the shield protecting sparky and he’ll count them for you) and you should enter an equation. The factor won’t always be the same though either you have to add or subtract, multiply or divide to get the right number, and only one of those will appear. And if this device weren’t Smart Phone precursor enough, it even has a video calls. Eventually Magenta will introduce us to Sparky and she’ll tell you about Sparky treats they are scattered in all the areas, try to munch as many as you can because if you fill one up as we see there are multiple boxes then we’ll get an extra box of treats (yes they represent the number of lives you have, she’ll also tell you to be careful not to let the Troggles get too close because they will eat a whole box (and you will lose a life) you can also lose a life if you don’t count the number of Troggles accurately even if you overcount you could hurt Sparky, if you run out of treats the game is over.

Now before we describe the Troggles, Objects, hidden treat dispensers, and areas, let’s talk about playing the game (ie working with Sparky) we have to move sparky around the area looking for items left behind by the antagonists of the game, maybe if we’re lucky the item will be in one of the hiding places instead of out in the open (which can be problematic if you’re using a system higher than windows 2000 because sparky moves fast) you can move sparky with either the mouse or the keyboard. If we call Magenta we can hear her say what Trog or Dr Frankentroggle left behind and at the end of a round she’ll call you back and tell you that either of them has left the area and you have to find the passage to the next area. There is an energy bar at the top of the Troggulator you might want to keep an eye on that because you could lose some energy every time you use the zapping part of the Troggulator or call Magenta, like I said the energy bar can refill itself if you click on the plug part of the device (I suggest doing it while you’re in one of the hidden areas I’ll describe shortly otherwise you’ll leave yourself open to a Troggle attack and you can’t troggulate while recharging) and answer some quick math problems (according to the help guide they’re called Puzzle Chambers) once you solve three problems in each of them a chest will open that says check outside and when you are outside something will appear usually it’s a flashing bone that will actually help fill up the energy bar, however if you are lucky you will find what was left behind by Trog or Frankentroggle in those chambers. A glitch I found is that the Troggles can disappear if you go into a puzzle chamber and solve a puzzle.


Santa Bongo: First we get a phone call from Magenta telling us that something of Trogs is hiding in Santa Bongo (if we call her she’ll tell us what it is that’s somewhere in the park) here we find a beaker of Trog oil which is what he eats. The Troggles we deal with in this area will be pink springy ones that will be Reggie Troggles….they look radically different from the Reggie Troggles from the DOS era games. The Puzzle Chambers in this area will be Park sheds. The exit for this area will be near the shed at the top of the game map on the right side it’s literally an open manhole surrounded by pylons or traffic markers. Make sure you also avoid the pink flowers, they’ll drain the progress of you filling up the sparky treats, also avoid the fire hydrant Troggles (don’t worry you don’t have to clean up after sparky in this game) If you want a way to get more treats run into some mail boxes

The Reggy Troggle

the Hydrant Troggle


Great Gobble Desert: In this one we search caves for the Puzzle Chambers, the item left behind is Trog’s energy crystal which powers him, the exit of this area will be in the top left corner of the area map. The Troggles in this area are Spiky Troggles. Avoid the cactus Troggles and to get more treats you have to click a tall mesa

Spikey Troggle

Cacti Troggle


Muncher Mystery Cave: In this one we avoid rock Troggles that just stand there and yeah this has more caves as puzzle chambers (but differently shaped and purple) the item we need to locate is Trog’s Power Jet Pack I don’t have a specific area to describe where the exit is, all I know is it’s another hole in the ground with a flashing arrow that says “TROG This way”. Want to find more treats? There’s a stalagmite with some weird creature that sticks its tongue out at you when you touch the obelisk

Nighty Troggle

Rock Troggle

Troggle swamp: well the item you have to find here is Trog himself. Avoid the blue mushrooms (and trees with pink stuff hanging off it) but hit the purple mushrooms and the logs with the moving branch. Also avoid the Bush troggle. The Puzzle chambers are holes in trees. We have caught up to TROG but the job isn’t over yet we still have to stop Frankentroggle, turns out Trog was some poor martian from the future that was built into Trog, he informs us that Frankentroggle went back the way we came…..yeah we’re going to go backwards now, don’t worry the location of the puzzle chambers don’t change but the Troggles and the exits do, and they’re more than meer holes in the ground, including here we have to find a log that previously didn’t have an entrance, and that’s going to be a pattern for the remainder of the game. In fact the Troggles look more like Dinosaurs once you’ve caught up to Trog.

Toad Troggle

Bush Troggle

Stege Troggle



Muncher Mystery Cave: Now we have to find Frankentroggle’s crap starting with his Mutantizer,and the Troggles have sharp teeth and Turtle shell heads, and now the exit is a cave that was previously boarded up

Rocky Troggle

Great Gobble Desert: This time the Troggles look an awful lot like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (why yes I do think of them as Teenage Mutant Ninja Troggles) but they are referred to as Shades Troggles and we find Frankentroggle’s Time Gizmo and you find a cave that was previously boarded up (and kind of small I’m surprised Sparky could fit through it)

Shades Troggle

Santa Bongo: Remember a phone booth that had an out of order sign? Yeah that’s the exit this time around, the Troggles here are the Smarticus Troggles (or Smartie in the older games) and we have find Frankentroggle’s lab book



Space Time Warp: We have entered the final round in the game and they are hitting us with all the Troggles we’ve met in the game including the ones that don’t move. Our objective in this final game is to catch up to Frankentroggle and save the muncher. Should we avoid anything here? Yes, a venus flytrap with striped tentacles. The Puzzle Chambers look a little like twilight zone doors, but one of them will lead to Frankentroggle’s lab, you rescue the muncher, Frankentroggle does his “Curses Foiled again” speech and we hear from Magenta one more time, and chances are you’ll end up in the mall of fame near a pretty Sparky trophy


Sadly this is Sparky’s only game after this we get the deluxe trilogy where Muncher has a new look and we get a new set of Troggles except there are no stakes in these games. However in Math Munchers deluxe we do get an easter egg where Sparky has his own line of credit cards

I remember the math muncher like games were you had to avoid the Troggles. What year did this come out because I do not remember this one. Excellent review as always.

This one came out in 1993 or 1994

classgame: Oh okay I guess I don't remember it because the school I attended did not have that one, so I did not play it. Looked like it would have been a fun game to play.