Original
Overview
Tooth Invaders was produced by Commodore for their VIC-20 and Commodore 64 computers. Players control Plaqueman as he scrubs away the plaque off of a set of teeth and dodges the nefarious germ D.K. Both versions of the game have significant differences in gameplay but retain the same basic setup.
VIC-20
Each level consists of eight teeth to clean, with plaque on the surface and food particles in between or on the edges. Plaqueman can switch between a brush and a pick with a press of the action button; the brush can only be used to remove plaque and the pick can only be used to remove the particles. Once a tooth is fully cleaned, it flashes an assortment of colors.
Complicating matters is the presence of D.K., a germ personified as a green head with feet and antennae. D.K. moves about the mouth at random and drops additional plaque on teeth that have not been completely cleaned; if a tooth picks up too much plaque, it turns green and Plaqueman has a limited amount of time to clean it enough to restore it to white before the tooth is lost. Bumping into D.K. will cause Plaqueman to lose a life, and losing all lives or any four teeth results in a game over.
C64
For the most part, the C64 version is identical, except for the toothbrush/pick switching mechanic, which is replaced by zooming in and out of the the mouth/playfield to move to the right and select a brush or floss. The toothbrush also now requires toothpaste to clean, which can also be picked up from the right of the screen in the zoomed-out view. The zoomed-out view has a couple of additional advantages: Plaqueman can cross great distances in the mouth faster, and D.K. cannot harm him. Teeth can only be cleaned in the zoomed-in view, however. Plaqueman also has a 10 second opportunity to temporarily nullify D.K. after cleaning a tooth.
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