Body Harvest (N64)

Developer:

DMA Design

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Release Date:

1998

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Systems:

N64

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I've always wondered why this space station has a skull painted on it. Up there at the top, next to the dish.

Anyway it's Super Adventures' 12th birthday today yesterday, so I figured I should write about a video game or something to celebrate. It has to be something a little bit special though, so I'm checking out DMA Design's notorious time-travelling alien-slaying action-adventure Body Harvest, on the Nintendo 64.

One thing I like about this era is that console designers were all making the leap to full 3D using different approaches, so you can tell an N64 game from a PlayStation game instantly just by looking at a screenshot. Even multiplatform games look different on each system. Body Harvest is a true N64 exclusive though. In fact it was supposed to be a launch title for the console, but original publisher Nintendo wasn't impressed with what DMA were coming up with. It didn't make it onto the system until two years later, when Gremlin Interactive bought DMA and published it themselves in the EU.

In fact it ended up getting released a month or so before DMA Design's other N64 game Space Station Silicon Valley. Except in America, where the two games were released a day apart! This was a bit of a problem as it meant they both came out right before The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Nintendo fans were saving their pennies for what was certainly going to be the safer bet. Then a year later DMA released Grand Theft Auto 2, which was the beginning of the company's 'making nothing but GTA games for the rest of all eternity' era. Well okay they released Manhunt in 2003 shortly after becoming Rockstar North, but aside from that it's been all GTA as far as the eye can see.

Okay I'm going to do what I always do: try the game for an hour or so, type my reactions under screenshots, and then write a long review at the end with an unearned tone of authority, as if experiencing an hour of gameplay is enough to really get what a game is like.

Sanitarium (PC)

Developer:

DreamForge Intertainment

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Release Date:

1998

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Systems:

Windows, iOS

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm writing about the critically acclaimed 1998 PC horror adventure Sanitarium! They were going to call it Asylum before learning that the name was taken, but I think it worked out better this way. 'Sanitarium' is definitely a more distinctive title; you won't find a second one on MobyGames.

This was one of the last games developed by DreamForge Intertainment: the company that put the 'in' into 'entertainment'. I recognise the names of some of the other games they developed, like Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession and Menzoberranzan, but the only one I've written about is Veil of Darkness and that was ages ago. If I remember right it was some kind of isometric horror adventure game, which makes sense because so's this.

I've only got the CD version of the game so I expected it'd be a struggle to get it running in Windows 10. I was ready to start hunting down fan patches and messing around with processor affinities. But all I did was add '-w -e' to the exe's arguments to put it into windowed mode and it was happy, which makes me happy as well.

Okay I'm going to play through a couple of chapters and start taking screenshots, but first I feel like I should let you know that this is a horror game dealing with horrible things (and horrible things happening to children) so please be aware of what kind of rabbit hole we're going down here.

Need for Speed Games Part 2: Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit, Need for Speed: Road Challenge (aka High Stakes)

This week on Super Adventures I'm still playing through the first ten years of the Need for Speed series and today I've reached the third and fourth games, Hot Pursuit and Road Challenge (known in the US as High Stakes). If you want to read about the first two games you can find part one here.

I hope you like screenshots of cars and roads, because that's all I've got for you today. They're pretty good cars though. There's a Chevrolet Corvette, a Ferrari F355, a Lamborghini Diablo, another Corvette... all kinds of cars.

(If I don't mention what system a screenshot came from, then it's from the PC version. Unless the game doesn't have a PC version.)

Space Station Silicon Valley (N64)

Developer:

DMA Design

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Release Date:

1998

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Systems:

Nintendo 64, PlayStation

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This week on Super Adventures I'm playing Spacestation Silicon Valley! Or Space Station: Silicon Valley, as it's written in the manual. The PlayStation version claims that it's called Evo's Space Adventures but I think it's lying.

The first thing I've noticed about the game is that there's an inflatable spaceship on the title screen, not a space station, and I don't appreciate this blatant attempt to mislead me. Plus it keeps orbiting the letters and I couldn't decide on the best time to take the screenshot. I tried to catch it in good place but I'm not sure I managed it.

I feel like I should pad this intro out with some interesting trivia taken straight from Wikipedia, so here's a couple of Space Station Silicon Valley facts for you:

First, the game's by Scottish developers DMA Design (now called Rockstar North), who are famous for the Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto series. In fact a lot of the people who worked on the game went on to create Grand Theft Auto III and kick off the 3D sandbox mayhem genre, so I guess it was a good thing this didn't sell enough to get a sequel. We could've ended up in the bad even worse timeline where we didn't get Sleeping Dogs, The Saboteur or Saints Row.

Second, it's no surprise it didn't sell well considering it came out in 1998: The Year of Good Games. Sure the N64 didn't get ports of Resident Evil 2, Unreal, Half-Life, Thief, Baldur's Gate, Fallout 2, Pokémon Red/Blue, Starcraft, Grim Fandango, Sonic Adventure, Metal Gear Solid etc. that year, but Nintendo fans did have Banjo-Kazooie, Body Harvest, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Turok 2 and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time competing for their pennies (and Nintendo's marketing budget).

Punky Skunk (PSX)

Developer:

Ukiyotei

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Release Date:

1998 (96 in Japan)

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Systems:

PlayStation

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm playing another mascot platformer! Because they take less time than trying to figure out a strategy game or get anywhere in an RPG and I'm trying to keep these posts coming out weekly.

Punky Skunk's been on my 'to play' list for a long while now, so long that I can't even remember if I ever knew what it is. I do know that the internet hates it though, as poor Punky's turned up on Game Informer's 'Worst Character Names' list, EGM's worst mascot list and IGN's 'Great Games With Silly Names' article... as an example of a game that really does suck as badly as its title suggests.

To be fair you know you've hit the bottom of the mascot barrel when you've reached 'skunk'. No one wants to play as a skunk, punky or otherwise (that's why Pepé Le Pew never got a game). Also the title screen isn't exactly giving the best first impression. All the dithering and scruffy lines makes it look like they scanned it in but didn't have time to clean it up afterwards. It's basically the same as the box art though so I suppose Punky's face is meant to look like it's been scribbled in a notebook.

Okay I'm going to keep playing until I've beaten the first boss, or died trying, or gnawed my own hands off, whichever happens first.

SiN (PC)

Developer:

Ritual

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Release Date:

1998

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Systems:

Win, Mac, Linux

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This week on Super Adventures I'm taking a look at SiN, the first actual game by Ritual Entertainment. Or 'sin' according to the box, title screen, menu, intro etc. (the manual just calls it Sin).

I used to play a lot of first person shooters back in the 90s (and every other decade), so if I haven't seen the full version of something, chances are I've at least played the demo. But SiN apparently slipped right by me. All I know about it is that it starts in a bank, I don't even know if it's 3D like Half-Life or 2.5D like Doom (though in my head I'm imagining it looking like Duke Nukem 3D).

Part of the reason I never got around to it might be that when the game came out it wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders. The game was full of bugs, it took minutes to load levels and save games, and a lot of people didn't even get sound. But now it's full patched up and it even runs on modern PCs! I hope!

(Click the screenshots to view the images at 800x600 res! I was playing in fake 3dfx mode so it's the best I could get.)

Resident Evil 2 (PSX) - Part 2

Hello, this is the last page of my first impressions of the survival-horrifying Resident Evil 2 (aka. Biohazard 2).

Click this link to return to the streets of Raccoon City: Part one.

Resident Evil 2 (PSX) - Part 1

Developer:

Capcom

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Release Date:

1998

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Systems:

PlayStation, Windows, N64, Dreamcast, GameCube

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I don't like Resident Evil.

I mean I like the universe and the characters just fine, I just don't generally like the games. But it's been over two years since I last played one of them and the site's been survival horror free for almost as long, so today on Super Adventures I'm going to be taking a quick look at Hideki Kamiya's PlayStation masterpiece Resident Evil 2!

And there'll likely be whining under every screenshot. Whining and analysis.

To be honest, this just isn't really my genre. I get the theory behind using tank controls, limited saves, awkward camera angles and a tiny inventory to enhance the tension, but in all the games I've played it's mostly just increased my frustration. But I'm determined to at least pretend that I'm giving the game a fair shot, for as long as it takes for me to figure out if it's any different to the first game.

(This article contains screenshots of explicit violence and gore.)

Unreal (PC)

Today on Super Adventures I've finally ran out of excuses to put off replaying Epic and Digital Extremes's 1998 megagame Unreal. Not that I don't want to play it again, I was just trying to save it until I could give it some proper attention. I actually love this game, or at least I loved it back when I first finished it (I admit it's been a while since then).

I usually try to avoid user mods, bug fixes, source ports etc. because I'm after the most authentic experience I can get short of plugging a CRT screen in and digging out my old rubber ball mouse, but I'm going to be running this with the unofficial OldUnreal 227 patch, found on this site. I had to make an exception this time to get rid of the evil mouse smoothing/acceleration/whatever, because I can't find any better way of disabling it. I can live with dated controls, tiny resolutions and game bugs, but that's where I draw the line, I ain't putting up with that shit.

(Click the images to view them in resolutions unheard of in 1998.)

Incoming (PC)

Near the end of last year I had a look at Rage Software's Hostile Waters and seeing as I liked it someone mentioned in a comment that I should try playing their later 2002 game Incoming Forces as well. Because according to them, it lets you do a lot of the same things "without having any fun".

Now I like pointlessly subjecting myself to hours of frustration and tedium as much as the next guy, but Incoming Forces is a sequel and I'm curious about what the first game's like, so seeing as I just bought them both in a bundle I figured I might as well play the original 1998 Incoming first. Don't worry though, I've saved the other game a space so it'll show up soon enough.

Blood II: The Chosen (PC)

My final 'B' game for the year is going to be the infamous Blood II: The Chosen. It's not exactly the most highly regarded first person shooter ever made, but I figured I might as well give it a try, seeing as it came bundled with my copy of Blood 1.

(Click the pics to view them in a very slightly higher resolution. I'm playing it at 1024x768 in the hope that it'll stop it crashing every five steps I take.)

Mr. Pibb: The 3D Interactive Game (MS-DOS)

I've never tried Mr. Pibb before, but my extensive research has revealed that it's a type of drink, it has its own 3D Interactive Game, and that I'm playing it right now! I'm cautiously optimistic as interactive games tend to be my favourite type of videogame.

According to this screenshot you're looking at right now, a mad scientist has taken over the school and turned all our friends and teachers into zombies! Probably not a coincidence this was made around the same time that Buffy was starting to get popular. Another thing that was popular in '98 was Half-Life, to give this some historical context. But can a cheap fizzy drink tie-in running in DOS compete with Valve's masterpiece? The answer may shock you! Or maybe it won't. I have no idea, I haven't even played it yet.

Wish me luck... 'cause I'll need it.

Fallout 2 (PC)

Hello, I'm Ray Hardgrit and you've somehow found yourself reading Super Adventures in Gaming, the site where I play a game from my backlog for a couple of hours while taking screenshots and whining that it's too hard.

Today I'm having a quick go of classic PC RPG Fallout 2 by Black Isle Studios, the sequel to Interplay's Fallout. Though Black Isle was actually just a division of Interplay (and still is actually, although it's really an entirely different Black Isle now as the original Black Isle died back in 2003 and was reborn as an entirely new company called Obsidian Entertainment... kind of. Not that Interplay or this new division known as Black Isle have anything to do with the Fallout franchise anymore as the rights were sold to Bethesda during 2007 who then released Fallout 3 and tasked Obsidian (the original Black Isle staff) with making a sequel called Fallout: New Vegas..

My copy of the original Fallout from GOG.com ran like a dream on Windows 7 with no messing around, but I got this one from Steam instead and my attempts to get it to run haven't been entirely plain sailing. Fortunately a quick ini file edit was enough to fix the screwed up colours and get the gameplay working fine... though that then ended up breaking all the videos. But with the fan base the game has I'm sure there's an amazing mod out there that fixes everything!

Apocalypse (PSX)

I guess the symbol for the apocalypse is the anarchy symbol with a cross on top then.

Today I'm finally getting around to another requested game: Apocalypse on the PlayStation, starring digital Bruce Willis. In fact they're so proud of their Bruce Willis model they've even shown off its wireframe mesh on the title screen.

This was the second game developed by Neversoft, made just before they hit fame and acclaim with their Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series. They actually made nine Tony Hawk games before switching over to make seven Guitar Hero games and a Band Hero. Apocalypse on the other hand got exactly zero sequels, but I'm sure that's no reflection on its quality. Probably.

Jazz Jackrabbit 2 (PC)

Huh, is that red rabbit's arm bracer melting? Oh wait, I think that's actually his tongue dripping.

It's been over two years since I played the original Jazz Jackrabbit for the site and I figured it was about time that I got around to the sequel. Plus I keep getting requests for it, so that was another big hint that it's overdue.

Baldur's Gate (PC)

Today I'm going to have a quick look at classic BioWare title Baldur's Gate. Well, relatively quick; the game's an RPG so if I want a good idea of how it plays I'll probably be stuck playing it for days rather than hours.

There's a number of fantastic user developed mods for the game like Baldur's Gate Tutu and Baldur's Gate Trilogy that run the game content in a newer version of the Infinity Engine, while fixing bugs and tweaking the gameplay. Plus the game was recently given an official overhaul in the form of the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, so I've got a few options here. I'm not playing any of them though. This is going to be original old school vanilla Baldur's Gate, straight off the DVD, with all the original quirks, bugs and annoyances present.

(I'm deeply sorry that these are crappy compressed jpeg images, but clicking on them will reveal crystal clear lossless screenshots, for those that want them.)

Final Fantasy Tactics (PSX)

Here's another obscure cult Japanese RPG I'm sure you've probably never heard of, released for a classic CD based Sony console called the 'PlayStation'.

Final Fantasy Tactics was released a mere six months after Final Fantasy VII in the US and Japan, but took a little longer to reach Europe. Like, a decade longer. A strange decision perhaps considering how much cash FFVII was raking in at the time, but I'm sure they had their reasons.

Heart of Darkness (PSX) - Guest Post

Here's a requested game! A game "from the creators of Another World". Ulp.

That's an expensive looking logo. This is expensive sounding music. This may be the most intense game yet.

Lots of animations today! Keep an eye out!

The Curse of Monkey Island (PC)

Curse of Monkey Island is the third in the legendary point and click adventure series, released six years after the previous game. Which was a bloody long gap, considering the first two came out a year apart.

This had new designers, a radically different art style, and voice acting for the first time. And since the original creator, Ron Gilbert, had left LucasArts, the new team had to come up with their own take on the series. Which was all a bit worrying to the fans, especially as the new guys would have to resolve Monkey Island 2's now famous mindfuck of an ending, which I'm going to spoil for you after the next picture. You have been warned.

Metal Gear Solid (PSX)

Super Adventures at Christmas 2012 - Game 4:

At last, I'm playing a Metal Gear game people might actually care about! This was the third in the main franchise, released eight years after Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, but the first to really get mainstream attention, at least in the West.

Along Tenchu: Stealth Assassins and Thief: The Dark Project, this was a big part of the '98 stealth game revolution that helped establish the genre and inspire countless other games. Therefore it is DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for all those shitty forced stealth levels that started to pop up halfway through otherwise decent action games, in the same way that Shenmue can be blamed for the curse of QTE. You opened up Pandora's box Snake!