GameFabrique games

Jungle Book

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:19:17 +0000

The Jungle Book is a video game developed and published by Virgin Interactive in 1993. It was made available for Sega Master System for the first time, but conversions for several other platforms, such as GameBoy, NES, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Sega Game Gear, Super NES, GameBoy Advance and PC followed in the same year, and soon after. The gameplay is the same on all the versions, but the graphical level differs, with the best graphical details probably being on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis platform and the PC.

The story is written after the original Jungle Bookk series by Rudyard Kipling. The players control Mowgli, the main character, who is a young boy raised in the jungle by wolves. Because of the fact that he is hunted by Shere Khan, a tiger, he must now get back to the human village, where the animals are afraid to enter. But in order for him to reach the village, he has to fight the whole jungle and Shere Khan himself in the end. Sure, friends like Bagheera and Baloo, but also some other characters such as the Snake Kaa and King Louie are also going to appear in the game at some point in time during Mowgli's journey.

The player has to drive the young Mowgli through different levels. Mowgli can shoot or avoid enemies. He can run, jump, climb vines and use weapons and powerups during different levels. The player can complete a level by collecting the required number of gems, different for each difficulty setting, then finding a specific character, which is placed somewhere in the setting of the respective level.

The player scores points by obtaining gems, but also by collecting fruits and other items. Though he only starts with a banana projectile in the beginning of the game, Mowgli can collect along the way invincibility masks, coconuts, boomerang bananas and double banana shots. The player has only seven minutes to complete a level.

The game was received very well at that time, mainly thanks to the success the books had, and still have. Critics were very generous with the game, offering higher feedbacks than 7 out of 10 or 4 out of 5. The game was awarded the "Best Genesis Movie to Game Translation of the Year" in GameFan's 1994 "Megawards" issue.

There are different difficulty levels the player can choose. For the easy mode, the player needs to collect eight gems, or ten for the medium. Mowgli needs twelve gems if the game is played on the hard mode. There is a total of fifteen gems in each level, regardless of the difficulty.

Contra: Hard Corps

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:19:17 +0000

Contra: Hard Cops is a video game produced and released in Japan in 1994, and in Europe and Australia under the name of Probotecto, and made available for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. The game is part of the Contra series, serving as a follow-up to Contra III: The Alien Wars, released two years earlier. The game is a run and gun-style shoot'em-up style, or shooter, as we call it today.

The action happens five years after Contra III: The Alien Wars, when a team of commandos, Unified Military Special Mobile Task Force K-X, or Contra Hard Cops, has to combat the crime and illegal activities which are spreading fast after the war. The plot is also set around a hacker who, after getting into the security system of the city, programs all the robots to destroy everything around and cause panic. The characters will meet Colonel Bahamut along the way as well, who is a former war hero, trying to subvert the Government using newly-developed weapons.

The game follows the same gameplay as the other games in the series. The character has to pass several levels by killing every enemy and fight the boss in the end, to finish the game. All the levels in Contra: Hard Cops feature only side-view perspective, unlike previous games which had some levels shown in "3D view". The player can choose between four different characters. A maximum number of four players can play in the same time, but they can't choose the same character.

The player can jump, run and fire, and also fire while jumping or running. A new addition to the game, not featured in the previous versions, was the sliding technique, which can be performed by holding the direction-pad diagonally downwards while pressing the jump button. The character can't be hit by enemies while sliding, and can even harm some of them when touching.

In this version the player can now carry and handle up to four weapons, as well as bombs. Like in the previous games, when a player is hit by an enemy, the current weapon will be lost too.

The Japanese version was easier to play, due to the developers programming the game so as a player can get hit three times before losing a life. In the European and American version a player who was hit once lost a life. Characters in the European version were replaced as well.

The game was received very well in the launching year, though it wasn't awarded prizes. However, critics and players rated the game with a high feedback, offering an overall mark of 87.5 from 100 on Gameranking, 9 out of 10 on Sega-16, 7.25 out of 10 on Electronic Gaming Monthly and 10 out of 10 on Honest Gamers. Both critics and players rated the game with 8.8 on GameSpot.

Contra for NES

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:19:17 +0000

Contra (known as Gryzor in Europe and Oceania) is a video game produced and published in 1987 by Konami, well known today for developing soccer simulators. The game is a shooter of the 90s and was followed one year later by versions for different consoles.

The first game of the series, made available for NES, was a run-and-gun-ups shoot'em style and featured a character with light mobility. The game is built, as many other games in the 90s, on several levels or stages, with a side-view gameplay. However, Contra features stages with a so-called 3D view, when the character is moving towards the background.

In the Japanese version the story is happening in the 27th century in Oceania, around Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, two commandos modeled after Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, and name after four actors who appeared in the movie called Aliens. The characters are sent to destroy the army of aliens which is invading the world with a clear target: to destroy it.

In the American and European versions the story is a bit different. The setting was not in the 27th century, but in the present, and is happening in South America. The name of "Red Falcon", which in the Japanese version is the army Bill and Lance have to fight against, changes in the American and European version to the name of the head commander of an alien entity.

The character is equipped with a rifle and has unlimited ammo. The player can jump, move and fire in 8 different directions, and also jump or move while attacking. If the player gets hit only once by the enemy, it would be enough to kill the player. There are a total of four weapons the players can use in the game: a Machine Gun, a Laser Gun, a Fire Gun and a Spread Gun.

The game received good feedback from both players and critics, being rated with at least 8.5 out of 10 overall. GameSpot users rated the game with an overall feedback of 8.9 out of 10, meaning this game was a hit back in 1987. Not only the game for NES was well received by the players, but also the versions for the rest of the platforms. Contra is one of the game which was released on most of the consoles out there.

The game was popular also because it came with a two-player gameplay, which was rather uncommon at that time. The game received IGN's award of being the "Toughest Game to Beat", while Nintendo called it one of the best multiplayer NES games.

Road Rash

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:19:17 +0000

Road Rash is a series of games developed and published by Electronic Arts between 1991 and 1996. The game is a motorcycle arcade racing simulator, and the debut was made in 1991 on Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. The game and two following sequels followed later on for the PSP. The game was licensed in 2004 for Game Boy.

Road Rash features violent illegal street racing, with police following sometimes, and the player can choose from up to eight different bikes. All the tracks are from the United States and California on long two-lane roads. The multiplayer engine only allowed two players to play in turns. There are different levels through each player has to pass, starting with Sierra Nevada (CA 89), Pacific Coast (CA 1), Redwood Forest (no highway), Palm Desert (CA 74) and Grass Valley (CA 49). The tracks depict California States Routes or highway shields.

There are also two weapons to choose from: clubs and chains. Players can win races by being placed on first, second, third or fourth in each of the tracks, which is a bit weird, because all the racing games nowadays request players to get the first place to advance. After the player gets past all tracks, they become longer, the opponents faster and better, and the stake is much higher.

The game was played in third-person and, by placing in the first three on each track, the player earned money which could have been used for buying faster and better bikes. Unfortunately the game was over if the player didn't have enough money to repair the wrecked motorcycle or to pay for being arrested.

The game was made available for Game Gear, Sega Master System, Nintendo Game Boy and Commodore AMIGA later on, but Road Rash, the original game, was the only one to have been distributed onto other consoles and computer.

The original came was received very well by critics and players. It received very favorable reviews in Mean Machines magazine, and an overall score of 91% for the music, graphics and gameplay. The game released on Commodore AMIGA received an overall rating of 84%. Road Rash won several awards over the time, with the Electronic Gaming Monthly giving three awards in 1994. The Best Driving Game, Best Music in a CD-Based Game and the Best 3DO Game in 1994 were offered to this production by the publication.

Electronic Arts released a statement two years ago, saying they are working on the next generation Road Rash, but nothing more has been heard yet.

Road Rash 2

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:19:17 +0000

Road Rash II is an arcade motorcycle simulation video game, coming as a follow-up for Road Rash I, published by Electronic Arts in 1991. Road Rash II was developed and released two years later after the first game, in 1993, for Sega Mega Drive. The game mostly works on the same engine as the first game, but it introduces several new features, such as nitrous oxide injection for motorcycles and different weapons.

The races are taking place in the US, in Alaska, Hawaii, Tennessee, Arizona and Vermont, to be more precise. As in the first game, the races are taking place on two-lane roads, and the length of it depends on the level played.

Players have to be placed on the first three places to pass to the next level. In the first version, the fourth place was counted as a qualifying place as well, but things changed with the second version. After all the five tracks are won, the player advances to another level, with longer tracks, better opponents and higher stakes.

Few other features the game comes with are at a gameplay level. The fighting system has been improved with the addition of another weapon, the chain. The damage is not the same regardless of which weapon is used, because each attack produces its own amount of damage. The nitrous oxide injection allows players to accelerate the motorcycle for a short time. This addition will be featured in the next games as well.

The menu is different as well, compared to the first game of the series. The navigation is easier and the passwords are shorter too. There is also a new mode introduced, called "Split Screen", where two players can compete in the same time. Another mode called "Mano a Mano" is introduced as well, with only the two players controlled by human users competing. The player can select any bike, length of track or weapon they wish.

The music featured is composed by Rob Hubbard, and was featured in NHLPA Hockey '93 as well, but it sounds a bit different on Road Rash II due to hardware differences.

The game is considered as maybe the best Road Rash game ever. However, the game had flaws as well. The addition of the two-player mode wasn't developed at its full potential and it created several problems, such as the small screen area or the frame rate slowdown. Still, the game was given a rate of 9 out of 10 on the HonestGamers website and a better one, of 9.3 out of 10, from GameFan Magazine. Sega-16 rated the game with 9 out of 10, while Sega Force offered 9.1 out of 10.

Road Rash 3

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:19:17 +0000

Road Rash 3: Tour De Force is the third game in the Road Rash video series, and is an arcade motorcycle simulator video game. The game was released for Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and published and developed by Electronic Arts, one of the most valuable video games producer today. Road Rash III features violent illegal street racing, as in the first two versions.

The game was released in May 1995 and brought many new features the former games, Road Rash I and Road Rash II, didn't have. While in the first two games the players could have only competed on tracks from the North America, now they are able to compete in Brazil, United Kingdom (described as the Isle of Man), Germany, Italy, Kenya, Australia and Japan.

Road Rash III features fifteen bikes in several classes, but also four types of upgrades for each of them. There are eight weapons available, and the player is now able to hold on to a weapon between the races. However, the game does not have to be reset, otherwise the weapon will get lost. Mace, chains and others are featured among the weapons available in this version of the game.

Electronic Arts improved the graphical engine as well, by using digitalized sprites. The first two games were developed on "cartoony" sprites. The bikers and the motorcycles look better than before, but the obstacles in the background are still a bit too difficult to notice. People and cars are blurry, but they can easily be noticed and avoided, if needed. There is a lot of color in this game, and the graphics are considered the best from the whole Road Rash series.

The players have to pass through different levels. They have to get on one of the first three places to go through the following round. As the level is done, players will encounter more difficult opponents, longer tracks and higher stakes in the levels to come.

As in the second version of the game, the player can now be followed and tracked down by police, which is actually doing a good job and if you do not use your best skills, they will not hold back and stop you from winning.

The game was fairly popular back in 1995, but unfortunately not better than Road Rush II, which was a completely hit. Road Rash III wasn't sold in so many copies as the second game and though it received good feedback, it is still considered inferior to Road Rash II. GameSpot critics rated the game with 8.0, while GameSpot users offered an overall of 8.4 out of 10.

Earthworm Jim

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:19:17 +0000

Earthworm Jim is a very popular run and gun platform video game, created by Doug TenNapel and designed by David Perry. The game was developed by Shiny Entertainment and released for Mega Drive/Genesis in 1994, for the first time. Since then it was ported to SNES, Game Boy, Game Gear, Sega Master System and Game Boy Advance. The game received several awards over the time, and thanks to its popularity was developed for other platforms as well, such as PC, Wii (2008), iPhone, Symbian S60, PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade.

The storyline follows the main character, an earthworm called Jim, and involves lots of colorful characters, being praised for its animations and graphics. One day, somewhere above Earth, Psy-Crow, the villain, cornered a rebel pilot. Thanks to an ultra high tech suit falling on him, Jim mutated himself into an intelligent superhero. Jim hears about Psy-Crows malefic plans and sets out to defeat him. He has to fight many enemies along the way, with Evil the Cat, Chuck and Fifi, Major Mucus or Bob the Killer Goldfish among others.

The gameplay of the game has been considered a bit strange. Jim was attacking by launching cows, but other weird twists added to the insanity of the game. Jim is the only controllable character in the game. He can run, use his gun, swing on hooks and get powerups. In the game, when fighting against mini-bosses, Jim has to find their weaknesses and defeat them by using the information he has.

The game was so popular that was followed-up by sequels. Earthworm Jim 2 came in 1995 for many platforms, while Earthworm Him 3D and Earthworm Jim: Menace 2 the Galaxy, both in 1999. However, the last two games were developed without the involvement of Shiny Entertainment, and received poor to negative feedback. Atari planned Earthworm Jim for PSP for 2007, but the idea was cancelled. The rumors about Earthworm Jim 4 were unconfirmed, but something has been heard about this game being in the development process.

The game, as I stated several times before, was very popular when first released. It was awarded the Best Genesis Game in 1994 by Electronic Gaming Monthly, and is placed on 114th place in Nintendo Power's Top 200 Games.

The game was considered appealing to many demographics. With moderate difficulty level and a stylish humor, the game became a hit on the market from both critical and financial view. The fact that the game was even developed for two mobile operating systems says a lot about how wanted and enjoyed this game is.

[mark value="8" comment="IGN rated the 1994 version of the game with 7, but the readers and players offered a total of 8.5 out of 10. The game for PC was given a 7.1 rating by GameSpot, while 279 users rated the game with an overall feedback of 7.8 out of 10."]

Shadow Run

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:19:17 +0000

Shadowrun is a role-playing game published in five different years (1989, 1992, 1998, 2005 and 2009), with the story happening in the near future in which the player meets different fantasy creatures. The game is considered a bit violent, horror and has elements of conspiracy fiction and detective fiction.

The setting takes place in Seattle, Washington, in the year of 2050. Magic and mythological beings came back on Earth in the year 2011, while some humans "Goblinize" into trolls and orks. Human children were born as elves and dwarves, but as some other creatures as well.

The technology world is very advanced. Cyberware and bioware (body parts implanted in place of natural organs) are common in the game. The computer crash from 2029 have reshaped the financial and political landscape of the world in the game. Lots of conflicts arise over the world, and chaos and organized crime becomes more and more popular. Dirty work specialists, called "shadowruns", are skilled and very popular for getting the job done in style. They are powerful, can stay alive in difficult situations and are prospering in the game.

As the story happens in North America, several nations will appear in the game. Canadians, Americans and Mexicans are all part of this game. Some of them declare their independence (e.g. the California Free State).

The rivals and enemies of the Shadowrun world are the corporations, such as "megacorporations", "megacorps", "megas" or "corps". In the 21st century the megacorporations are global, and they represent the superpowers of the Shadowrun universe. The Megacorporations have way more political, economic and military power than any state in the world.

As said before, magic is back in the game. The ones able to perform magic are known as "awakened". They can be Magicians, Adepts of Mystic Adepts. They affect the world around them, and have control over it by focusing their magic inward. They are able to cast spells, summon spirits and create different magical artifacts, which are called "foci".

The game was very popular when first released, and due to its increased popularity it was re-launched four more times over the time, with the latest version being launched 20 years after the first, in 2009.

However, with the latest version, Shadowrun lost a lot of its popularity. IGN users offered a rating of 7.8, while IGN experts rated the game with 6.8, which is not really good. Users on GameSpot rated the game with 6.7, while the critics offered a 6.9 rating. As the game was developed, a lack of variety appeared, several users believe.

Vectorman

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:19:17 +0000

Vectorman is a series of games from the 90s, developed by BlueSky Software and launched by Sega. The game was released in the autumn of 1995 and was available for Sega Mega Drive/Genesis in the beginning. The game was made available in Europe one month after it has been released in the United States.

Due to its popularity level in the 90s, the game has been continuously worked on and is today available on PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and is part of the Sonic Gems Collection for the Nintendo GameCube. The game was launched for Nintendo Wii in 2007 in Japan, and in the same year, but two months later, in Europe. The version for the United States was made available 7 months after the first release. PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are three other platforms that can run sequels of the first version of Vectorman.

The story follows the main character in the year 2049, when the human population of Earth starts to colonize other planets. "Orbots" remain to clean their mess from the Earth, but they end up being controlled by an evil Orbot. Warhead, an Orbot which accidentally has a nuclear missile attached, becomes an evil dictator and declares himself ruler of Earth. He is set to kill every human returning to the home planet.

Now is the time for Vectorman, another Orbot, to enter the stage. He lands on Earth and finds war and chaos, and restoring peace on the planet becomes his mission throughout the game.

The first version of the game used pre-rendered 3D models. There was a computer-generated feel in the game, which continued in the sequels. The game is only a 2D action platformer, with Vectorman being powered with a ball gun in his hand. He is able to use multiple weapons in the game. He also has the ability to transform thanks to powerups. He can transform into a drill (for cutting floors), a bomb (to destroy enemies or walls) or an aquatic form (for swimming).

The game has a total of 16 levels, and all of them need to be passed in order for the game to be finished. In three different levels, the main character has to fight with bosses, and Vectorman can transform into unique morphed forms.

Not only the critics rated the game as excellent, but Vectorman was a hit on the market as well. The game was awarded the Best Sega Mega Drive Game award in 1995 by Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vectorman's design was mainly praised, but also the soundtrack. Not only the game was fairly popular back then, it is also popular today. For example, GameSpot PlayStation 2 players rated the game with an overall of 9 out of 10.

Gunstar Heroes

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:19:17 +0000

Gunstar Heroes is a video game developed by Treasure and published by Sega in the last quarter of 1993. The game was released for Sega Mega Drive/Genesis for the first time, but was later on ported to GameGear, thanks to M2, and 13 years later was released for PlayStation 2 as well. In the latest years the game has been made available for Nintendo Wii, PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade due to its increased popularity in the 90s.

The game is rated as a side-scrolling shooter, with the player controlling a character who has four weapons to choose from. They can be combined so the player gets a total of 14 possible unique weapons. The gameplay is a side-scrolling one, with the player being able to grab and toss enemies, but also to perform sliding and jumping attacks. He can perform long-range skids as well.

The life of the character is calculated different than in other games in the genre. There are required several hits for a player to die, but by dying only once the player will have to continue from the start of the level or to end the game. There is no number of limited tries, a player can do it as many times as he wants.

The player can choose to control Gunstar Red or Blue, who are two twin brothers trying to protect the planet. Gunstar Yellow is the sister of the first two characters, giving them short briefings on the levels. Professor Brown became too old to fight, so he is now the mentor of Red and Blue, helping them along their missions. Gunstar Green is the older brother of the twins, who works for the Empire. Grey is the leader of the Empire, and wished to reshape the planet to his desires.

The stories of the European/American game and the Japanese game are a bit different. In the Western story, the Gunstar Dynasty protected the planet Gunstar 9 for a long time, but now it's time for the main character to save the planet from different destructive forces, such as androids or evil geniuses.

The Japanese version, which is considered the original one, finds out character close to the end of the world. An evil organization wants to destroy different planets, but the main character the player has to control needs to stop the evil plans.

The game was received really well, with the Electronic Gaming Monthly offering the Best Action Game award in 1993. Not only the critics appreciated the game, but also players all over the world. The game received very good feedback over the time, and this is also one of the reasons why two years ago it was developed for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network.