While on vacation, I visited my old hometown, home to 2 of my very favorite video game shops– one shop specializes in consignment PC games and the other is a spent video game shops that even has video games as far back as the Atari 2600. I picked up over 30 CD-ROMs for around $100 (as you may have ascertained by this point, I pretty much buy games by the pound). The games are for DOS, Windows, Sega CD and Sega Saturn. Right now, I’m cataloging them in my master spreadsheet.
Here are some odds & ends that I’m not sure are actual games. One is Steel: Audio Action-Adventure. I couldn’t tell if this was supposed to be some kind of game or just an audiobook. Judging by the jewel case copy that states, “Audio adaptation of Warner Bros.’ latest action-adventure film introducing a great new super hero with underscore and special 3-D sound effects,” it sounded like a straight audio CD. However, it has a QSound insignia on the back which made me think that it might be more than an audio CD. Nope– it’s just an audio CD. It’s a 35-minute adaptation of the 1997 film (of which I have positively no recollection), retold in 35 minutes. It’s sort of like an old-time radio play. I remember having a cassette tape in the mid-80s that gave the same treatment for Return of the Jedi.
The next title I’m not sure about is called Composer Quest. The jewel case copy doesn’t explain enough about the game to be judged as a game or not, but the “Quest” in the title certainly sounds promising. The disk contains FLIC files and contains the AAPLAY.DLL file (multimedia nerd trivia). When I run the game from the CD-ROM, it insists that it needs to create a file on the root of C: for high scores– another promising sign!
It turns out the CQ is, loosely, a game (look! the title screen has a “Play” button). It is to classical and jazz music what ArtRageous! was to the world of art. I.e., a mini multimedia encyclopedia of classical and jazz composers and music mixed with some games, largely trivia-based.
Some of the top search terms driving traffic to this little blog deal with games revolving around a certain Mexican delicacy. (I am loathe to name specific search terms as that often has the effect of hijacking traffic from the more relevant page on my blog.) Of course, this is due to this series of games. Googling for the same terms to see what else could possibly be out there, I learned that Taco Bell is involved in another game distribution deal.
Included free in Taco Bell kids meals right now is 1 of 4 courses for 3D Ultra Mini Golf Adventures, a Sierra title that was released in April for the PC and Xbox 360. So, naturally, I was down at my local Taco Bell restaurant to procure all 4 discs, which can be purchased separately from a kids meal for a dollar apiece. I read that the promotion is scheduled to run through June 27 if, for whatever reason, you are motivated to gain possession of your own copies, which come with a number of kids puzzles including a simplified Sudoku puzzle. (Hint: I learned that these types of promotions tend to run at Taco Bell-only establishments vs. the increasingly common combo restaurant; e.g., Taco Bell/KFC combo restaurants are unlikely to feature these games).
This is the first time I have ever played a computer simulation of mini golf. I must say that I am impressed with this particular concept. I appreciate this game in the same way I appreciate outlandish pinball boards in computer pinball sims. Check out the Sly Serpent course:
The above is the second of 4 holes available on the Lost Island disc. The other 3 discs are named Carnival, Space, and Wild West. The full version of the game claims to feature a full 36 holes. Each of these Taco Bell-distributed CD-ROMs appears to have 4 holes each while the scorecard in each has columns for 9 holes. That would qualify each of these as demo discs. The reason I am hashing this over is that I am trying to understand whether each disc warrants entry into MobyGames.
While I’m trying to figure that out, here’s a screenshot from the Space disc which features the “Two Planets” hole where the hole is on a separate asteroid from the one where you are standing. Creative.
Regrettably, these games have no notable Taco Bell tie-in other than the branding on the CD-ROM promotional sleeves. No chalupa or burrito-themed courses.
A new shipment of 9 games arrived today from another eBay seller. None of the games are in MobyGames yet (or so I thought). It may be awhile before I have time to process all of them but I wanted to do my traditional hasty processing of at least one title that really grabs me. To that end, I selected one called Galactic Swarm. A lot of games in this pile come from PC Treasures and were originally developed by companies that I’m beginning to readily recognize. I’m eventually going to be an inadvertent expert on budget-type PC game titles.
Judging from the copy on the back of the sleeve that carried the game CD-ROM, I pegged this as an advanced Asteroids clone. When I checked the readme on the disk, I found out that the game is actually called Swarm, and it already exists in the database. Why is there this need to rename games like this? There must be a good reason, probably a legal reason. Anyway, the MG entry is from the very early days of the database and was so sparse that I pretended it didn’t exist and made it a goal to redo the entire thing.
The sparse, one-line description on the game’s entry confirms that it is, in fact, an Asteroids clone. However, it’s one that has very pretty graphics and also attempts to have a story. Each level begins with a voiceover from the character Saul who gradually explains how he got mixed up in all of this.
Here is Saul in his T-77 taking on an asteroid:
To get back to the story, mining a substance called EZT is big business and Saul is getting in on the action. It’s dirty, dangerous work, but it’s all he has ever known, or so he intones. However, he also indicates that he is indentured to a big, evil corporation for mining this stuff.
Anyway, there are reportedly over 100 levels in this game and the enemies only get meaner. But there are also plenty of weapons to pick up along the way to gain an edge.
Hi! Did you come here from Google looking for troubleshooting information about the PC game Jungle Legend? If so, I just wanted to let you know that I am also getting crashes from the main menu reporting that final.exe had a problem. At least you know you’re not alone on this vast internet.
…Moving right along, tonight’s game is Jungle Legend. It came in a new batch of obscure games from an eBay seller. Whenever a new shipment comes, I always feel like delving right into at least one of them. Unfortunately, this is the one I chose. Unfortunate because it did not work. The game had IncaGold on the packaging which made me feel good because they were responsible for Hot Wired. It looks like an outfit named Flair Software licensed IncaGold’s 3D engine for this title.
The game’s installer shows a graphic for 3D Real Hunting. That threw me off somewhat– was it an ad or an oversight on the part of the installation engineer?
The game’s documentation is quite thorough and straightforward about the storyline– skimming… African rainforests… tribes, ancient race… 4 magic stones, correspond to earth elements like fire and water. Okay, I gather I’m supposed to collect the 4 rocks. It occurs to me I almost have enough to write a MobyGames description, except that I don’t exactly know what the gameplay is like. I assume it’s a 3D game, and an action one at that. But I don’t know if it’s 1st or 3rd-person or perhaps side-scrolling.
I can already tell that April is going to be a fairly busy month and that this blog will go neglected for days at a time. That said, I just got 4 more fresh games from another eBay seller yesterday. And one of the titles was just too good to delay playing.
A.k.a. Beach King Stunt Racer (probably the European title as the manual comes in 4 languages), Bikini Beach Stunt Racer is the story of a courageous beach enthusiast’s quest to gather diamonds and perform dune buggy stunts in order to win bikini-clad feminine approval. The goal is to select one of three beach boys (stereotypical surfer jock, stereotypical food-obsessed party animal, or stereotypical drunken lush) and one of three tropical locales (St. Tropez, Bali, or Rio), and then drive your indestructible dune buggy around performing totally extreme stunts in order to earn the affection of the locale’s mascot lady. You might think risking your life performing silly stunts would be enough, but oh my goodness, no! She wants diamonds, too. Along the course, find 7 diamonds that complete her ring.
Examine the in-game screenshot:
In the upper left hand corner, you will observe the Babe-O-meter. This is the babe (Ms. St. Tropez in this example) you are currently trying to impress. She sits inside her ring which will show the diamonds as they are collected.
That screenshot showcases a rather serious but altogether enjoyable bug in the game. Sometimes when I would start the course, the dune buggy would jump 100 meters in the air and show incredible views of the modeled landscape while allowing me to twist and turn and get incredible scores, thus throwing the babe into throes of wild ecstacy, even if I didn’t survive after hitting the ground (the character doesn’t die, he just has to restart the level and with the same bug manifesting). We’ll chalk that up to a bug in the 3D engine. Here’s a slightly less severe bug in the same engine, though still disorienting:
It seems that the light source in this case is the sand, hence the shadow on the wall.
At first, this game is just obnoxious. But with a little practice, it actually becomes somewhat enjoyable after I start understanding how some of the stunts are supposed to play. Maybe with this, I’ll finally have the courage to try the stunt modes in Skateboard Park Tycoon. There is apparently a rich variety of outlandish stunts to perform in this game. Check out the intro video for the game which showcases all manner of physics-defying dune buggy stunts (my favorite is when the surfer dude surfs on some rocks that his ride is flying next to):
Everything in this game comes in groups of 3 with an unlockable fourth: 3 beach racers (with an unlockable fourth, an Elvis impersonator character, perhaps a cliche of a typical beach if I were ever to visit one), 3 locales (with an unlockable fourth, Daytona), and 3 bikini babes (with an unlockable fourth corresponding to Daytona).
And if you can’t play the game, I’m sure the next best thing will be to view the gallery of eponymous bikini babes on offer. The CD-ROM has 16 ending videos (AVI/MS MPEG-4v2/PCM), depicting the outcome of completing the various courses with the available characters. Ms. St. Tropez here will be depicted as washing the winner’s dune buggy while the man does something clumsy while gawking at her.
This is Ms. Bali, who will come running at the winner in romantic slow motion, her arms spread for the embrace, while the man always ruins the moment somehow and Ms. Bali is reduced to shaking her head in disbelief.
During her ending, Ms. Rio is depicted as dancing provocatively on a floating platform while the winner comes up to her dressed as that character’s stereotypical passion (surf board, ice cream cone, or bottle). Invariably, the character falls flat in the oversized costume while Ms. Rio keeps on dancing.
Those ending descriptions cover what happens for the first 3 unlocked characters. The same sequences ensue for the unlockable Elvis impersonator but always end up with him performing some dance that makes the woman faint. It’s all very abstract. Either that, or I simply don’t get it.
Yeah, it’s been a bit slow the last few days on this blog. I’ve been working on a few non-gaming commitments recently. Plus, I thought I would give the MobyGames approvers a chance to catch up on submissions. My most recently approved entries are:
And as if I didn’t have enough games to work through, some of those eBay-ordered games referenced last week arrived tonight. I’ll have you know that I did sit down and play that Sabrina: The Teenage Witch game briefly. Though it sounded characteristically lame and therefore well-suited for this blog, it seems that a bunch of my IM buddies have fond memories of the show on which the game is based, or at least were infatuated with the show’s star, one Melissa Joan Hart. Apparently, I’m the only one completely ignorant of this show’s premise, stars, and characters.
I didn’t say I spent a whole lot of time on the game. Maybe 10 minutes total. It’s another Macromedia-driven, kid-targeted game. I hate to admit it, but even these are starting to wear on me, or I might just not be in the mood tonight. The disc didn’t come with any instructions, nor was there a manual on-disc. I knew that didn’t matter– these games always verbally explain the game as you go along. The game chronicles your quest to become a witch like Sabrina. You start out with your witchcraft learner’s permit as a stepping stone to your full-fledged license. You have to successfully complete 7 spells to earn that distinction. Your first opportunity to do this is when Sabrina’s treacherous black cat, Salem (aside: why would the pet be named after the town synonymous with burning witches?), tricks Sabrina into turning herself into a pumpkin. Undo this spell by looking up the spell recipe and searching her room for the ingredients.
And, well, I suspect the game continues along that same formula for some time afterwards. And I’m afraid I will find out sooner or later.
