Oh, may I add, why does this game contain Simon? I’m a huge Simon fan, it might be my favourite handheld electronic toy, but I am still perplexed as to why that was shoehorned into this game. I guess they couldn’t figure out a better puzzle mini game, maybe?
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Wow, a lot of comments this past week! I’ll be sure to read through them all soon – I’ve been preoccupied with other stuff lately but I have at least given Pitfall a try and Beetle Racing a spin.
First Impressions
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure
Definitely a platformer of the 16-bit era, through and through. But it’s certainly one of the nicer-looking ones. I’d be curious to know if this game really excited fans from the Atari gaming days, similar to how excited people these days have gotten regarding certain franchises making a flashy comeback.
I played the first level and some of the second via both the Genesis and SNES releases, to see which I’d prefer. For me the biggest difference is the “feel” – the Genesis version controls more sluggishly, while the SNES version is a bit quicker and livelier (not to mention brighter). I feel like I was able to see a bit further distance around me though in the Genesis version, which is nice – but if I’m able to react more readily with the SNES version then that’s what I’m going to have to stick with for the rest of the game. The waterfalls seemed much nicer in the Genesis release though. And as for buttons – it’s true the SNES had more to take advantage of, but I do wonder if the 6-button Genesis controller was supported?
(I believe the Genesis version also gave me a health percentage for the jaguar boss, while the SNES version didn’t… Why, SNES version, why???)
I will have to play a few more levels to get a better idea of how I feel about the game overall. At the moment it just seems okay, but I do like the variety of weapons at your disposal. And I do like the way your character crashes into walls and does a cartooney fall onto his back.
Beetle Adventure Racing
Though I didn’t have a Nintendo 64 growing up, I did have friends/family/acquaintances with one and this game is feeling super-nostalgic to me. I’m sure I never played Beetle Racing before, but it feels very much in line with all the other arcade racers on that system. Very easy game to jump into and just have some nice simple races.
That said, damn these races are long! I feel like one single lap in this game is as long as other games’ full 3-4 laps for a course. And yeah, having only Beetles to race will probably get tiring sooner rather than later.
I do like the courses still though, and the way they apparently change a bit for the final lap is very welcome in my book. The whole gimmick of crashing through the boxes scattered about also seems like a decent way of adding replayability, for those wanting to unlock everything the game has available.
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Updates on my progress:
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure
Halfway through the game now. So far I find the game very okay. I’ve seen the game compared to Aladdin on the Genesis a lot, but I feel Aladdin was a lot more approachable and presented itself much better. In Pitfall, it’s often pretty difficult to tell what is background and what is foreground, and I often die from things like slippery ledges, misjudging what is a platform, and just having to take a leap of faith and hoping I don’t get an insta-death. (The various insta-death obstacles are also rather cheap at times.) In Aladdin meanwhile, everything is crisp and clear. I can readily tell where all the enemies are, what their attacks are like, and how I should go about dealing with them. Pitfall is much more chaotic in comparison. Which isn’t an entirely bad thing, but it leads to more frustration for me.
One thing I do appreciate in Pitfall (at least so far) is that it’s sticking with its setting from level to level, and still finding ways to ensure there’s some variety in environments. As an aside, I personally have long had an interest in the ancient Maya civilization, and feel its a terribly underused setting in video games. I would love to see a full-blown adventure game one day actually set in the traditional Mayan era (as opposed to just modern-day explorers in the ruins), where you play as a warrior and have a story involving their mythological folklore and whatnot.
Beetle Adventure Racing
I’ve won the first two championship modes now. I’m still finding this a fun little arcade racer, and it always feels good when I can make my way down a course’s shortcut pathways.
One thing I enjoy in these sorts of games is when there are other exciting things going on during the race, usually off to the side of the track. My favorite so far being the course that is clearly ripping off Jurassic Park, and has a T-Rex bursting its head out of the fence, roaring at your little VW Beetle. Now that I think about it, I’d love a game that’s just… “Jurassic Park: The Scene Where a T-Rex is Chasing the Jeep: The Game.” And that would be the title too.
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I think you’re coming up with great ideas, here xD
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Have you hit the second mine level yet? Let me know if very okay is your feeling about the game after that level.
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This was something I noticed quickly too. The speed of your car seems entirely unaffected by the terrain you’re driving over. Dirt, sand, grass, snow, gravel – it’s all the same as the road. I feel like to make up for driving off-road, the hidden paths would just need to be a bit more of a shortcut, you know?
I think this is what I appreciate most in a good arcade racer – the feel of your car being intuitive to control and not to difficult to handle effectively. But that said, I feel things get wonky half the time when you land after a big jump. Sometimes I can continue driving along straight, and sometimes it seems my car spins out of control a bit too easily.
I’ll probably have to agree here. I haven’t played on the hardest difficulty yet, but so far there’s been no challenge in winning all the races, regardless of whether I go for the shortcuts or not. Which I suppose means multiplayer is probably the main draw here, but I guess you could argue that for any arcade racer. This was perhaps before full-blown career modes and car customization were commonplace in racing games. (Though I wouldn’t be surprised if there were at least a few by this point? Really not sure.)
The game has run smoothly for me, using EmuHawk. But there are some minor graphical glitches from time to time (occasional scanlines in the background elements, sort of thing), so I imagine it’s not 100% perfect.
Your assessment for this game overall seems sound though, bmo. Not the best of the bunch for this genre, but for those who are fans of the genre it’s worth a playthrough at least. I’d really like to try playing the game multiplayer (if only to give the battle mode a shot)… will have to look into that.
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Yes, the animation for this Pitfall game is pretty splendid. Very cartooney, over-exaggerated motions which for the most part don’t hinder the actual gameplay. I think my favorite bit of animation is when he sinks into a tar pit.
Yeah, my strategy for the jaguars is just… spam my explosives and boomerangs, and make sure I have full health beforehand lol.
Thanks for the kind words! I hope these games are all fun to try out at least, even if they’re not all winners for everyone.
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Oh, I think I know what part you’re talking about. Yeah, definitely a cheap death there. I wonder if that part would be easier to anticipate in the Genesis version, where you can see slightly further ahead.
I think in that same level, I learned the hard way to not use a close-range attack to break any of the barrels. Insta-death, without any warning. (And strangely, you don’t even get to see the presumed explosion? My screen would just turn to black instantly.)
Run of the mill graphics? Damn, what were their standards for a SNES game lol.
Oh, this reminds me of something that is a pet peeve of mine in this game. Instantly-respawning enemies. I’m (kind of) fine with enemies returning if you leave an area and later return to it, but it’s extremely annoying if it’s just, like… you kill an enemy, jump, and land back where you were, and the enemy is there again – all in the span of about 0.73 seconds. Like, at least let me take a few steps away first before you come back, lol.
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I suppose that I quoted that for the latter part regarding the mechanics. However I don’t fault them for the dig against the graphics. Colour use seems subpar for a SNES Game. Compare it to Aladdin, something we are all already doing. The greys on greys and browns on browns don’t really help the overall aesthetic. There are a limited number of level designs and, as I pointed out before, they are simply palette swapped. We also have to consider the SNES version compared to other games. Compared to the Genesis version alone the SNES version is relatively ugly even if it is sharper. And then there is the fact that this game was released in 1994. By this time the SNES has already seen Aladdin, and Nintendo’s own games pop in a way that makes Pitfall’s muddy colours look even duller. SMW is a gorgeous game and that was 1990. Same for ALttP two years later. Then there’s the killer fact that both Pitfall and Donkey Kong Country were released on SNES in November 1994. Regardless of what anyone thinks of DKC now, it blew people’s minds at release. That’s the context in which this review happened.
As for SNES standards, I’d say I’ve played many a game that is prettier than Pitfall. Animations are smooth and gorgeous, but it lacks in many other ways especially compared to some classic SNES games.
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Jeez, I almost rage quit over the third boss but I finally managed to beat him lol. I’m in agreement with everyone who said this isn’t a great game overall. I am enjoying playing it and discussing it as part of the retro game club but otherwise I would have definitely ragequit and moved onto something else lol. The visuals are nice enough too that it’s not so tortuous to keep going but I hate that in some spots you can’t tell which objects are part of the background and which are platforms so I keep falling and dying. Thank god for save states!!
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Yeah, that level was a real pain. Probably the hardest part of the game tbh. You kind of just have to learn the exact path to take when that mine cart (or platform, whatever you’d call it) starts going super fast.
I suppose… I do really like those detailed backgrounds though, even if it is a pain sometimes to figure out where some things are in relation to your character.
It’s all about stockpiling those explosives, lol. But yeah, the bosses aren’t great in this one. It’s too bad they couldn’t come up with more imaginative enemies for those. Jaguars three times, and then the grand finale: the warrior spirit… which I found pretty boring.
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure – Final Thoughts
It’s an okay platformer. Probably not one I’d ever go back to, but I wouldn’t call it bad. But I’ll admit that the animation is probably the biggest factor for getting me to play this one, and the novelty of that can’t carry a whole game. The variety in weapons was well-appreciated, but the level design and controls were… less so.
Some final things I liked:
- the ending – more specifically, the fact that when you rescue your father, he turns out to be… literally the guy from the Atari 2600 Pitfall game, i.e. a stick figure. The idea of characters from older-generation video games living in the same space as later-generation characters without getting updated graphics themselves is a delightful one, and I have to wonder now if that concept has been played with further in other video games.
- playable version of the original Pitfall game included… pretty spiffy! Now I’m wondering if I should have Atari games in the lineup for this retro game club at some point, but I have basically no experience with them. Something I’ll consider at least.
- the level select code, so that I could continue where I left off when I accidentally saved over my save state at the title screen
Some final things I didn’t like:
- jumping segments where the platforms move in and out of the walls, and you have to time everything 100% perfect for like 4-12 jumps… I call these Mega Man segments since the NES Mega Man games seemed to love those, and I always hate them (especially when they’re over a pit or some other instant-death floor)
- I already brought them up, but yeah the mine cart level sucked, and so did the bosses
- in one of the last stages you get insta-death boulder-wheels that just appear right in front of you – this sort of thing happens several times over the course of the game, and I’m just not a fan of such quick deaths without warning…
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And it’s already the end of another month! How time flies when you’re having fun playing…
Beetle Adventure Racing!
–Final Thoughts–
Things I liked:
- It’s just a fun little game, what can I say.
- Favorite track? Gotta be Inferno Isle. Because dinosaurs. Also I liked the shortcuts a bit more in this one. (And, hey, you get to drive through a giant skull head in the mountain.)
- Shoutout to the bonus stage Wicked Woods though, for being a nice segue into spooky October month. : )
- Favorite “moment” in the game though is probably the part in Sunset Sands where you make a hard right in some structure, and you’re weaving through pillars across a reflective, glossy race floor. Just a nifty set piece.
- The music is chill.
Things I didn’t like as much:
- Yeah, these courses are loooooooong.
- And if you’re doing well (or even just half-decently in most difficulties), you really are ahead of the pack the whole time and so the intensity of most arcade racers is kind of just lost in this one.
- I like the New VW Beetles and all, but I have to wonder if this game really needed to be like arcade racing games of that time. I feel this could’ve been a great opportunity for the devs to shoot for something a bit different – some kind of “chill” driving game perhaps following in the steps of OutRun, but even more chill. Some kind of open-world exploration game with little challenges and whatnot, but mostly just be about finding all those secret paths while you listen to groovy tunes. I don’t know, maybe the world (and the technology) wasn’t ready for that sort of thing yet.
And that’s that for September. Of course, everyone feel free to comment more on Pitfall and Beetle Racing whenever you feel like, it’s fine to continue discussing older featured games too.
I’ll get a write-up put together tomorrow, but here are next month’s games:
- Illbleed – a survival horror game… of sorts (Dreamcast – 2001)
- Splatterhouse – a classic beat-em-up (arcade – 1988)
That’s right, a spooky theme for October. And even more specifically, a “B-horror movie” theme. Should be fun!
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I’ve never ever played anything on the Dreamcast. This will be something!
That’s some next-level retro voice acting! 
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Oh, now I’m wondering how bad I should feel about making Illbleed your introduction to the Dreamcast, lol! The Dreamcast was my fave gaming system from 2000 to like… 2012, when my heart was seized by the Vita. (What can I say, I’m a sucker for the unloved.) Lots of great games worth checking out on Sega’s swan song console – for now I’ll recommend Crazy Taxi, Jet Grind Radio, Project Justice, Skies of Arcadia, Rayman 2, Chu Chu Rocket, and Power Stone.
But yeah, Illbleed is one of those games that hardly anybody played back when it came out, but over the years has gained a strong “cult classic” following, perhaps comparable to something like Deadly Premonition. I expect plenty of criticisms for this one, but it’s also a game that is so infamously bizarre and unique that I’ve long felt I just had to play it one day.
Yes, this was still the era of notoriously bad voice acting in a lot of video games. In the case of Illbleed, I’d argue that it’s fitting given its “B-movie” conceit.
(Full write-up coming shortly.)
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With great power and all that 
Truth is that not since I was little and had what I called a “Family game” (and now realise was a precursor to the NES), have I had a console. All my experience with consoles was reduces to going to my friends’ houses. In elementary school I remember one friend had a Sega Genesis and a couple had Playstations. In high-school I sometimes played with a Nintendo 64 and then a GameCube in my then girlfriend’s house. But that’s it, really.
If the Dreamcast is obscure in Europe and North America, here I only new it peripherally by watching a TV show about technology aimed at kids (watching it now is pure and weird nostalgia. At minute 6:25 they are talking about the new Windows 2000, whose main selling point apparently was that you didn’t need to restart it after installing a progamme 
).
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I think the Dreamcast was popular enough in North America, despite its general lack of consumer uptake. Of course this is anecdotal, but my circle of friends all had a Dreamcast, so it was something we all had experience with. It’s the only Sega console I ever owned that wasn’t something I bought decades after release (hello Genesis!).
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For October 2020, the retro games of the month shall be:
- Illbleed – 2001 – survival horror
- Splatterhouse – 1988 – beat-em-up
Illbleed is a bizarre survival horror game for the Sega Dreamcast, developed by the appropriately-named Crazy Games studio (their only other console game being Blue Stinger… another strange action/horror-ish Dreamcast exclusive). Founded by Shinya Nishigaki, Crazy Games was an off-shoot of Climax Entertainment, responsible for games like Landstalker (Genesis), Dark Savior (Saturn), and Time Stalkers (Dreamcast). Unfortunately for Illbleed, it was released shortly after Sega announced the discontinuation of the Dreamcast, and most gamers were getting their survival horror fix from the Playstation 2 (such as earlier “retro game of the month” game Onimusha, released a couple months prior).
But the thing is, we probably shouldn’t just be calling Illbleed a survival horror game. Its tone is intentionally a blend of weird, surreal, and downright corny sorts of horrors – which can perhaps come off as creepy at times, but in a different way from your more traditionally monstrous Resident Evil or more psychological Silent Hill. And because Illbleed is so strange and unique within its genre, it has become something of a cult classic over the years, and its used copies now sell for a good $200 these days. (I will be using Redream on my computer.) The game is made up of six different stages, each riffing a different type of horror movie. Apparently Illbleed shakes things up in each “world,” making the game a sort of wacky horror anthology.
It’s not just the tone and presentation that is special in Illbleed though – the gameplay is also something unexpected. The story places you in a spooky death trap-filled amusement park, in search of your friends who visited it prior and haven’t returned. In order to avoid said death traps, you have to use special goggles to “mark” spots of potential danger… a bit like Minesweeper. You use four senses to figure out where traps might be: sight, hearing, smell, and “sixth sense.” These senses can alert you to items and enemies as well. Also important for this game, you will have to watch more than just your health bar – you also have blood, heart rate, and adrenaline. Suffice to say, you’ll need to be cautious yet thorough in your exploration, and put your observation skills to good use.
Illbleed was only released for the Dreamcast, and Howlongtobeat dot com says to give it 9 and a half hours to play through. An updated port to the original Xbox, as well as hopes for a sequel game, unfortunately never materialized when Crazy Games shut down and creator Shinya Nishigaki passed away of a heart attack a couple years later. I think it will be interesting to take a look at how a title as obscure as Illbleed can still be considered a precursor to horror game trends in the years that followed though, from the campiness of titles like Obscure, to the nonlinear “routes” regarding who lives and who dies in hits like Until Dawn. At the very least, Kazutaka Kodaka has said Illbleed was a direct influence for the story of the Danganronpa franchise (a personal favorite of mine).
Splatterhouse will be our “arcadier” game for October, and is a fitting one for being one of the earliest horror-themed game franchises that is still remembered to this day. The first Splatterhouse game was released in arcades by Namco in 1988, and is a beat-em-up heavily influenced by slasher flicks of that decade. A Turbografx-16 (PC Engine in Japan) port was released in 1990, and had a delightful parental advisory warning on the cover:
“The horrifying theme of this game may be inappropriate for young children… and cowards.”
Namco was one of the top contributors to arcade games in the 80s. Pac-Man, Galaga, Dig Dug, Pole Position, Mappy… Lots of classic, fun, and family-friendly games. But then came Splatterhouse, from seemingly out of nowhere. It certainly wasn’t the first beat-em-up, but unlike, say, Double Dragon – Splatterhouse was filled to the brim (or perhaps overflowing with) gore. Lots and lots of ridiculous pixelated monster gore. It’s over-the-top enough to come off as silly, but still… Ghosts 'n Goblins this ain’t.
Interestingly though, despite what I’d presume were Namco’s intentions of causing a grand rumpus and getting truckloads of quarters in the process (bad publicity = free advertisement, you know), Splatterhouse didn’t cause all that much of a stir. It somehow went largely unnoticed in arcades, but became a bit more of a cult classic series thanks to its two just-as-bloody sequels on the Sega Genesis. For whatever reason, violence and mature content in video games wouldn’t become a really big concern until the likes of Mortal Kombat and Night Trap, leading to the ESRB being formed in 1994.
Probably the easiest way to play Splatterhouse now is via the Namco Museum collection available for the Switch. There were also some phone ports made back in 2010, coinciding with the release of a 3D reboot game of the same name for Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 (though that entry seems to have been panned by many critics). The Turbografx-16 version is also available to play on the Wii’s Virtual Console, and on the Turbografx-16 Mini (or PC Engine Mini).
Please feel free to share your thoughts on either (or both) of these games as you play them over the course of October. If you finish, you can give a mini-review if you’d like. Let us know if you think these games stand the test of time!
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Dreamcast definitely didn’t do well commercially, but it sure was loaded up with great games considering its relatively short lifespan. Despite the PS2 having a rather lackluster start to its game lineup in comparison (IMO), the masses were already won over by it simply being the next Playstation. (And, you know, it played DVDs.) Gamecube and Xbox had both come out as well in 2001 – quite the crowded marketplace.
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I started messing around in Illblood last night. My first impression was not good, because I managed to go into the game without going through the tutorial, so I could “sense” that there was a trap, but I didn’t know what to do to avoid them. I had to go to a 20 year guide posted in gamefaqs that pointed me to the tutorial level, which baffingly is far to the left and through a small and easy to miss corridor.
It still was hard to follow (I needed to follow the guide in order to complete the tutorial!) but now I think I have a more or less fair grasp of the mechanics of the game. Hooray!
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Which emulator are you using? I’ve tried Redream but it crashes when I load the game.
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