Suggested By:
JohnEvansIn 1979, a friend of mine who produced records for punk bands gave me a 45 single with a song on it called "Back in the 80s." It was pretty good, though I don't remember the band's name, nor did I ever hear it anywhere else. 1979, remember. Listening to that song produced the same feeling of temporal dislocation that playing this game does -- in the opposite direction.
Like this, say: Maverick is the most original 80s arcade game to be released in the 21st century.
Maverick's screen says "Copyright 1981," and it sure looks like, and plays like, a game from then; blocky graphics, phosphorescent green "monitor," and the kind of control scheme you can easily see someone designing an arcade machine interface for: left mouse button to fire, move the mouse to aim. That's all.
But it's not a shooter, exactly; instead, you shoot to move, in the opposite direction -- recoil, you know. Most levels have gravity, but you can "fly" by shooting downward. Some don't, and some have a traction force in a different direction (e.g., directly onto the spikes at the right edge of the level). A single mis-step leads to death, but you seem to have infinite lives (well, you know, just insert another quarter for continue). Each level adds some new element -- changing gravity or direction of pull, new obstacles to avoid, platform sections you can shoot through, and so on. So it's essentially a level-based puzzle game that demands mastery of its highly original interface to get through.
Excellent, really. JohnEvans says "The endgame is an ironic comment on games themselves," but, uh, I haven't managed to complete it yet. Because I suck.
Yes, the endgame is worthwhile.
The kind of ending that makes you sit up with a start, gaze about you, and wonder how you'll spend the rest of your day.
Beauty!
Absolutely brilliant.
I have to admit, I shot the dern pig. I wonder if that has any affect on things. I doubt it. Has anyone played through without shooting the pig?
The ending essentially asks "What did you expect?"
I've been playing
I've been playing incrementally in between college classes today. I haven't gotten to the endgame yet either, but I'm two thirds of the way there. I really enjoy the way that each level has different physics (i.e. the way gravity changes with each level.)
Thrust
I dunno about how "original" it is, because it is Thrust.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrust_(video_game)
Well, ok, it's Thrust with a pulse engine, no turrents, no pod, no wire, no fuel, and soft collision. But it's still a remake of an old game.
It even reverses the gravity and has you replay the entire thing through again.
Fun, but not quite up to the excellence that Jeremy Smith had in 1986. The mouse directed pulse engine makes for an interesting twist.
Honestly?
I wound up shooting the pig by sheer accident, just trying to wrangle the controls. A bit clumsy to have that kind of "Make a Choice" ending in a game where the mechanics aren't quite as cut-and-dry, as it's easy to make a game altering decision absolutely by mistake.
Poor piggy
I shot the pig completely by accident, I didn't even notice it until I had started to move back to the entrance of level 15... Then I noticed that his text had changed. It was a complete accident. I don't know if I'd be willing to play to whole thing over again just to find out what happens if you don't, but I'm curious if anyone else does. As for it being like other games, there are a bunch of games with similar mechanics, like Solar Jetman for the NES, or so many other gravity based games where you have to avoid obstacles while you try to use your propulsion and momentum to get around. Still, it's a fun (and rather funny) little game. But man... there were some hard spots... especially 14 going in up (I think it was) and the level going down where you have to go through a tile wide channel surrounded by spikes. I think I finished the game with 50 deaths. Still, really fun as a short game. I might give it another go.
Living in the 80s
I suspect the band you heard was The Zero Boys and the song is called Livin' In The 80s. One of my favorites as a kid and really rare.
Well, I finally reached the endgame here...
...and it really is about the smartest joke I've heard tell on the subject of arcade-cabinet culture in a long time. There's a nostalgic twinge to it that I like, even as it goes out of its way to flip the bird to the player, in its own strangely good-natured way.
Remember, kids: Don't shoot the pig.