ALIENS VS PREDATOR
( Alien VS Predator )
|
|
|
|
|
エイリアンVS.プレデター
©1992 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
©1993 IGS Corp.
Sublicensed from Activision
Release: 1993-01-08 (¥9800)
Cartridge SHVC-AP
Fighting Game
|
Released in America as
ALIEN VS PREDATOR
( SNS-AP-USA )
|
|
Released in Europe as
ALIEN VS PREDATOR
( SNSP-AP-XXX )
|
|
Aliens VR Predator is a side scrolling fighting game developed by
Jorudan Co. and published by IGS (sub-licensed by
Activision). The action takes place in 2493 and
colonists on the distant planet Vega 4
accidentally unearthed weird dormant alien eggs while digging a new subway tunnel.
As expected, Xenomorph aliens have now taken over the colony in
New Shanghai City and humans, overwhelmed by the
sudden threat, decide to send a distress signal to Earth.
Little do they know that Predators, on-board their cloaked ship, intercepted it
and decided to also investigate the situation and turn the
attack into worthy trophies for their collection! Players take control
of a Predator armed with lethal punches and kick. The hunter can also charge
up his famous shoulder cannon to unleash all kind of devastating attacks (although it
uses some of his precious health).
Aliens along the way also drop all kind of limited power-ups, such
as extra-health, throwing Blade-Disks, Javelin-Spears
or the option to use camouflage abilities.
Aliens VR Predator consists of six stages and although the game is single-player
only, it also features a limited two-player versus mode (sadly removed from the international
release).
|
|
There are some interesting and really odd differences between the Japanese and
international releases. First of all, the name of the game was surprisingly changed from
Aliens VS Predator to Alien VS Predator. But most interestingly, the
Predator sprite was changed and the orange/green palette used in the Japanese
version was changed to a brown/blue palette, arguably more faithful to the original
Predator color scheme (upper-right picture). Additionally, the Predator's
walking cycle was completely changed and looks less menacing in the
international release. Other odd changes include the Javelin-Spears
sprite, the Alien eggs as well as some of the Xenomorphs. The third
stage was also entirely re-designed. There are
tons of other small differences - for instance, you can dash in the Japanese
version (just press a direction twice) but this option was removed in the international version and the
player apparently always moves at dash speed. The Javelin-Spears and Blade-Disks can
only be thrown once in the Japanese version, whereas each one of them can
be thrown six times in the international release, and the Camouflage
seems to last a lot longer in the Japanese version.
The Shoulder Cannon also doesn't consume any health in the international release,
but it seems that attacks inflict a lot less damage overall.
Finally, the Japanese version features
a limited but fun VS Game Mode (lower-right picture) where two players can fight each other
(one as the Predator, the other as a Xenomorph). This option was
surprisingly completely removed from the international version...
|
Another game worth mentioning is Alien VS Predator (aka Alien Vs. Predator : The Last of His Clan)
for the Nintendo Game Boy (picture on the left).
It was developed by ASK Kodansha and published by Activision in 1993.
Although the International version of the game shares the same cover art than the
international Super Nintendo version tested here, it is an entirely different game
and is fairly average overall. Surprisingly, the Japanese version is surprisingly hard
to find and really expensive these days!
|
Teaser text from the American version:
The Cosmic Clash of the Century
You're a Predator warrior in the 25th century - an awesome monster
with an ugly face, brute strength and very cool weapons. Trained
to fight with all that Predator technology has to offer - destroy or
be destroyed!
You've come to New Shanghai, a city on the planet Vega 4, to hunt
humans, but instead you find Aliens - powerful, double-jawed
beasts bent on annihilating life. You're outnumbered, but not
outsmarted - the hunt is on.
Alien drones, warriors, chest-busters and face-huggers stand in
your way. Use your lasers, blades and special weapons of
destruction to win honor for your deeds. Destroy the Guardian
Aliens to advance to the next level, then follow your primal instinct
to reach the ultimate prey... the Alien Queen!
|
Game Staff (Copied from end credits) :
|
ALIENS VS PREDATOR GAME STAFF
Design Team
M. Asakawa
Y. Furusawa
Program Team
F. Sugiura
Y. Tejima
M. Asakawa
|
|
Graphic Team
H. Yabusaki
Y. Kikuchi
K. Igarashi
N. Kimishima
K. Nakanayashi
M. Ishida
T. Wada
Y. Arai
|
|
Sound Team
S. Tenpei
Mr. Ogura
THANK YOU FOR PLAYING
THE END
|
|
|
Game Staff (Copied from the American version's end credits) :
|
ALIEN VS. PREDATOR GAME STAFF
Design Team
M. Asakawa
Y. Furusawa
Program Team
F. Sugiura
Y. Tejima
M. Asakawa
|
|
Graphic Team
H. Yabusaki
Y. Kikuchi
K. Igarashi
N. Kimishima
Dr. Banana
M. Ishida
T. Wada
Y. Arai
|
|
Sound Team
S. Tenpei
Mr. Ogura
ACTIVISION STAFF
Producer
Tom Sloper
|
|
Test
Kelly Rogers
Chris Campbell
Special Thanks
Bill Swartz
THE END
|
|
O
M
A
K
E
|
|
|
|
|
Click on picture to enlarge |
S
E
C
R
E
T
S
|
|
Stage Select Screen:
Go to the Config Menu (Option Menu) screen, then
press and hold A, X, Left Shoulder and Right Shoulder
buttons on the second player controller. Then press Start on the first
player controller. This will activate the Stage Select screen (picture on
the right). Press Up or Down to select a different stage.
This cheat works for both Japanese and International versions of the game.
|
|
|
|
LK
|
|
Add your Pov here !
|
P
O
V
s
|
|
The first time I heard about this game, I thought that it was a port of
Capcom's excellent arcade game initially released in 1994. But, if you think about it,
the timeline didn't really add up - this game was actually released in 1993,
a year prior to the arcade game... Sadly, Aliens VS Predator is not related to Capcom's
incredible arcade game and is nowhere near it's level of excellence!
The game does look good for sure, with detailed (and impressive!) graphics, awesome character design
and more than correct animation cycles!
Nothing wrong here! But the gameplay is appalling... controls are
really sluggish and unresponsive, and the shoulder cannon (the meat of the game!) is
a pain to use! Secondary weapons are also a joke and don't help you much.
Bosses are on the lazy side too - some of the early ones feature random
attacks that are hard to dodge, and later ones are just terrible with
endless waves of meaningless attacks. Later stages are also just mind
dumbing boredom and feature incredibly lazy layout design. Did the
developers just run out of time and filled up the blanks with anything they
had at hand? It looks like it and most stages are just bland, monotonous and
feature the same enemies with not much variation. Many players ask which version is the
best ... well... the International version feels more balanced and the Japanese
version features an exclusive two-player versus mode - but they are both fairly average to be honest...
All in all,
Aliens VS Predator is a game that is still very sought after for all the things it
could be, but definitively isn't...
|
|
|
|
