Universal Another World - 20th Anniversary (By Bulkypix)

Discussion in 'iPhone and iPad Games' started by D3adly, Sep 21, 2011.

  1. Delusionaltool

    Delusionaltool Well-Known Member

    Sep 24, 2009
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  2. Rothgarr

    Rothgarr Well-Known Member

    Dec 19, 2010
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    The End achievement?

    I finished the game but didn't get the End achievement. This happen to anyone else? I have them all (even the UFO one) except for the End one so I'm bummed.
     
  3. brerlappin

    brerlappin Well-Known Member

    Feb 10, 2009
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    Played Out of this World back on the Amiga and remember finishing it hoping there would be a sequel. I was never much into consoles, so I just recently learned about Heart of the Alien on Wikipedia. Even though Eric Chahi isn't fond of it, it would still be cool to see it released on iOS, maybe even as an IAP.

     
  4. arta

    arta Well-Known Member

    Feb 14, 2009
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    #84 arta, Sep 23, 2011
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2011
    [​IMG]

    That's for Top Games, my mistake. For Top Apps it's #41.
     
  5. zergslayer69

    zergslayer69 Well-Known Member

    Apr 21, 2010
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    Amazing how one post will answer all questions about what to do in a game. One video even.
     
  6. Magnum0ik

    Magnum0ik Well-Known Member

    Jun 2, 2011
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    Portsmouth, England
    If you are worried about $5 now, this was about £45 on the super Nintendo/Famicom when released on that format in the early 90's. Probably about £20-£30 on the Amiga.

    Based on how the dollar/pound was back then I think it cost up to $90 at the time. $5 is nothing me thinks.
     
  7. Gnome

    Gnome Well-Known Member

    An absolutely perfect port/update of an already excellent game. Nothing to dislike here, and for $5 it's a steal.
     
  8. oooooomonkey

    oooooomonkey Well-Known Member

    Jan 15, 2011
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    Forge World
    There's one problem today and that's the Internet when playing things like this originally there was no Internet so no cheating by looking on YouTube it was just a case of keep trying dying trying. If your looking online for answers then you get no sense of achievement when you finally finsh a puzzle or game.
    Pah you can tell I'm getting old. "in my day games were different" :)
     
  9. Malrulezzzu

    Malrulezzzu Well-Known Member

    Mar 28, 2009
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    5 dollars is a good price for this game on iOS. If you have never played it don't go online to find the answers or then yes you will ruin the game and it won't be worth the money then. This is an awesome game, I really want to also play Heart of the Alien though I hear it is not as good as this game.
     
  10. your personal robot

    your personal robot Well-Known Member

    Nov 11, 2008
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    Berlin
    So glad this game reappeared in such a perfect port. The atmosphere still is miles above most other iOS games out there. Love the new controls, no interface, great! It's just stunning to dive into another world. Brilliant throughout and so much worth every cent.
     
  11. Nightshift Nurse

    Nightshift Nurse Well-Known Member

    Jun 23, 2011
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    #91 Nightshift Nurse, Sep 23, 2011
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2011
    Being a veteran of that age, here's my two cents:

    The problem with that approach (and it's one simply inherent to the era, not just Another World) is that it artificially pads length by forcing you to repeat large sections of a game ad nauseam. Having played my fair share of action-puzzle titles since 1991, I can say this is a particularly obnoxious and unnecessary thing to do within that specific sub-genre.

    Let's take the "flood the cave" segment in Another World as the example. In the past two days, I've heard this section referred to as everything from "that damn cave" to "that ****ing cave" to "that sodding cave"...so I'd say it's a fair place to start.

    That section employs a platforming puzzle of sorts. Rather than simply save your progress once its complete, you're then forced to fight through a rather lengthy combat-oriented portion of the game. A myriad things can go wrong in any one of these areas, the end result being a dead Lester. And should that happen? Tough ****. Back to the cave.

    Now let's consider that during these assorted segments, one's timing could be off, an enemy may do something unexpected, you may forget a sequence, one's finger could simply slip, or the software could crash. For the record, every single one of those things happened to me.

    I stopped counting how many times I've been sent back to the beginning of that cave somewhere around twenty - frequently for a simple slip-up or mechanical error that occurred well after I'd exited it.

    Nostalgia aside, there's simply no excuse for that sort of persistent design choice in 2011. If people want to play the original, warts and all, fine. For those of us who've actually been playing games in the two decades since its release, and have seen the improvements made to things such as checkpoint systems - the option should be there.

    The game is still plenty hard without the need to repeat earlier segments over and over and over again due to mistakes made later on in the game. Furthermore, it goes beyond simple padding into the realm of bad design when one considers that it actually robs the player of the opportunity to fully utilize trial-and-error puzzle solving - as they're first required to repeat several earlier sections (where things can still go wrong) before they even arrive at the area giving them so much trouble.

    As a side note, I'd also like to add that it's not simply "the younger generation" that dislikes this sort of thing. I've been playing games for nearly three decades and what I see as unnecessary difficulty pisses me off too. And frankly, I don't think games have gotten any easier - in many ways they've become harder - it's that technology has progressed to a point where the arbitary limitations that us old farts all took for granted simply don't exist anymore. And I say good riddance.
     
  12. your personal robot

    your personal robot Well-Known Member

    Nov 11, 2008
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    Just finished the game in normal mode without any help. What a wonderful ride. The only problem: I also didn't get the "End" achievement. And I didn't find the UFO :D
     
  13. caltab

    caltab Well-Known Member

    Feb 11, 2010
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    Just beat the game. I had never heard of it before this port. It probably took me 2 or 3 hours to beat. Overall, I liked it. The presentation is cool. However, I don't know if its how the original played, but I thought the controls were horrendous. I had a really hard time switching between running and walking and turning around. I died a ton of times because I could not get the dude to stop or turn around.

    I also didn't get the achievement for beating the game.
     
  14. devensega

    devensega Well-Known Member

    Feb 28, 2011
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    I think nightshift nurse has hit the problem bang on
    For me. My issue is that I am no longer thirteen and have oodles of time to play. I have a busy work and family life so only snatch at games in my few spare moments.
    The result is I have to relearn all the pitfalls of the game everytime I come back to it. I still find myself fumbling round that bloody cave everytime I turn on, I don't think I can be arsed anymore.
     
  15. the loafer

    the loafer Well-Known Member

    Feb 1, 2011
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    Well, here's the thing:

    On artificially lengthning a game: if this is a brand new game, then yeah, I agree. Nowadays, adding longevity to a game is limited more by time than by size of assets (or in the case of cheap games, by design as in "that's all you get for a buck". But this game was made 20 years ago, and 20 years ago, to make a game with this type of animation/engine, size limitations was reality. if it just used a 2D engine, or level design where every level you do the same thing, then sure, cheap artifical extension of gameplay. In this game, every screen seems to offer something new. But for new games? Sure, I have to agree, the 20 year old design doesn't work as well anymore, unless you're a pure arcade style fan, but those are rare nowadays... Still, this doesn't lesson those old classics, comparing games from different eras, and therefore game design, really is like comparing apples to oranges.

    I think you're comment "warts and all" is bang on here, but more to support what this game was and why it is what it is. As it is, from the description, I'm incredibly impressed with the new content they've provided which adds value to the purchase. But yeah, like ALL games, this game is NOT for everyone; but thankfully posts such as yours are very informative and provides an informed opinion to those reading this thread, as to which category they fall into and whether they should buy the game or not.

    You may be surprised to hear I've yet to purchase it, if only because I have finished it previously, I still own the 3DO version (which is awesome) and that 5 bucks seems a wee bit too much... but only because I've bought another $10 of games this week, so something's got to give you know?

     
  16. brerlappin

    brerlappin Well-Known Member

    Feb 10, 2009
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    Wikipedia said that the 3DO version had the following. Just curious if this version does....Thanks!

    "At the ending was a fragment of Heart of the Alien's intro. A separate mini game called "Stalactites" was also included in some versions of this 3DO release. In this the player pushes up Stalactites shapes falling from the top of the screen. Another hidden feature of this version is the animation of Bill Heineman getting his head chopped off."
     
  17. the loafer

    the loafer Well-Known Member

    Feb 1, 2011
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    Unfortunately, I've not finished the 3DO version and it and the 3DO is boxed up right now (moving in 2 months). but you are motivating me to unbox and try it out :).
     
  18. Pitta

    Pitta Well-Known Member

    Oct 19, 2008
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    Same here.
    The final achievement is missing for me too :(
    Game is still great.
     
  19. weehomer

    weehomer Well-Known Member

    Nov 30, 2010
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    Yeah, mines still hooked up, just might have to fire it up and play!

    [​IMG]

    Hmm, but I probably should cut the grass..........
     
  20. syntheticvoid

    syntheticvoid Well-Known Member

    Jun 20, 2010
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    Musician & factory worker.
    a[V-O-I-D]
    in DelusionalTool's runthrough, that part at 7:20 - I can not make it through... I blast through the door, and then the enemy guy just turns around and all 3 of his doors open right away, he always starts shooting before I make it down to the bottom, no matter what I do, or how fast I get there...

    Any one else experiencing this?
     

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