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| Cliffhanger | |
|---|---|
 North American NES cover artwork featuringSylvester Stallone as Ranger Gabriel "Gabe" Walker | |
| Developers | Spidersoft (NES, Game Boy, Game Gear, Amiga) Malibu Interactive (SNES, Genesis, Sega CD) |
| Publishers | Sony Imagesoft Psygnosis (Amiga)Virgin Games,Infogrames |
| Composers | Brian Howarth (SNES) Dave Lowe (Game Gear) Graham Gray (Amiga) Mark Cooksey (NES) Martin Walker (Game Boy) Eric Hammond (Genesis/Sega CD) |
| Platforms | Amiga,Genesis,Sega CD,SNES,NES,Game Boy,Game Gear |
| Release | Super NESNES,Genesis,Sega CD |
| Genres | Platform game,beat 'em up |
| Mode | Single-player |
Twobeat 'em upplatform video games based on the filmCliffhanger (1993) were released in 1993. One was developed bySpidersoft for theNintendo Entertainment System (NES),Game Boy,Game Gear andAmiga. Another was developed byMalibu Interactive for theSuper Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES),Sega Genesis, andSega CD.Sony Imagesoft published all except the Amiga version, which was published byPsygnosis.
Aplane filled withterrorists attempting to steal money from a treasury plane while airborne is shot down by anFBI plane. The terrorists survive and send out a distress signal, to which the main character, Gabe, responds. However, Gabe does not know that the mayday signal is coming from a group of terrorists, and after reaching them, the terrorists capture Gabe's partner, Hal, and hold him hostage. Gabe must then set out and retrieve the money in order to save Hal.
The game begins with Gabe responding to the call, before Hal being captured. In order to progress through the game, the player must watch out for enemies and either avoid them by jumping or defeat them by attacking with various weapons, such as aknife or agun. There are also bosses after every few levels, the final boss being Qualen, the leader of the terrorist group. In some versions of the game the player can also collect money bags scattered throughout the levels to increase their game score, up to the possible maximum of 958845.[5]
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| AllGame | 1/5[6] |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 3/10[7] |
| Publication | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Sega Genesis | SNES | |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | N/A | 6/10, 5/10, 4/10, 4/10[8] |
| Game Players | N/A | 4/10[9] |
| Hyper | 64/100[10] | 64/100[10] |
| M! Games | 48%[11] 54% (CD)[12] | 48%[13] |
| Mega | 29%[14] | N/A |
| Play Time | 72/100[15] | N/A |
In their review of theSuper NES version,Electronic Gaming Monthly deemed the game a poorDouble Dragon clone, citing a lack of originality, poor controls, tiresome gameplay, and below average graphics.[8] They were even more condemning of theNES version, saying that the controls suffer from a delay, the soundtrack is grating, and the graphics look like they're from one of the first wave of NES games.[7] Reviewing the Sega CD version,GamePro criticized that the five platforming levels are repetitive to the point of monotony, praised the two snowboarding levels as "extremely challenging and fun", and complained at the game being weighted more towards the platforming levels than the snowboarding levels.[16]
In a retrospective review of the NES version AllGame editor Christopher Michael Baker was heavily critical of the game, calling it "one of the worst gaming experiences you'll ever encounter on any system".[6] Baker criticized the graphics and controls, and referred to it as a "disgrace to video games".[6]
The game was awarded Worst Movie-to-Game of 1994 byElectronic Gaming Monthly.[17]Mega said it was "a truly disgusting piece of software".[14]
There are major gameplay differences between the 16-bit and 8-bit versions of the game. The Genesis/Mega Drive, SNES and Sega CD versions are almost identical and feature gameplay similar to street brawlers likeDouble Dragon andFinal Fight. The Sega CD version contains a 3D snowboarding sequence where the player has to escape from an avalanche. Otherwise the gameplay on the 16-Bit systems is the same across the board. The Amiga, NES, Game Boy and Game Gear versions however contain lower resolution graphics and a simpler side scrolling gameplay.
In December 2012 programmer Chris Shrigley, who worked on the Sega Genesis version, released thesource code for educational purposes to the public.[18]
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