Page 1 of 1

Alien vs Predator (Jaguar Retrospective)

Posted: December 23rd, 2020, 9:46 pm
by Zack Burner
Time for a retrospective of what might be the only good game on a failed system. I'm happy to report it has aged nicely! The option to play 3 different species with different abilities really boosts replayability. I usually play the Marine, sometimes the Alien, and next to none for the Predator. Sorry Predator fans, but the controls are just too complicated for my tastes. The other two are simpler yet more effective. The Alien's creation of extra lives by means of cocooning, forgives the vulnerability and absence of healing items, though the backtracking is tedious, not to mention the melee only attacks, the tongue attack is really the only move worth your time. As for the Marine scenario, near perfect, though the absence of a melee attack (well the guy's shrimpy compared to Ahnold) is the only weakness. Of the weapons my favorite is the Flamethrower and I love the quote when you get it: "People talk to me about Killing!" I will admit the frequent exploration for the keycards and weapons can be a chore, but that's what makes it so cool. The graphical sprites have stood the test of time, the aliens are the best looking of the bunch. All in all, if you still have the Jaguar system, hold on to this title by all means!

Note: I played this on the website Retrogames. The only hit is the framerate is slightly slower, but that's a minor setback.

Re: Alien vs Predator (Jaguar Retrospective)

Posted: December 25th, 2020, 9:48 pm
by Retro STrife
The Jaguar was one of the very first “retro” systems I bought when I started collecting in the early 2000s. Of all the games for the system, I was most looking forward to trying Alien vs Predator. Sadly I have to admit I was very disappointed, and personally think it’s a very overrated game. My memory of the reasoning is vague now, but I think the alien and predator modes felt almost unplayable. Hard to control, hard to figure out what was going on. The Marine levels were ok as a plain early FPS, but not on the levels of competitors like Doom or even Wolfenstein. It’s aged like 15 years since I last played it, so it’d probably feel even worse if I tried it now.

That said, it is one of the most popular Jag games, so I’m probably in the minority here.

Re: Alien vs Predator (Jaguar Retrospective)

Posted: December 27th, 2020, 9:44 am
by DrLitch
For 1993 the game was very impressive even if running a little choppy. My main issue with it was the maze like levels and finding the keycards when all areas look similar. Then there is the issue of running out of ammo (the game is very stingy here) and dead alien guts remain on the ground and hurt you if walk over it (sometimes unavoidable). Yeah the game is way overrated but back in 1993/4 it was fascinating. Nowadays such a poorly designed FPS would be slated but in 1994 there were not too many knocking around and the calibration bar had not been set - PC owners at the time had Doom 1/2, Hexen, and Wolfenstein as staples and little else. All are better games of course but in the console space, FPS were thin or nonexistent (unless you want to count the SNES port of Wolfenstein which was terrible). It goes without say the PC game Alien vs Predator released in the late 90's is a far superior game (worth pointing out it is not the same game either redone).

Re: Alien vs Predator (Jaguar Retrospective)

Posted: January 12th, 2021, 11:32 am
by Zack Burner
Just discovered a bit of a flaw: If you save your game, the alien numbers get reset if you load your saved game, though the amount of ammo you have and keys you have remain the same, even when you're battling the Alien Queen, her health is restored so keep that in mind.

Re: Alien vs Predator (Jaguar Retrospective)

Posted: January 31st, 2021, 8:41 pm
by VideoGameCritic
If there was a game that needed a re-review it's this one. Impressed the hell out of me back in the day, but my review is more than 20 years old! Can it stand the test of time??

Re: Alien vs Predator (Jaguar Retrospective)

Posted: February 6th, 2021, 5:03 pm
by Zack Burner
VideoGameCritic wrote:If there was a game that needed a re-review it's this one. Impressed the hell out of me back in the day, but my review is more than 20 years old! Can it stand the test of time??


Well we'll just have to wait for a re-review when the time comes Critic! It's probably the only good game out of the Jaguar collection...I found a few more flaws though...The Alien moves faster but it can get slippery. And watch out when you resave, the enemies can respawn, unlike Doom and Wolfenstein where you see the bodies of the fallen foes when you load your saved game. Otherwise this is one of my all-time favorite games. Recently I beat the Alien Queen as the Marine using first the Smart Gun until I ran out then switched to my favorite the Flamethrower and down she went!