[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Hyper Lode Runner
March 29th, 2010 by Benj Edwards
Our Viking Future
Earthdate: 2264. These are troubled times for the planet. After centuries of peace, the renegade Red Lord of Darkness has led his cyborg fanatics in a bloody revolution that has overthrown the United World government. Millions of political prisoners are being tortured in his infamous Labyrinth of Doom far beneath the surface of the planet. Very little is known about this subterranean maze of brick-walled catacombs. Just vague rumors about the hidden millions in stolen gold guarded by a ruthless army of mutant cyborg zombies commanded by the merciless General Zod, governor of the Red Lord’s death camps. Only one thing is sure…none of your predecessors have ever come out of this dreaded place alive. But, you must find a way out with a lode of gold big enough to launch the counterrevolution. You are the last hope; the last of the great Lode Runners.
I don’t know what’s scarier about the future: the Red Lord of Darkness or the United World government. Hard to choose.
Discussion Topic of the Week: In your opinion, what computer or video game has the best plot/story of all time?
March 29th, 2010 at 8:48 am
Myst. It is hard to explain how well this game brought me into the story.
March 29th, 2010 at 10:17 am
Totally agree with Myst. Also, the Blade Runner adventure game (I believe there were 3 outcomes, depending on how you played; I got the ‘replicant sympathizer’ plot). And Chrono Trigger.
March 29th, 2010 at 10:42 am
First off, General ZOD?? If that’s the case, I don’t think “the last of the great Lode Runners” is going to be enough. This looks more like a job for the son of Jor-El.
Anyway, it’s hard to choose a best story… but the one I got into the most was probably Final Fantasy VII. Cliche, I know, but whatareyougonnado?
March 29th, 2010 at 11:07 am
I agree about Myst. The series was created (even from the first one) with a ton of backstory, everything from the immediately preceding events to centuries of civilization and technology.
Chrono Trigger was interesting in that your actions effected the path of history, and it was a very good game, but, generally, plot wise, it was fairly straight forward. Very good, but not the best, IMO.
FF7 had a good plot, with plenty of back story and twists. It’s only cliche because so many people agree on it, because it does have a very good story.
I remember Load Runner, but I don’t remembering it having much of a plot. I don’t remember Hyper Load Runner, so maybe they tried to put a plot in for that version.
March 29th, 2010 at 11:17 am
The Exile (now Avernum, in their remade form) series. I’ve never felt so much like I really was part of the world in any other games. Recently, though, I’ve been playing Dragon Age… I’m not quite done, but it’s come close to the same feeling.
March 29th, 2010 at 11:50 am
Ultima V, of course! So many things going on in what seems on the surface like a Robin Hood story. Legislation of morality, good of one vs. good of many, and the playing of the 8 virtues against each other, which is the hallmark of the middle Ultimas.
Though as a straight narrative The Dig was very good, and the original Monkey Island probably the funniest.
Sacrilege, I know, but I have never finished KOTOR. It may be the actual winner for best story.
March 29th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Star Control II!
March 29th, 2010 at 8:27 pm
I’ll echo Star Control II as well. Great game with an immersive storyline.
March 29th, 2010 at 11:48 pm
“I don’t know what’s scarier about the future: the Red Lord of Darkness or the United World government. Hard to choose.”
March 29th, 2010 at 11:50 pm
That gave me a good chuckle.
Off the cuff I’m gonna say Syberia I & II. The already engaging story was greatly enhanced by well written, and well voice-acted characters. But there was something much more to it that just appealed to me…the idea of setting out to do something fairly mundane and being swept into a great adventure.
As for Myst: Just downloaded REALMyst a short time ago. When I finally carve out some time to play it that will be my first play-through ever. Read the book, but have never played the game (and I was around during the original heyday).
March 30th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
I am extremely shallow 🙂 , but I LOVED the first few Syphon Filter games for story. Besides that, I have always been more of a classic/retro guy I think. I would rather play the LCD Mattel Electronics Dungeons and Dragons game than Portal. Seriously.
March 30th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
Great topic Benj!
March 30th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
Thanks, Geoff. I love reading everyone’s replies. Keep ’em coming.
March 30th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Best video game storyline ever? Easy: Blaster Master (NES): Man’s pet frog escapes, hops out to the backyard where a radioactive crate has emerged from the earth, instantly mutates, falls through to the underground, man pursues down the hole, finds a super-tank at the bottom, suits up with the corresponding power armor and proceeds to search for his pet frog.
Now that I’ve had 20 years to think about it, I wonder if something got lost in the translation.
March 31st, 2010 at 12:36 am
I’d have to vote for Ultima V: Warriors Of Destiny. Among other things, it was an excellent illustration of the differences between internally-motivated situational ethics vs. following one-size-fits-all dictates of an authority figure, their effects on society & individuals, how people that think they’re doing the right thing can become horribly corrupted, etc. It wasn’t just a backstory (as in most games), either — it was the foundation for most of what the player did or encountered. More info here:
http://ultima.wikia.com/wiki/Ultima_V
In other words, it wasn’t like most other games, which were characterized by Richard Garriott as:
“You start the game as the great hero. (You know this because you are told so in the instructions.) You job is to kill the big evil guy. (Also, from the instructions.) You pillage and plunder everyone and everything to become strong for your final battle. (Of course the supposed bad guy is doing no evil right now, but you sure are.) When ready at last, you kill the ‘bad guy’ who has been sitting there peacefully waiting.”
March 31st, 2010 at 12:43 am
Also, am I the only one raising my eyebrows over the shape/location of the weapon that the Hyper Lode Runner guy is firing a glowing white substance out of? (I have heard some artists do things like that for their own amusement, knowing a kid — okay, or someone really pure-minded, which I am not — would never notice.)
March 31st, 2010 at 12:45 am
(Wait, no, the stuff he’s firing out is bright yellow, surrounded by white. Still, you get my drift. If that wasn’t intentional, it sure seems like an unfortunate placement…!)
March 31st, 2010 at 11:58 am
Ah, mutant cyborg zombies. They must be the truly dangerous kind.
@Multimedia Mike: Oddly enough, that story was completely invented for the US version of Blaster Master. The original (called Meta Fight) had a completely different and much more pedestrian storyline. Where the frog weirdness came from is anyone’s guess. (Maybe someone at Sunsoft decided to see what they could get away with.)
And best story: Final Fantasy VI (3 US). No game’s plot, before or since, has ever brought me to tears. It did, twice.
March 31st, 2010 at 7:44 pm
Final Fantasy 10 or Metal Gear Solid. That’s my own personal opinion from the games that I have played.
April 1st, 2010 at 8:15 am
DPenn’s 5 cents — Thief: The Dark Project. Off the top of my head, it’s hard to point to a game that tells a groundbreaking story, but I enjoy the world created for Thief, the strange beats in the plot and the little notes scattered throughout the game that flesh out the people who inhabit it.
I also think of Portal as a finely crafted short story, or its video game equivalent.
April 1st, 2010 at 8:32 am
I guess that’s supposed to be “two cents.” Oh well, you got three additional cents.
April 1st, 2010 at 3:58 pm
I loved Lode Runner as a kid, but on Apple 2 machines. I never liked the newer ones though. 🙁
April 2nd, 2010 at 11:23 pm
OMG. Forgot Planescape: Torment. It took the tired “I’m an amnesiac thrust into a violent world” thing and ran with it, crossed the finish line and put it on a trophy shelf in its den.
April 7th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
I have to agree with Jay, FFVI (III in the US) had by far the best story of a game IMO.