Nanogame

A blog with quality content about gaming in general, but focused on retro gaming.

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The horror genre and its almost non-existent relationship with the Game Boy

I’m a huge fan of the survival horror genre and I am also a huge fan of the Game Boy brand, but where do these two overlap? Sadly, if we were to draw a Venn diagram to answer that question, the area covered by both circles would be really, really tiny. But before you start enumerating a list of games you remember that might fall into the horror category, allow me clear a couple of things up. I think it’s important to at least try to define what “survival horror” is before we get into this article. So, according to Wikipedia:

Survival horror is a subgenre of video games inspired by horror fiction that focuses on survival of the character as the game tries to frighten players with either horror graphics or scary ambience. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical action games (...) through various obstructions of the player's interaction with the game mechanics. 

Am I safe to assume that, by having this description in mind, a lot of games you might have come up with just two minutes ago are immediately dismissed? Now, I’m not saying Wikipedia is the almighty source for defining video game genres however, I do agree with description presented above and it is the one to have in mind while reading this article. This being said, if you were thinking about Castlevania or Gargoyle’s Quest I’m sorry, I don’t think they fit the description. A lot of people assume that a game that fiddles around with characters commonly associated with the horror genre, are automatically horror games, but when was the last time you got scared or felt fear playing Stubbs: The Zombie? Even though it messes around with zombies, it’s not a scary game by any means... Don’t take me wrong, it’s a damn fun game, and I’d totally recommend playing it, but not from a horror game enthusiast standpoint. Now, if you want the fast answer, you’re in luck, scroll all the way down to the end of this article and you’ll find a compiled list of all the (few) horror games I could find across all Game Boy platforms. If you’re interested in taking a journey exploring this topic with me, proceed your reading.

There is one argument that tries to explain this whole deal and it is the following: one can easily explain that none of the models of the Game Boy have neither the power nor the capabilities to convey fear or scare the players: the way these consoles play sound and display graphics on a somewhat small screen is not enough to create a heavy atmosphere or provide terrorizing moments. However, time for a lesson in the history of survival horror!

The first game to officially use the “survival horror” term for describing its genre was Resident Evil in 1996 which was influenced by earlier games such as 1989's Sweet Home and 1992's Alone in the Dark. However, most players attribute the denomination of “First Survival Horror Game” to Haunted House, which was released for the Atari 2600 in February 1982! But where am I getting at? Well, if you think about it, despite the lack of complex graphics and sound effects, it fits the description above just fine. Is it scary? For me, a grown adult in 2017, no. We’ve come a long way since those days, but I’m pretty certain that if you teleport my six year old self to the 1980s, my imagination would fill in the gaps, certainly scaring me to depths or, at the very least, stressing me out.

If we’re talking about the original Game Boy, I do understand the argument of power and capabilities. We as human beings rely a lot on visual stimulation and since the DMG only displays pixelated graphics in 2-bit (4 shades of grey), it might really impact what developers would be going for. However, I do think they could’ve come up with something original to circumvent those constraints. Making use of the Game Boy accessories, for example, like the camera and printer could have heightened the immersion and the overall experience of a horror game. Also, with the appearance of the GBJam, an event where developers create Game Boy inspired games while keeping color and size constraints, we can see how much could have been done for this genre. Games like EXIT or Forest really make me wonder how it would be like to have something like that back in the day. Of course, these would definitely not run on the original Game Boy, because it had other processing constraints but it’s still interesting and inspiring to see what fans can come up with!

When the Game Boy Color came along in 1998, many of the audiovisual constraints from the previous console were lifted, however, the number of horror games released for the system was not much bigger. Resident Evil for the PlayStation had already been released and it would be expected that other developers would try to stick their foot in the door and leave their mark. That didn’t happen, however, there was an attempt by Capcom to port the original Resident Evil for the Game Boy Color and even though the project was abandoned, a title in the series was released under the name of Resident Evil Gaiden.

The last console to be released under the Game Boy brand was the Game Boy Advance in 2001. It was later revised and released as Game Boy Advance SP (“Special”) and it featured frontlight/backlight capabilities, something that had not been done in the Game Boy family prior to that model. Other than that, this model was no different than the original Game Boy Advance, and its power was pretty much the same. An handheld console capable of pretty much replicating the graphics and sound quality of the Super Nintendo, and also capable of being connected to a TV via GameCube, would be the best console in the Game Boy family to receive some horror games. It was also able to play games in pseudo-3D like Doom and Wolfenstein.

We had seen some pretty awesome games in the genre for the Super Nintendo. Games like Clock Tower, Laplace no Ma and Another World were games that captured the atmosphere of the horror genre and tried to make it their way around the constraints that the hardware posed. But did we get any of these games on the Game Boy Advance? No. There is a non-official ROM of Another World that was never even released in cartridge form (sadly) and that’s it. Again, there was an attempt by Capcom to port Resident Evil 2 for the Game Boy Advance but it was never completed either. There we’re still companies trying to bring this genre to the console by developing tech demos and engines, but nobody ever caught on.

So if we make a balance right now, here are the horror games that fit the description provided above: 

* Alone in the Dark for the Game Boy Color * Resident Evil Gaiden for the Game Boy Color * Ghost Trap for the Game Boy Advance * Silent Hill: Play Novel for the Game Boy Advance

There are other games, that I’ll give honorable mentions to, because even though they don’t fit the description, it’s as close as we get to horror in these systems: Alien 3 for the Game Boy, Aliens for the Game Boy Advance, Jurassic Park 3: Island Attack for the Game boy Advance and A Sound of Thunder for the Game Boy Advance.

So, even widening our criteria, we get at most 8 horror games for a time span of over 20 years across three generations of handhelds. Why? It’s easy to blame the consoles’ power but I sincerely think the Game Boy Advance could have had more games in the genre for the power and capabilities it has. My thoughts are that the Game Boy brand was always aimed at kids and that was the main reason why Nintendo might have been reluctant to develop and release horror games for them. Lucky for us, survival horror enthusiasts, when the Nintendo DS came along with real-3D capabilities, the number of horror games released for it doubled or tripled. So, if you’re just into playing and collecting survival horror games, we can surely agree that the Game Boy family can be dismissed.

If we really think about it, who needs horror games for the Game Boy when you have something as terrifying as this, this and this?

[nanogame]

What the hell is Phase Paradox and why has nobody heard of it?

I recently came across a very interesting game for the PS2 called Phase Paradox and, to my surprise, the information online about this game is very limited. I was intrigued... How can a game released over 15 years ago for one of the biggest consoles ever, be so unknown? I decided to do a little digging to find more and that’s what I’ll tackle in this post, but before we begin talking about it, a proper introduction to the series is due... Yes, to the series. Phase Paradox is no less than the sequel to the PS1 title, Philosoma. Never heard of it either, right? Don’t worry, I’ll elaborate... and spoil a bit of the first game, so be aware.

Philosoma was the first game developed by Epics Inc, the same Japanese studio who brought us Ape Escape Racing and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex for the PSP, and a bunch of other titles you might have heard about. It was one of the first games to ever be announced for the original Playstation and it was scheduled to be a release title, however it was only released in mid-1995 in Japan, and in 1996 in the subsequent regions due to complications during development. Despite the prolonged development time, it only received mixed reviews, praising the impressive FMVs and OK-ish gameplay but condemning its dull visuals. These didn’t stop it from receiving an award for Best Shooter of 1995 by Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine.

But what is it? Philosoma plays like any other 2D/3D space shooter (with a lot of resemblances to other shooters like Galaga and Gradius) but places its emphasis on the multiple perspective gameplay, which varies from isometric to top-down/vertical scrolling to full-fledged 3D. The story is pretty simplistic: a recently colonized alien planet named Planet 220, reports a devastating attack by an unknown force and requires assistance. The player assumes the roles of D3, a rookie pilot, as well as his commander Nicolard Michau and has to try to save the planet. In the end of the game (spoiler alert) , the said planet blows up and this is where Phase Paradox picks up.

But before we get into the story and gameplay, let's see how this game came to life. Phase Paradox, as opposed to it’s prequel, was not developed by Epics Inc, but by Sony Interactive Entertainment themselves, whom had published the first game. However, for the roles of lead designer and supervisor, Sony decided to hire Takahiro Matsushima, the creator of the original game. They setup a somewhat big team, which also included Tatsuya Ishiyama as a cinematic director, who would proceed to work on the cutscenes of the very acclaimed SoulCalibur IV. Don’t let me stop you from getting amazed but there are some more names you might recognize.  The character of Renee is voiced by no less than Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (who’s also the voice director in the game), the singer of some of the non-instrumental songs by Akira Tamaoka in Silent Hill. The character of Umma is voiced by Patricia Ja Lee, whom you may know better by Jill Valentine’s mo-cap and voice actress for Resident Evil 5. Steve Kramer, who has worked as an actor and voice actor for countless productions that range from cinema to video games, voices Lance Fuller’s character too... This only shows how big the production for the game must have been and how much Sony was betting on it.

The first announcement for the game was made by Sony in January 2001 but other than the game’s genres, very few details about it were given. They also announced it would be released in two DVD-ROM discs on the 22nd of March of the same year in Japan, but no dates for the other regions were given. The first demo only appeared in Tokyo Game Show Spring 2001 and by then, the game had been postponed to May 24th, the day it was released in Japan (in only one DVD). The first impressions were decent: people were praising the sci-fi atmosphere but were reluctantly talking about the gameplay:

“Three playable characters from different time frames and different places solve mysteries from each character's perspective. Once they all meet at a certain point in the game, the mysteries begin to unfold. As opposed to the theme of humans vs. aliens or zombies in most of the recent action-adventure games in the genre, this game is about human interaction, trust, and deceit...”

Now, this is where things start to get interesting! If you’re confused, because you were expecting details for a shooter, don’t be! Despite being a direct sequel to Philosoma, its genre is completely different. The sequel is not a 2D/3D shooter like its predecessor, but an action-adventure game with a lot of sci-fi and survival horror influences. The player can control three characters across a field map with pre-rendered backgrounds, similarly to the original Resident Evil games, however the action factor is not present. What I mean is, the player doesn’t shoot or solve puzzles. The player simply moves the characters in between cutscenes and is prompted to do binary choices of yes and no by pressing the X or circle buttons. By making the “wrong” choice, the player usually dies and is prompted to try again. This being said, the game can be easily completed by trial and error and this might just justify why most of the reviews I found online, even if scarce, were all condemning this gameplay mechanic. I’m not saying it’s very good but it seems to me that they’re were going for what could’ve been the beginning of tell-tale games like we know them today. The game also has three different endings, one for each playable character, depending on which one you choose to follow during the final phase of the game (you eventually play them all, to finish the game), which I thought was pretty interesting.

In my opinion, there are two things that this game nailed completely. The UI design and the atmosphere. The cover of the game is beautiful, that’s not an argument, but wait until you boot up the game! The main menu is gorgeous and damn satisfying to use. It’s the perfect intro for the game, which in its whole, gave me a vibe of “Blade Runner meets the The Thing”. Maybe because of the futuristic look of the pre-rendered surrounding environments, along with an interesting sound landscape that heavily relies on background noises, using music only when really necessary. The voice acting (done entirely in English with Japanese subtitles) is pretty satisfactory and goes well with the animation and even though it feels a bit cheesy at times, which game doesn’t? The cutscenes are decent, however, I’m really saddened by the fact that they couldn’t get the facial expressions right while the characters are talking, but hey, they tried! 

I got used to the game and to its flaws after the first hour, and got some enjoyment out of the whole experience and that’s why I’m writing this post. Most reviews of the game are bad, but I would still recommend it to anyone interested in survival horror and/or sci-fi, and any PS2 enthusiast. 

It’s an interesting landmark in PS2′s history that went completely unnoticed. But why? Despite the English voice over (which kind of proves Sony was intending to release the game worldwide), the game never got released outside of Japan. That means that if you owned a NTSC-U or PAL console, you’d need to import the game and you’d also need a modchip or an emulator to play it, hence making it hard for a common gamer to find and play the game. That doesn’t explain, however, why the mentions to this game on Japanese websites are nearly non existent... The game does have a small page on the Japanese Wikipedia, but there is no page for it on the English Wikipedia, so I’d say the Japanese are winning on this one!

For those of you who are interested in trying the game, you don’t need to play the first one (I didn’t) to enjoy Phase Paradox and even though all text is in Japanese, that will certainly not be a problem since all voices are in English. My copy of the game cost me a little over 5€ on eBay with shipping included, so if you want to add it to your collection, price will certainly not hold you back either. I’d recommend not watching any videos on it, since they might ruin the experience for you, take your go at it with an open mind and above else, have fun!