Plan 9 from Outer Space (video game)
| Plan 9 from Outer Space | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Gremlin Graphics |
| Platform(s) | Amiga, Atari ST, DOS |
| Release date(s) | 1992 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
Plan 9 from Outer Space is a point and click adventure game developed by Konami for the Amiga and Atari ST. It was released in 1992 and published by Gremlin Graphics. A DOS version was made but only released in the USA and Europe. There were two editions of the game. The rarest one came solely packed with the Plan 9 game, while the other edition came with a VHS copy of the film.
Background
The game is inspired by the 1959 Z-movie Plan 9 from Outer Space. It featured footage of famous actor Bela Lugosi interspersed with Tom Mason. Director Ed Wood had taken a few minutes of silent footage of Lugosi, in his Dracula cape, for a planned vampire picture but was unable to find financing for the project. When he later conceived of "Plan 9", he wrote the script to incorporate the Lugosi footage and hired his wife's chiropractor to double for Lugosi in additional shots. The double hid his face with his cape to hide the fact that he was not Bela Lugosi.
Plot
The game starts when the producer notices that the film has been stolen by Bela Lugosi's double. The player must carry out an epic search of the locations where Plan 9 from Outer Space was filmed to find the six missing reels.
From the back of the DOS version box:[1]
- Plan 9. The critics hated it. Bela Lugosi died during it. And his double has stolen it.
- Lugosi's replacement is still bitter after 33 years from critics' reviews dubbing his only movie "The Worst Film of All-Time". Even though he remained faceless, he intends to bring glory to the cult classic using more footage of himself and ... colorizing it. As the studio's Private Eye you'll search over 70 locations, find the 6 reels and screen the film, frame-by-frame, to ensure that the warped actor did not cut Bela from the flick. Using actual digitized film footage, you'll sweat each scene, examining Plan 9 with slow motion, freeze frame, fast forward and rewind. It's up to you to preserve its original awfulness.
Reception
Computer Gaming World's Charles Ardai criticized the game's "cheap" user interface and mediocre graphics and sound, which made him uncertain whether various continuity errors were accidental or intended to satirize the film. Ardai stated that "Plan 9 is a genuinely, intentionally piece of work, which puts it several notches above the movie (in my opinion) ... thoroughly enjoyable", and funnier than Zak McCracken. He added, however, that as "a licensed product, parasitic on an original work ... its smirking digs at this rather pathetic relic of a movie ... sometimes has the tone of a schoolyard bully taking cheap shots at a defenseless victim". Without the sincerity and "guilelessness" of Wood's film, "In this respect, the game attains a degree of cheapness that even the movie didn't reach, which is quite an accomplishment".[2] The game was reviewed in 1993 in Dragon #190 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 2 out of 5 stars.[3]
References
- ↑ "Plan 9 From Outer Space game".
- ↑ Ardai, Charles (January 1993). "Konami/Gremlin's Plan 9 From Outer Space". Computer Gaming World. p. 36. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
- ↑ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia & Lesser, Kirk (February 1993). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (190): 55–60.