Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1988 video game)
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom | ||
---|---|---|
Composer(s) Brad Fuller | | |
Platform(s) | Nintendo Entertainment System | |
Release | December 21, 1988[1] | |
Genre(s) | Action | |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is an
of the same name. The resulting product differed from the arcade version in several aspects, but kept the same underlying premise and style.The game was originally released by Mindscape in December 1988. The publishing rights reverted to Tengen the following year and it announced plans to re-release the game that October.[2] Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom gives the player control of Indiana Jones as he makes his way through the temple in a series of 12 levels or "waves". In the final wave, the player must defeat the villain of the film, Mola Ram, on a rope bridge that recreates the final scene in the movie. Reception of the game was generally negative.
Version history
The
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom satisfied both of these categories.Aside from the original arcade version, in 1987 ports were released for the Atari ST, Commodore 64 (completely independent ports for NTSC and PAL regions),
There are several differences between the arcade game and its console adaptation. In the original arcade version, the Sankara Stones were not all found in one location at the end of a wave. Instead, Jones had to travel through a temple every two rounds. In addition, the entire style of play is different and bestows upon the player more weapons and items for Jones to collect from the slave children he frees. Jones was also unable to jump in previous incarnations of the game.[5]
Plot and gameplay
The plot of the NES version follows the storyline of the original film. At the onset of the game, Jones has just reached the Pankot Palace featured in the movie and is preparing to free the slave children, recover the missing Sankara Stones and defeat Mola Ram and his Thuggee entourage.[7] The game differs from the original arcade version in many respects, including the layout and the manner in which one progresses through the game, but the plot remains unchanged in both versions.[5]
The player advances through 12 levels (called "waves"), the first nine of which require Jones to travel through the palace and recover the Sankara Stones. In these stages, the player may restart the game with all items intact in the last area reached. Afterwards, if the player dies, they must return to the Chamber of Kali (Wave 9) and finish the game from that point. Each level also has a timer that goes from 99 to zero. If time runs out, the player is confronted by Mola Ram and loses one life and all of their items. All levels also contain mine cart rooms, where Jones can ride the rails through the levels across hazards and past enemies.[7]
Wave 9 requires the player to cross a river of
The game contains a variety of elements that both aid and hinder the player's progress through the waves. At his disposal, Jones has TNT, guns, swords, hats for extra lives, jewels for extra time and his classic whip. Opposing him are bats, rats, snakes, spiders and an endless supply of Thugee servants. In addition, if Jones lands in any of the lava pits, crashes a mine cart or hits a boulder or spike trap, he loses one life.[7]
Reception
Although hyped up in Nintendo Power's "Video Shorts" section as an upcoming release,[8] Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom met with generally negative reception. Aside from the difficulty level of the game, the official reviewer for the Indiana Jones fan community TheRaider.net noted that Jones' new jumping ability is glitchy, causing him to leap downwards no matter which direction he is facing, unless the player is holding down the button for the particular direction in which they want to jump. Also cited as flaws are poor controls, unappealing graphics, the number of enemies, and the text-only ending screen. The reviewer admitted, however, that the game's "respectable attempt to preserve John Williams' musical score" was one of its only highlights.[5] The original arcade version was the first Atari System 1 game to talk to the players using speech capability, a feature lacking in the console version due to the limitations of the hardware. The arcade game, like the console adaptation, obtained its theme music (as well as sound effects that were absent on the NES version) from the film itself.[3]
Skyler Miller, a reviewer at
References
- ^ a b c d Miller, Skyler (2007). "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". allgame. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
- ^ a b "Tengen Announces New Games for NES". Computer Entertainer. Vol. 8, no. 7. Computer Entertainer. October 1989. p. 10.
- ^ a b MF. "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". The Raider.net. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
- ^ MF. "Indiana Jones Video Games". The Raider.net. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
- ^ a b c d e f MF. "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". The Raider.net. Retrieved 2009-02-06.
- ^ Kent, Steven. "Lawsuit: ATARI GAMES CORP. and TENGEN, INC. (Plaintiff) V. NINTENDO OF AMERICA INC. AND NINTENDO CO., LTD., (Defendant) - Security Code". NESplayer.com. Archived from the original on 2008-02-19. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
- ^ a b c d "NES Manuals: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom". Vimm's Lair. August 2, 2000. Retrieved 2007-10-07.
- ^ Nintendo Power Staff (September–October 1988). "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom from MINDSCAPE". Nintendo Power. No. 2. Nintendo. p. 79.
- ^ Semrad, Edward J. (1988-12-17). "Games are getting better, tougher". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. pp. 4G.