Software:Dual Heroes

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Short description: 1997 video game
Dual Heroes
Dual Heroes box art.
North American Nintendo 64 cover art
Developer(s)Produce!
Publisher(s)JP Hudson Soft
NA Electro Brain
PAL Gaga Interactive Media
Director(s)Keita Amemiya
Artist(s)Tamotsu Shinohara (character design)
Writer(s)Keita Amemiya
Platform(s)Nintendo 64
Release
  • JP: December 5, 1997
  • PAL: April 12, 1998
  • NA: November 5, 1998[1]
Genre(s)Fighting
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Dual Heroes (デュアルヒーローズ, Dyuaru Hīrōzu) is a fighting game for Nintendo 64. The game was developed by Produce! and published by Hudson Soft in Japan, Electro Brain in North America and Gaga Interactive Media in Europe.

Gameplay

Dual Heroes has a "medal match" where players can win a medal, either from an A.I. opponent or from another player.[2]

Story

120 years ago, in preparation for the coming doom, mankind began an exodus to the manmade satellites in outer space. But the "Day of Judgment" arrived even before half the population had escaped to space. The shift in the tectonic plate caused the shape of the Pacific Ocean to change and a new continent was created.

After 100 years, the only inhabitable areas were limited to the area around the new Pacific Ocean and the new continent. New nations were founded on this continent and mankind began rebuilding their lives. In the midst of rebuilding, "Gaiathyst" a mineral which releases an energy similar to gravity was discovered as a new source of endless energy.

The nations began to war with each other for domination, but conventional weapons were found useless due to the influence of the Gaiathyst. To fight under these conditions, the power suits used to mine Gaiathyst were improved for combat. But the "Gaiathyst War" came to an abrupt end by the invading forces of the Zodgierra Empire from outer space.

After conquering the nations, Emperor ZORR creates the "SAP", a super gravity producing device. Orbiting over the new continent, the super gravity of the device, prohibits beings not wearing a power suit to exist under it. Protected by the super gravity, ZORR commands his empire from a tower under the SAP.

A few brave make a stand to defeat ZORR. They are the true Heroes.

Development

Dual Heroes was developed by Produce! It was the first fighting game to use analog controls.[3] Hudson Soft programmed multiple AIs for each character, in an effort to imitate different players controlling the character on different occasions, and thereby make the game's single-player mode more closely emulate the multiplayer fighting game experience.[4]

The game was shown at E3 1997, being 70% completed.[5] A complete build was later shown at the 1997 Nintendo Space World.[6]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings40%[7]
Review scores
PublicationScore
Consoles +86%[8]
EGM2.875/10[9][lower-alpha 1]
Famitsu28/40[10]
GameSpot3.7/10[11]
Hyper49%[12]
Joypad14%[13]
N64 Magazine(EU) 50%[14]
(JP) 28%[15]
Nintendo Power6.6/10[16]

The game received unfavorable reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[7] In Japan, however, Famitsu gave it a score of 28 out of 40.[10]

It was often mocked and criticized for its gameplay, controls and fighting mechanics, it took out the title of "Worst Game Ever" when a poll was run by an Australian Nintendo magazine Nintendo Gamer (formerly N64 Gamer). The game's poor quality was attributed in part to the poor AI, which often sent your enemy running with a devil-may-care attitude over the edge of precipices and to their deaths in chase of the player's character.

Dual Heroes makes the N64 look so bad, it could easily be a system seller -- meaning N64 owners selling their systems to get a PSX or a Saturn.

—IGN's Peer Schneider.[17]

A reviewer for GameSpot declared the game to be one of the worst fighting games for home consoles.[11]

One writer for Nintendo Power commented that the game did not add much to the fighting game genre.[16]

Notes

  1. ↑ In Electronic Gaming Monthly's review of the game, one critic gave it 4.5/10, two of them gave it each a score of 3/10, and another gave it 1/10.

See also

References

  1. ↑ IGN staff (November 5, 1998). "Dual Heroes Ships to Retailers: Drinking Bird Comments". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/1998/11/06/dual-heroes-ships-to-retailers-drinking-bird-comments. 
  2. ↑ Scary Larry (October 1997). "Dual Heroes (Preview)". GamePro (IDG) (109): 94. http://www.nintendo64ever.com/scans/mags/Scan-Magazine-1855-94.jpg. Retrieved January 22, 2021. 
  3. ↑ "News". Computer & Video Games (EMAP) (182): 10. January 1997. https://archive.org/details/Computer_and_Video_Games_Issue_182_1997-01_EMAP_Images_GB/page/n9. 
  4. ↑ "NG Alphas: Dual Heroes". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (24): 227. December 1996. https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_24/page/n227/mode/2up. Retrieved January 22, 2021. 
  5. ↑ IGN staff (June 20, 1997). "E3: Dual Heroes Update". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/1997/06/21/e3-dual-heroes-update. 
  6. ↑ "Live From Space World 97 (Dual Heroes)". N64 Magazine (Future Publishing) (11): 62. January 1998. https://archive.org/details/N64_Magazine_Issue_011_1998-01_Future_Publishing_GB/page/n61/mode/2up. Retrieved January 22, 2021. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Dual Heroes for Nintendo 64". CBS Interactive. https://www.gamerankings.com/n64/197169-dual-heroes/index.html. 
  8. ↑ Spy; Cheub (February 1998). "Dual Heroes [Import]" (in fr). Consoles + (73): 96–97. 
  9. ↑ Williams, Ken "Sushi-X"; Hager, Dean; Boyer, Crispin; Davison, John (February 1999). "Dual Heroes". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (115): 165. http://www.nintendo64ever.com/scans/mags/Scan-Magazine-648-165.jpg. Retrieved January 22, 2021. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "デュアルヒーローズ [NINTENDO64"] (in ja). Famitsu (Enterbrain). https://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=14512&redirect=no. Retrieved January 22, 2021. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 GameSpot staff (December 16, 1998). "Dual Heroes Review [date mislabeled as "April 28, 2000""]. CBS Interactive. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/dual-heroes-review/1900-2544346/. 
  12. ↑ Cheung, Kevin (July 1998). "Dual Heroes". Hyper (Next Media Pty Ltd) (57): 70. http://www.nintendo64ever.com/scans/mags/Scan-Magazine-687-70.jpg. Retrieved January 22, 2021. 
  13. ↑ "Dual Heroes [Import"] (in fr). Joypad (71): 84. January 1998. http://www.nintendo64ever.com/scans/mags/Scan-Magazine-214-083.jpg. Retrieved January 22, 2021. 
  14. ↑ Kitts, Martin (July 1998). "Dual Heroes". N64 Magazine (Future Publishing) (17): 58–59. 
  15. ↑ Mortlock, Dean (February 1998). "Dual Heroes [Import"]. N64 Magazine (Future Publishing) (12): 58. https://archive.org/details/N64_Magazine_Issue_012_1998-02_Future_Publishing_GB/page/n57. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Dual Heroes". Nintendo Power (Nintendo of America) 114: 128. November 1998. http://www.nintendo64ever.com/scans/mags/Scan-Magazine-356-128.jpg. Retrieved January 22, 2021. 
  17. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named IGN
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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