Software:Little Big Adventure 2

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Short description: 1997 video game
Little Big Adventure 2
European cover art
Developer(s)Adeline Software
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Frédérick Raynal
Programmer(s)Sébastien Viannay
Serge Plagnol
Artist(s)Didier Chanfray
Writer(s)Frédérick Raynal
Marc Albinet
Didier Chanfray
Yaél Barroz
Laurent Salmeron
Composer(s)Philippe Vachey
Platform(s)MS-DOS, Windows
ReleaseJune 1997
Genre(s)Action-adventure game
Mode(s)Single player

Little Big Adventure 2 is a 1997 adventure game developed by Adeline Software International and published by Electronic Arts.

It was later re-released by Activision in June 1997 in North America under the name Twinsen's Odyssey. In July 1997, both Electronic Arts and Virgin Interactive Software re-released LBA 2 - Virgin Interactive Software doing so under the name of "Twinsen's Odyssey". LBA 2 sold over 300,000 copies worldwide. Versions for Sega Saturn and PlayStation were planned but never released.[1]

The game is a sequel to Little Big Adventure (also known as Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure). LBA 2 was also the third game created under the label of Adeline Software International. The game features three-dimensional environments and full-motion video, and all of its music is in CD-DA quality.

In October 2011 Little Big Adventure 2 was re-released digitally on GOG.com and in October 2015 on Steam.[2][3] In October 2021 both Little Big Adventure 1 and 2 engines source code were released under the GPL.[4]

Gameplay

Little Big Adventure 2 has two viewing modes - for indoor scenes it uses a 3D isometric perspective (the game field is rotated 45 degrees) like its predecessor, but for outdoor scenes a 3D perspective view is used. All characters and vehicles are 3D polygon-based objects, allowing for full rotation and movement abilities. The interior game field is divided in scenes (a small block of the game that is active). After completion of certain tasks the player is presented with a full motion video sequence. All text in the game is spoken by the characters. The LBA world is considered extremely large and varied for games of its time. There are three planets to visit, with Twinsun and Zeelich containing their own islands, each with their own unique graphical style. Essentially every character in the game is interactive and will respond differently when Twinsen speaks to them.

Like its predecessor, LBA 2 is real-time adventure. It combines several action game/arcade sequences and some elements from the role-playing game genre. The game's gameplay is partially free-roaming, allowing the player to travel around the islands once they have been "unlocked" by completing certain objectives; there are also many tasks which are optional or non-linear. Certain locations in the game are initially blocked from the player until they progress to a certain stage.

Almost all characters can be talked to, and enemies are often performing tasks while the game world is active.

Plot

After Twinsen defeated FunFrock at the end of Little Big Adventure, Twinsun was peaceful, until a sudden storm covered Citadel Island. The Dino-Fly, a creature encountered in LBA is struck by lightning and crashes in Twinsen and Zoe's garden. Twinsen seeks help from Ker'aooc, a healing wizard, who lives on Desert Island, but ferry crossings are cancelled. He aids Bersimon, the island's weather wizard, resulting in the clouds disappearing. After the storm, alien creatures, who call themselves Esmers, land on the planet, under a false diplomatic guise and Twinsen begins training under the Wizard's School after hearing of missing children on the planet. The Esmers use their army to secretly capture Twinsun's Children and openly invite the Wizards to their planet (which is revealed later to be a trap to capture them). After graduating as a wizard, Twinsen is informed by his master of the possible plot of the Esmers and is sent to investigate their planet by accepting their invitation to all Wizards. Once Twinsen lands on Zeelich (the Esmers' two-layered, Venus-like home planet), the invitation proves to be a trap and he is arrested on the landing port. After tricking one of the guards with the help of another prisoner, Twinsen manages to escape imprisonment and escapes the planet in one of the ships. He eventually crashes in the mountains of Citadel Island, where he is attacked by an Esmerian soldier. After defeating him and making his way into the city, he discovers that the Esmers have taken over the planet and have imposed martial law. After going home to check on Zoe he finds out that Baldino has left him a protopack (Prototype Jetpack; it can hover, not fly) in the warehouse, he retrieves it and sets out to find his friend. Once making it to Desert Island he finds out that Baldino has disappeared, he proceeds to investigate his house and discovers that Baldino has built a spacecraft and for some reason went to Emerald Moon (Twinsun's moon). He visits the Wizard's School and learns from his master that in order to proceed in his journey and face the Esmers, who prove to be more than he can handle, he must obtain a powerful artifact from beneath Citadel Island.

Home to several different species, Zeelich is a two-layered planet, the upper layer located above the sea of toxic gas that plagues the planet. The lower layer is located beneath the gas. Its inhabitants await the day when a certain prophecy will be fulfilled, and the Dark Monk, the shadow god, will emerge and restore Zeelich.

Twinsen eventually gathers together four fragments making up a key which must be placed inside a little temple on Celebration Island. He unmasks Dark Monk, who is really FunFrock, the villain from the first game. He kills FunFrock, and returns to stop the moon of Twinsun crashing into the planet.

Development

The music of Little Big Adventure 2 is composed by the French composer Philippe Vachey.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
CGWStarStarStarStarStar[5]
Next GenerationStarStarStarStar[6]
PC PowerPlay84%[7]

Little Big Adventure 2 sold above 300,000 units by August 1999.[8][9] GameSpot reported that Twinsen was famous in France, but was an obscure character in USA.[10]

Robert Coffey of Computer Gaming World said that the game has unparalleled sense of marvel and imagination, engaging story, and deft mix of action and adventure.[5] GameSpot's Ron Dulin gave the game 8.1 out of 10, saying that the fans of adventure games will not miss this title.[11] José Dias of Adventure Classic Gaming called Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure an original and intriguing adventure game and gave it a 4 out of 5.[12]

Next Generation rated it four stars out of five, generally praising the gameplay and the story, and recommended to anyone who love action/adventure games.[6]

Little Big Adventure 2 was a runner-up for Computer Gaming World's 1997 "Adventure Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to The Curse of Monkey Island. The editors called Little Big Adventure 2 a "charming" 3D action/adventure hybrid.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Little Big Adventure 2". 22 January 2024. https://segaretro.org/Little_Big_Adventure_2. 
  2. ↑ "New release: Little Big Adventure 2". 20 October 2011. https://www.gog.com/news/new_release_little_big_adventure_2. 
  3. ↑ "LBA 2 on Steam". http://store.steampowered.com/app/398000. 
  4. ↑ "Little Big Adventure 1 & 2 get open sourced under the GPL". 27 October 2021. https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2021/10/little-big-adventure-1-a-2-get-open-sourced-under-the-gpl. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Coffey, Robert (November 1997). "Twinsen's Odyssey – Magical Mystey Tour". Computer Gaming World (160): 278–279. https://archive.org/stream/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_160#page/n281/mode/2up. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Finals". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (34): 180. October 1997. 
  7. ↑ Soropos, George (August 1997). "Little Big Adventure 2". PC PowerPlay (15): 52–53. https://archive.org/details/PCPowerplay-015-1997-08/page/n51. 
  8. ↑ "LBA 2". Archived from the original on December 8, 2002. https://web.archive.org/web/20021208234154/http://adelinesoftware.com/lba2.html. Retrieved August 24, 2023. 
  9. ↑ "Jeux; LBA2". No Cliché. http://www.nocliche.com:80/contenu/jeux/lba2/default.htm. 
  10. ↑ The Best Games You Never Played
  11. ↑ "Twinsen's Odyssey Review". https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/twinsens-odyssey-review/1900-2535380/. 
  12. ↑ Dias, José (17 July 1998). "ACG review". Adventure Classic Gaming. http://www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/site/reviews/75/. 
  13. ↑ Staff (March 1998). "CGW Presents The Best & Worst of 1997". Computer Gaming World (164): 74–77, 80, 84, 88, 89. 
  • Little Big Adventure II, a mirror of the original official LBA 2 website.
  • 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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