Software:Monkey Hero

From HandWiki
Short description: 1999 video game
Monkey Hero
North American box art
Developer(s)Blam!
Publisher(s)Take-Two Interactive
Platform(s)PlayStation
Release
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Monkey Hero (The Adventures of Monkey Hero in Europe) is a role-playing video game developed by Blam! and published by Take-Two Interactive for the PlayStation. The game is similar to the likes of The Legend of Zelda and Secret of Mana and borrows many ideas from these games, such as a top-down perspective and gameplay focused on exploration, combat, and puzzle-solving.[2] Gameplay elements include large dungeons, fighting and puzzles. It has a whimsical manga-inspired look that makes use of both 3D and 2D graphics.

The plot is centered around Monkey, the goofy top-knotted main character. Monkey is sent to the Waking Realm to defeat the Nightmare King and under the guidance of Master Sage, must reclaim all of the pieces of the Magic Storybook. The various pieces of the Magic Storybook are displayed on an in game map.

Story

The game begins outside a mine with Monkey's friend, friend Tiger. She asks Monkey to take a cart into the mine. Monkey obliges, and while in the mine, an unexpected explosion causes Monkey to fall to the lower levels of the mine. Monkey finds a treasure chest with a bamboo staff in, which becomes his main weapon for the rest of the game. Monkey eventually finds his way out of the mine, and then meets Master Sage, Monkey's teacher. He gives Monkey a headband that allows for them to communicate over long distances. Master Sage asks Monkey to travel to the library to stop the Nightmare King from stealing the Magic Storybook. The Nightmare King has invaded the Waking Realm and upset the balance, and it's up to Monkey to remove the Nightmares and restore the balance.

Monkey goes through many dungeons and catacombs such as a graveyard crawling with zombies and ghosts, a mountain called Dragon Mountain and even the heart of a crashed alien space craft. He also has to deal with one of his friends thinking of betraying him to arm the Nightmares with a new weapon.

Characters

  • Monkey - The main character, he has appeared from the dream realm to restore the balance. He is friendly and easy to get along with, and is well known throughout the waking Realm. He is loosely based on the Chinese god Sun Wukong.
  • Master Sage - Master Sage is Monkey's teacher. He provides Monkey with information throughout the game, and provides tutorials and tips throughout the game. He also supplies the player with new weapons and tells stories about Monkey's past. He wears a blue cloak and has long grey hair.
  • Tiger - Tiger is Monkey’s best friend. She is an Anthropomorphic tiger.
  • Rumple - Rumple is another of Monkey’s friends. He is a blond genius inventor wearing a white lab coat and thick rimmed glasses. He is very intelligent and gifted, but upon meeting him in a swamp south of the Fontune Village and Bamboo Grove, he has invented a new weapon, the Exploding Spears, He betrays Monkey and swears allegiance to the Nightmare King. However he quickly sees sense when Monkey scolds him.
  • Pigsy - Another of Monkey’s friends. You can fight his pet monsters in a mini game for a Giant Peach.
  • Dream King - The Dream King is the leader of the Dream world and has a direct influence into the Waking realm. He may be related to Monkey but that is found out at the end of the game.
  • Nightmare King - The leader of the Nightmare World and the main villain in the game, he resembles a roach and is the first boss fight in the game. He leads all of the nightmares in the game.

Gameplay

The player's health is measured in peaches. When certain tasks are performed, the player can acquire big peaches, which increase overall health.

In a similar fashion to games in The Legend of Zelda series, the player collects equipment and magical items that allow them to progress past a variety of hazards and obstructions in the game's world. These items are often found in "dungeon" areas - contained areas with a specific focus on the particular obstacle that the item allows the player to resolve.

At the end of each dungeon there is a boss that must be defeated in order to complete the dungeon.

There are three realms, as underlined in the manual: the Dream Realm, the Nightmare Realm, and the Waking Realm.

Development

The game's story and many of the characters were inspired by Chinese legends,[2] in particular the folk tale Monkey.[3] Huge anime fans, developers Jeronimo Barrera and Jay Minn hired artists from the comic book industry and gave them a number of anime and kung fu films for reference.[2]

Technical director Greg Marquez wrote a development tool specifically for the game called MOPA (Map Objects Puzzle Attributes), which enabled designers to snap large 3D objects together using 2D tile representations.[2]

Blam! had plans to port the game to Microsoft Windows,[2] but these never came to fruition. The game's original publisher, BMG Interactive, was closed down, and the publication rights were picked up by Take-Two Interactive.[3] The game was released in Japan in May 2000.[4]

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings47%[5]
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGameStarStar[6]
EGM4/10[7]
Game Informer5.5/10[8]
GameSpot3.6/10[9]
IGN3/10[10]
OPM (US)StarStar[11]
PSMStarStarStarHalf star[12]

The game received "unfavorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Monkey Hero". http://psx.ign.com/games/3797.html. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "NG Alphas: Monkey Hero". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (34): 150–1. October 1997. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "The Fall of BMG: Monkey Hero". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (41): 43. May 1998. 
  4. ↑ "Relasiantioships". Archived from the original on December 3, 2000. https://web.archive.org/web/20001203130300/http://www.blam.com:80/blam_corp6.html. Retrieved February 1, 2025. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Monkey Hero for PlayStation". CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 1, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190501103019/https://www.gamerankings.com/ps/197970-monkey-hero/index.html. Retrieved February 5, 2020. 
  6. ↑ Marriott, Scott Alan. "Monkey Hero - Review". All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 16, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141116051102/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=16121&tab=review. Retrieved February 5, 2020. 
  7. ↑ "Monkey Hero". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis). 1999. 
  8. ↑ "Monkey Hero". Game Informer (FuncoLand) (70): 57. February 1999. 
  9. ↑ Bartholow, Peter (March 22, 1999). "Monkey Hero Review [date mislabeled as "May 2, 2000""]. CBS Interactive. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/monkey-hero-review/1900-2548444/. Retrieved February 5, 2020. 
  10. ↑ Cleveland, Adam (June 15, 1999). "Monkey Hero". Ziff Davis. https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/06/16/monkey-hero. Retrieved February 5, 2020. 
  11. ↑ MacDonald, Mark (March 1999). "Monkey Hero". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine (Ziff Davis) 2 (6): 75. https://archive.org/details/Official_US_PlayStation_Magazine_Volume_2_Issue_6_1999-03_Ziff_Davis_US/page/n73/mode/2up. Retrieved February 5, 2020. 
  12. ↑ "Review: Monkey Hero". PSM (Imagine Media). 1999. 
  • 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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