Software:Rick Dangerous 2

From HandWiki
Short description: 1990 video game
Rick Dangerous 2
Developer(s)Core Design
Publisher(s)Micro Style
Designer(s)Simon Phipps
Terry Lloyd
Robert Churchill
Programmer(s)Simon Phipps
Artist(s)Simon Phipps
Terry Lloyd
Composer(s)David K. Pridmore
Platform(s)Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, MS-DOS
Release1990
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Rick Dangerous 2 is a platform game developed by Core Design for the Amiga, Atari ST, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS. It was released in 1990 and published by Micro Style as a sequel to Rick Dangerous.

Plot

At the end of Rick Dangerous, an alien invasion comes to Earth. As Rick Dangerous 2 starts, UFOs land in London. The image shift in the character of Rick Dangerous is evident from the start: the coat is nowhere to be found and the Indiana Jones-style hat from the previous episode is almost symbolically blown off by a laser beam coming from one of the spaceships in the introduction sequence. One UFO lands in Hyde Park, and Rick goes there to settle the score with the aliens.

Gameplay

There are a number of changes to the game play that make the Rick Dangerous 2 more complex and more challenging than its predecessor. For a start, Rick is now armed with a laser gun and bombs that can not only be placed but slid, making way for strategic bomb-placement. The pogo stick is replaced by a punch attack. Rick can also employ a special flying vehicle in certain areas of the game that allows for faster movement, but this may also become a danger factor.

Also, while there is a linear story to the game, the first four levels may be played in any order. Completing these four levels (Hyde Park, the ice caverns on the planet Freezia, the deep forest of Vegetablia and the "atomic mud mines") unlocks the fifth and final level, the Fat Guy's Headquarters, which ends in a boss fight. This level can then be played as often as desired, until the player quits the game, but the endgame movie only plays if the player completes all five levels in order.

Unclosed ending

The end of Rick Dangerous 2 does not complete the story. The game finishes with a cliffhanger, with the Fat Guy escaping at the final moment via a teleporter device, and Rick following him with familiar caption "What will Rick do next?". Though this may have hinted another sequel to the story, Rick Dangerous 3 was never made. Although a "Rick Dangerous II½" was given away by The One Amiga on a cover disk, this was only a few additional levels and more of a demo than an actual sequel. Many of the concepts featured in these levels were later used in a Super Nintendo Entertainment System game titled Danger Dan, which was also unfinished. Both games were re-released under the budget label Kixx.

Reception

Reception
Review score
PublicationScore
Amstrad Action97%
Awards
PublicationAward
CrashCrash Smash
Your SinclairMegagame
Amstrad ActionMastergame[1]

The ZX Spectrum version fared well amongst its respective magazines. CRASH awarded the sequel game a "CRASH Smash" accolade with 90% in their issue #82.[2] Your Sinclair also gave the game a 90 rating, calling the game superior to the original.[3]

Amstrad Action gave the highest rating of the lot for the Amstrad version, and the highest rated game in AA history at the time, with a 97% rating and a "MasterGame" award.[4] Computer and Video Games also gave the CPC version a high rating of 90%.[5]

Zzap!64 reviewed the C64 version in issue 67 and gave it a 75%,[6] ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment magazine) awarded the same C64 game an 889 (out of a possible 1000) overall rating.[7]

The Amiga game scored highly as well. CU Amiga gave an 89% rating and a "CU Screen Star" award in their November 1990 issue.[8] Amiga Format awarded the Amiga game their 'Gold' award with a 92% rating.[9] The game was ranked the 17th best game of all time by Amiga Power.[10]

Atari ST reviews were also positive; The One gave the game an overall rating of 90%,[11] while Zero magazine gave an overall 84% rating in its October 1990 review.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Game review, Amstrad Action magazine, Future Publishing, issue 62, November 1990
  2. ↑ Caswell, Mark. CRASH, issue 82, November 1990
  3. ↑ Davies, Jonathan. Your Sinclair, issue 59, November 1990
  4. ↑ Waring, Adam. Amstrad Action, issue 62, November 1990
  5. ↑ Computer and Video Games, issue 110, January 1991, p 95.
  6. ↑ King, Phil. & Lapworth, Warren. Zzap!64, issue 67, November 1990
  7. ↑ ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment Magazine), issue 40, January 1991, p 115
  8. ↑ Heley, Mark. CU Amiga, issue 67, November 1990, p 36.
  9. ↑ Evans, Maff. Amiga Format. issue 16, November 1990, p 82-83
  10. ↑ Amiga Power magazine issue 0, Future Publishing, May 1991
  11. ↑ Whitta, Gary. The One. issue 25, October 1990, p 51-52
  12. ↑ Wilson, David. Zero. issue 12, October 1990, p 57
  • 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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