Software:The Ooze

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Short description: 1995 Sega Genesis video game
The Ooze
Developer(s)Sega Technical Institute
Publisher(s)Sega
Producer(s)Michael Wallis
Designer(s)Stieg Hedlund
Jason Kuo
Dave Sanner
Programmer(s)Dave Sanner
Jason Plumb
Scott Chandler
Writer(s)Dave Sanner
Composer(s)Howard Drossin
Platform(s)Sega Genesis
Release
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

The Ooze is a video game developed by Sega Technical Institute and released in 1995 for the Sega Genesis. In the game, players take the role of a slimy puddle of liquid and face off against various enemies and obstacles.

Gameplay and plot

Gameplay screenshot

The game starts at a chemical plant known as "The Corporation," with scientist Dr. Daniel Caine sneaking into the research lab where he worked, in order to find evidence that crimes were being committed using a toxic gas he created. Caine discovers that his colleagues are planning "Operation: Omega": a plan to release a plague upon the populace, and make a fortune because they hold the only cure. However, the Director of The Corporation discovers Caine in the lab. Caine is disposed of by means of chemical waste, but the chemicals do not kill him; instead, they alter him into the angry, sentient, formless creature known as "The Ooze". Swearing revenge, the doctor seeks two things: to stop his former colleagues plan using his Ooze form’s powers, and to assume his human form once again. He must now find the DNA helices scattered throughout the wasteland or else end up imprisoned in the Director's lava lamp.

Players control Dr. Caine as a puddle of ooze with a head, who can move around and use two attacks. One is stretching out a maneuverable sliver of ooze whose length is only limited by how much ooze he currently has to attack. Players can also spit gobs of ooze, which reduces the size of the ooze. Enemy attacks deplete the size of the ooze puddle as well, and the Ooze will die either if he becomes very small or if his head is attacked directly. He can also die by dropping off the edges of certain areas, or staying on a drain for too long. Numerous puzzles must be completed in order to progress from one level to another. An optional goal of the game is finding and collecting all 50 helices, in order to see the game's good ending.

Development and releases

Dave Sanner of Sega Technical Institute, who was also behind the game Sonic Spinball, came up with the concept for The Ooze and was its lead programmer. The game's main artist and designer was Stieg Hedlund, who took over after the original designer left. Hedlund considered The Ooze a great opportunity and worked to move the game along and made the game's first stage to teach players how to play. Though marketing wanted to change the look of The Ooze to a more cartoon-based design, the game's art director refused, fearing it would change the tone of the game. Progress was later hampered with the departure of programmer Scott Chandler and artist Marte Thompson.[4]

Sega's marketing department considered bundling The Ooze as a pack-in game with the Genesis Nomad, a handheld version of the Genesis; however, this did not occur.[4] The Ooze was released in Japan on September 22, 1995,[1][5] and in North America the same month, with a European release in December.[3] The game was later included as a built-in game for the Arcade Legends Sega Genesis 2 and in the compilation game Sonic Mega Collection Plus. It is also unlockable in the Japanese version of Sonic Mega Collection.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings39%[6]
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGame4/5[8]
EGM4.5/10, 3.5/10, 3/10, 4.5/10[7]
Game Informer6.75/10[2]
GamePro8.5/20[10]
Joypad70%[12]
Next Generation3/5[9]
Game Players64%[11]
Player One [fr; fr]82%[13]
MEGA Force [fr; fr]84%[14]
Mean Machines Sega79/100[3]

The Ooze received mostly negative reviews. The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game 3.875 out of ten, commenting that while The Ooze is highly original, the graphics are choppy and the increasing difficulty as the ooze grows makes the game frustrating, slow-paced and generally not fun.[7] Next Generation similarly said: "After the originality wears off, the game becomes quite blah." Arguing that the game's attempt at an original approach should nonetheless be commended, they gave it three out of five stars.[9] Reviewing for GamePro, Johnny Ballgame gave faint praise to the music and sound effects, but slammed the controls as poor and the gameplay as tedious. He concluded: "Oozing with mediocrity, this game never delivers anything worthwhile or worth buying."[10] Mike Salmon of Game Players shared the same sentiments about the gameplay while appreciating the sound effects, but offered praise for the game's uniqueness.[11]

Game Informer gave the game an overall score of 6.75 out of ten, stating: “The Ooze is a game unlike any other, with unique control and story line.”[2]

In a retrospective review, Allgame gave it a score of four out of five. The reviewer said the game is unique and clever, and praised the heavy techno pop music and realistic sound effects for complementing the game’s atmosphere and level themes. He criticized the graphics as dull and uninteresting and said the game does not truly stand out, yet is still worthwhile, concluding: "It's just a quietly original, unassuming little game that you'll find yourself playing more often than you may have originally intended."[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Software List (Sega Release)" (in ja). Sega Corporation. https://www.sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software.html. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Sega Genesis Reviews: The Ooze". Game Informer (29 (September 1995)): 53. https://archive.org/details/game-informer-issue-29-september-1995/page/n53/mode/2up. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Gus; Steve (January 1996). "Mega Drive Review: The Ooze". Mean Machines Sega (39): 66–68. https://archive.org/details/mean-machines-sega-magazine-39/page/n65/mode/2up. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Horowitz, Ken (2016). Playing at the Next Level: A History of American Sega Games. McFarland & Company. pp. 96–98. ISBN 9780786499946. 
  5. ↑ "Game Report Card: Mega Drive" (in ja). Saturn Fan [ja; ja]: 70. December 1995. 
  6. ↑ "The Ooze for Genesis". GameRankings. https://www.gamerankings.com/genesis/586357-the-ooze/index.html. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Carpenter, Danyon; Manuel, Al; Baran, Andrew; Sushi-X (September 1995). "Review Crew". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Sendai Publishing) (74): 35. ISSN 1058-918X. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/751be5af-e4ad-4597-866f-bdab60a6b1c2. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Weiss, Brett Alan. "The Ooze Review". http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=7575&tab=review. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "The Ooze". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (10): 123, 125. October 1995. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Johnny Ballgame (November 1995). "ProReview: The Ooze". GamePro (IDG) (86): 78. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Salmon, Mike (October 1995). "The Ooze". Game Players (76): 46. 
  12. ↑ Olivier (March 1996). "The Ooze" (in fr). Joypad [fr; fr] (51): 43. 
  13. ↑ Chon (March 1996). "Vite Vu: The Ooze" (in fr). Player One [fr; fr] (62): 100. 
  14. ↑ "The Ooze - Megadrive Européenne" (in fr). MEGA Force [fr; fr] (48): 72–74. March 1996. 
  • 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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