Elevator Action Returns

"CRUSH the OLD ORDER and CREATE a NEW SOCIETY!"

There's just something about this game that grabs me and says THIS IS COOL. Maybe it's the game design. Or the feel. Or the atmosphere of shifting elevators and shooting down baddies-a-plenty. I don't know exactly what it is but I really like this game. I don't think anything in particular about it will overly impress anyone... but this is a case where the whole is MUCH greater than the sum of its parts.

Elevator Action Returns is a sequel to the 1980's original. It is quite different and EAR is much more action-oriented.

In EAR you select one of 3 characters, each possessing different talents in 3 categories: power, speed and gun. They have a standard gun that never runs out of ammo, and then they have their own respective bomb-type weapon which is on a limited supply. Each character's bomb is uniquely different.

The Arnold-like guy (Jad the Taff) has a sensor bomb where whenever an enemy gets nearby it explodes into shrapnel taking out any bloke caught in its wrath. The other guy (Kurt Bradfield) throws a fire bomb that explodes the length of the screen and sets anyone in its path on fire. The girl (Edie Burret) has a unique flame attack that stays onscreen for about six seconds, so if you throw one bomb left and one right, you'll build yourself a nice little force field. They don't come close at all to covering the length that Kurt's fire bomb does, but the trade-off is that Edie's bombs lasts longer.

The varying strategy of each bomb definitely adds a little ''oomph!'' to the game play experience. For example, say I'm using Edie. I am on one floor and the bad guys are gathered around the elevator right above me. In this case I'll throw a bomb onto the elevator, causing the elevator floor to catch fire... and then it moves up and ta-daaa! It's one big barbecue party!
Another favorite technique of mine when I'm Edie is the ole ''sitting duck'' trick. If there's a door around I'll drop a bomb that ignites its doorway... wait for the enemy to open the door... ''AAAHHHHH!'' A thing of beauty.

If I'm Kurt and I see a bunch of bad guys down below me... why, I'll just loft one of my handy bombs down and BANG! It's like killing 10 birds with one stone. By the way enemies set on fire look great. It reminds me of the fire effects found in Metal Slug (an amazing Saturn import) and Crusader: No Remorse (an overlooked domestic Saturn title, not great but has its moments)

Each character is vastly different and not just merely cosmetically so. It's nice to know that while I may have a favorite character, should I get tired of using him or her the other two are always there. In the original Elevator Action you could only use one character.

Speaking of upgrades, in EAR you have to the ability to shoot your gun at an upward angle. This adds some extra spice to the game play.

Yes, there is blood in this game. There are two options for gore: normal and hard. On normal it's just that. On hard all the gore is intact. On hard you'll see enemies' blood stain the walls, and crushed bodies will produce blood that seeps above or below an elevator.

Let's examine the methods in EAR that you can take out a bad guy with. I call it ''The Dozens.'' What are The Dozens you ask? *sigh* Follow me young Grasshopper. *bows* I present to you... THE DOZENS!

1) Your standard gun. This is the most basic fundamental. Most enemies all it takes is one shot, others more. You can stand and shoot, duck and shoot, or shoot at an upward angle. However, you cannot run and shoot nor can you jump and shoot.

2) Your bomb weapon. No need to elaborate as previously I already did. Remember this is a limited supply.

3) You can pick up a machine gun (100 bullets) or a rocket launcher (20 rockets) during play. Machine gun makes Swiss cheese. Rocket launcher works like you might think. If you aim your rocket launcher on a floor above you and an enemy is there, he'll go down. I didn't find this out until a friend told me... a very cool detail huh? Once either weapon runs out it's back to your standard issue gun.

4) Jump kick. A good ole kick to the temple will deck 'em out. Stand close and press jump, or you can run at them and then press jump.

5) Swift blow RIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES. I love this move. Just stand real close to an enemy and press the shoot button. KA-POW! Lights out. If the enemy is near the edge you can send the poor fella sailing down to his horrible demise...

6) Barrels. Shoot one down and it'll roll. From here you can shoot it again and it'll explode, setting enemies nearby on fire, OR you can let it roll so it'll run over enemies and kill them that way. Sometimes when you let it roll, after a while it just suddenly combusts and explodes... sometimes it may even roll down a floor and KAA-BAAAM! Choices, ohhh, choices.

7) Toxic barrels. Shoot them once and they immediately erupt in wild fire. (works like Edie's bomb where it stays a-blazin' for bout six seconds)

8) Box of bombs. Shoot or jump kick it and the box will unleash some explosives that immediately set the length of the floor on fire in a flash (works like Kurt's bomb)

9) Electric bolt death. In the later levels there are electric spots you must avoid. If a bad guy touches it he's toast.

10) Mine attack. Mines are scattered in the later stages that can equally kill you and the bad guys. Get too close and you got 3 seconds to run...

11) Forest Fire Domino Affect. When an enemy is set on fire he may set a bystander on fire as well. Before you know it it can spread like the Black Plague! Misery loves company.

12) PRAYING MANTIS SHAOLIN TOKYO DEATH ELEVATOR CRUSH! This is my favorite by far. It doesn't happen often however because enemies are not dumb, yet sometimes in the heat of battle it slips their mind... so yes, you can crush an enemy under an elevator. Doing so will cause blood to seep under the elevator. And always be aware of your position, you are just as susceptible! And believe me, it's no fun losing a life this way...

Now let's talk about the bad guys. After all, what good is an action game without some cool enemies? EAR features your typical group of thugs, misfits, punks, goons, parasites and malcontents.

You have your blue and red jacket sporting punks who are like the equivalent of Ninja Turtles' foot soldiers. (though the red jacket guys can be tough) Then you have your trench coat wearing tough dudes. Killer dogs. Little orange suit wearing guys (takes 3 shots to die, some sort of strong suit? And you must crouch+shoot to kill them since they're so short). Jet pack goons. SWAT like thugs with shields, etc.

Then comes my personal favorite: the malpracticed monster. He's bald, shirtless, and of an inhuman-ish hue. These tough cakes takes two shots to go down on most accounts, and they carry two guns, one in each hand! I guess they were an experiment gone wrong (or right, depending on your point of view!) One shot crumples them over, then in Resident Evil fashion they rise back up. Make sure you eliminate them swiftly. If you let them roam around for too long, they get restless and starting laughing like crazy while spraying a ton of bullets wildly.

There are more enemies but this is a fair sample.

There are different death animations according to how they take them out.

The controls are great. Use the D-Pad to move him or her in the desired direction, double-tap to run. Up to move up in an elevator, and a simple down press to go down. Very responsive. The only thing that feels a little sluggish is the jumping, but it's not that bad. My other minor complaint is the double-tap command to run. I much rather have an option to make running L or R, as was the case with KEIO YUGEKITAI.

You have four difficulty levels. Easy, Normal, Hard or Very Hard. Beginners I suggest you start on Easy and then branch out accordingly as you progress in skill.

Like Metal Slug, there are six levels. Also like MS, EAR's levels have funky names (e.g. Cross the Breeze, Vermilion Sun, etc.) The stages have you trekking across sewers, enemy fortresses and airports to name a few. Some enemies are out in the open, others hide behind doors and barrels looking to ambush you. The level layouts are nice and well balanced. They take you up, down, left and right.

I found the lack of ''big bosses'' to be disappointing. Some levels have no bosses at all. Others have one of those ''dozens of foot soldier guys coming at you followed by a couple elite guys'' gimmicks. The end boss was also disappointing. Just imagine if at the end of each level a nasty boss was waiting to crush you; boss chases that takes you through elevators and likewise moving and rotating platforms... *sigh* 'Tis a shame. But I don't see this as the game lacking, rather, simply wanting more.

So what is your mission? You go through each level locating several red doors. Approach red doors and simply press up. You now have entered it and disarmed an enemy bomb. Clear all red doors and you'll get to level's end soon enough. EAR has blue doors; when entered you can select a random bonus -- food, points or bombs. You will also find similar icons inside various debris and crates scattered throughout the six stages.

You have a life bar and 3 continues, 2 lives per continues. Once you lose a continue you have the choice to select any one of the 3 characters, so you aren't stuck to the end with the one you started out with.

Like the original, in EAR you can shoot out the lights. This causes hallways to darken. Check out when there's a fire on a darkened floor... it's quite atmospheric. My friend who is a big fan of EAR claims that the shattered light bulb glass can actually kill a bad guy... but I nor he has been able to fully confirm this as of this writing... but if indeed true then that's really cool because it's little details like this that you really love to see in a game.

Speaking of atmospheric, I find night time to be the best time to play EAR. At night everything seems to come alive in EAR, much more so than in the daytime.

The graphics aren't great by any stretch of the imagination. In fact the most common thing said about EAR's graphics: ''it screams Super Nintendo.'' OK so yeah, it does. The sprites aren't that big and detail on characters are somewhat lacking because of limited sprite size. Still, the graphics serves the game well. They are what they are, and there's enough color to go around so the scenery doesn't ever really get too boring. And they just grow on you. Explosions look great.
In the first stage there's graffiti on the walls. It has offbeat sayings that fit in extremely well with the game's urban-gritty atmosphere.

''CRUSH THE OLD ORDER!!'' and ''CREATE a NEW SOCIETY!''

A complaint some folks have about EAR is the, as they feel, repetitive game play. I didn't find it repetitive, personally. The six stages move along at a nice pace -- not too slow yet not too fast. The game play is simple, effective and fun.

EAR's just a good old fashioned mid 90s arcade 2D action game. One that you can complete in 35 to 45 minutes. You don't have to wipe out a chunk of your schedule to make time for this game. There are no ten minute FMV scenes, no thousand word texts, all you do is hit the start button and have fun. That's the charm of Elevator Action Returns.

As a bonus, when you beat EAR you can play the arcade original hit in all its glory! Great for historians and newcomers alike.

And to put the icing on the cake, EAR supports 2 players so you and a friend can go nuts. This provides some social fun that reminds me of great 2 player outings I had during my childhood.
Your high scores are recorded. There's even little comments left for you. Reminds me of the good old days when that laser tag company Q*Zar was around. e.g. Dodge the shots, Not bad, No problem, etc.

How is the replay value and fun factor? It'll obviously vary from person to person but for me they're both very high. Because A) it's fun B) it's a stress reliever C) it's in-and-out action and D) it's just a very good game worth coming back to.

The more I play the more I come to appreciate it. They simply just don't make games like this any more.

Graphics: 6.5
Sound/Music: 8.5
Control: 9.5
Game Play: 9
Fun Factor: 9
Replay Value: 9
Import Friendly: 10
Presentation: 9
Loading: 8.5

Bottom Line:

Some folks don't like EAR, some like it and others love it. I fall in with the third group. If you're an arcade action type gamer who appreciates 2D gaming and you have an import playable Saturn, you owe it to yourself to get this game. EAR could have been even better, sure, but what IS here is darn right good.

Again, although there probably isn't any one thing in particular about Elevator Action Returns that would overly impress anyone, there's just something unique and interesting about this game I can't quite put my finger on.

EAR reminds me of not just the good old days but also what video games are all about: that is, simple pleasures and brilliant creative nuances.

Currently speaking, this is my 7th favorite Saturn game. A true gem I shall treasure and never let go.

Overall: 9.0

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/13/03