Out of This World

"A fantastic game in a rare genre on the SNES"

Another World, also called Out of This World, is an adventure game created by Delphine Software in 1991. It features the adventures of a scientist named Lester Knight Haykin, who travels to his lab one stormy evening to conduct experiments on particle acceleration. As he continues work on his experiment, lightning strikes the machine he is working on, and Lester gets transported to another world. Giant squids and huge beasts with glowing red eyes are only the start of Lester's problems in this mysterious world, and an interesting, atmospheric adventure soon starts.

The game throws the player straight into the action, as Lester appears underwater after exiting the machine that brought him to this mysterious place. Massive tentacles, evidently from some giant unseen squid-type monster down below, start reaching quickly up toward Lester. If the player does manage to escape this danger, another danger soon follows in the form a massive black beast which chases Lester across a section of the planet. Another World is riddled with dangers like this, and although some occurrences are frustrating, for the most part the puzzles are well thought and the solution is nearly always obvious.

Control takes place in the form of a standard 2D platform game: The D-Pad is used to move Lester left and right, and also to climb or swim up and down. Other buttons are used to attack, although at first Lester can only do a very low kick which is useful for defeating enemies early on in the game. In later parts Lester picks up a gun, which quickly becomes the most important aspect of the game. There are three settings: The first setting is just a normal shot, useful in defeating most enemies. The second setting creates a shield, and the third setting is a super shot which destroys walls and enemy shields.

An interesting aspect to this adventure game is that there is no inventory and very few puzzles. In fact, the only item in the game is the gun which Lester picks up early on. The puzzles are generally very simple, with most being involved with opening doors with switches, or finding out how to fill a pool so Lester can swim through to the other side. Despite this, the game does have a variety of dangers, most of which involve enemies. Finding new and inventive ways getting past these dangers more than makes up for the lack of puzzles.

One of the most disappointing things about the game is the lack of enemies. Most of the enemies are only seen once in the game, like the giant squid and leeches in the first section, or tentacles and traps seen later on. From part two onwards, alien guards become the main enemy of the game. These guard's behave in much the same way as Lester in that they can walk, run and even use the gun in exactly the same way. The guard's are frequently seen throughout the game, and it becomes frustrating to see them as the lack of variety in any of the other enemies soon becomes apparent.

Graphically, the game is excellent. The mysterious planet is mostly represented in shades of gray, blue and black and do well in creating the look of a cold and isolated place. Most of the game takes place in deserted outside locations or cold empty caverns. The graphics present a feeling that this is an ancient and hostile world, now filled with the structures of the evil alien guards. One such example of this takes place when Lester travels to the highest section of a tower and looks out of a small window. The slow, vertically scrolling view presents a feeling of fear as the view of the world is a massive, dark place filled with curious structures and curved spikes rising upward at the edge of the city.

The game has numerous cutscenes which are exceptionally well made. Starting off with the massive introduction sequence which explains to us how Lester came to arrive on this world, the details are evident as we see Lester confidently stride toward his experiment. Most of the cutscenes are are small however, and are usually played as death animations for when Lester walks into a danger like a leech or waterfall. The animation is fluid, with Lester having smooth movements as he walks, runs, shoots and swims through the strange landscape.

Although the game starts off with extremely dramatic music in the opening title sequence, for the most part the game has very little music. Instead, sound effects are used, most of which revolve around the gun. Multiple sounds are used for the standard shot, the fizzing sound of the shield and the loud bang of the supershot. The game does have an extreme absence of sound, but combined with the excellent graphics, the lack of sound reflects the environment of the game well. Overall, Another World is a well made platform-adventure game. The lack of puzzles and variety of enemies is unfortunate, but the cinematic sequences and tense situations like the chase near the start of the game are superb. Overall, a fantastic game in a rare genre.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/17/03, Updated 07/17/03