Cliffhanger

"It’s Christmas Eve in LA and the party’s about to explode… Oh wait, wrong movie…"

Cliffhanger, like many movie games, is largely mediocre.

Gameplay (26/50)
Cliffhanger plays like your standard beat ‘em up. You progress from one side of the stage to the next, stopping every screen or so to fight a plethora of armed goons. Along the way you have to make a number of precision jumps and even occasionally forcing you to outrun an avalanche (or a flock of bats at one point). Overall, all of these sequences feel rehashed from other games and are often repetitive, although that could be due to the fact that you will be playing many of them repeatedly due to the difficulty.

Story (5/10)
A group of high-profile bandits attack a Treasury aircraft over the Rockies and end up raining the money they intended to steal down upon a mountain range. Forced to set down, they call in for help and capture the local rescuers who come to their aid. From here you escape the bandits and set out to get the money before them. The plot follows the movie, even using direct quotes in the cutscenes, although the gang of bandits has grown to a hundred or so whereas in the movie there were maybe a dozen members. Not anything special by today's standards, but at the time many games didn't even bother to try to maintain a plot throughout.

Challenge (10/10)
This game is hard. No two ways about it, most gamers will probably not be able to make it through this one. Limited continues, merciless enemies, precision jumping, and insanely tough bosses make Cliffhanger a real challenge. If you care about nothing else, this game is for you.

Graphics (5/10)
The graphics on this one are somewhat mediocre. Character sprites all seem to have the same general body with different heads attached. A lot of sprites are also reused as many “new” enemies are simply palette swaps of older enemies. The boss enemies, at least, tend to look somewhat unique, although they too eventually begin to appear in an assortment of colors as regular enemies.

Sound (3/10)
Sound is unmemorable. There is some background music and the usual supply of punching, kicking, and grunting sounds for the enemies, but all in all this one is not going to be remembered as the game that redefined video game music.

Replayability (3/10)
There is a two-player versus mode that can be unlocked via a code that is worth a few plays, but mind-bogglingly there is no two-player mode in the regular game. This makes not only replayability minimal, but your chances of completing the game that much less.

Overall (52/100)
If you like extremely challenging titles or beat ‘em ups, Cliffhanger is worth a look. Everyone else, go play something else.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 03/14/06