Games with heavy Indiana Jones influences

AnythingGoes

New member
Finn said:
And I'm saying you really should have before you went and mentioned it.

Tomb Raider has no business within a topic that deals with ripoffs in the actual meaning of the word. When it came out, Tomb Raider was a highly original title that pretty much defined the 3D action-adventure genre for years to come. Sure, the story and setting deal with same high adventure themes our own Dr. Jones is eponymous with, but it's by no means fair to assume he should have exclusivity to the genre.

It's certainly true that the line between homage and blatant imitation is thin and sometimes very blurry, but Ms. Croft is definitely someone who stands on her own shapely legs with this issue.

In fact, if you look at Indy's most recent major forays into video gaming, you might even make an opposite argument. It's him who owes that existence to Lara.
Understood and noted, Finn. My apologies--and you do have a point with the more recent games {Infernal Machine, Emperor's Tomb, and Staff of Kings}, as the style is very similar to that of Lara's own adventures.
Then again, as you also said, modern video games would not exist at all if not for the exploits of Lara Croft--Indy is merely one of many pixel-kiddies who followed in the wake of a much bigger revolution.
Well, there's my rambling finished. I'm off for dinner.
:whip:
 

Udvarnoky

Well-known member
Finn said:
In fact, if you look at Indy's most recent major forays into video gaming, you might even make an opposite argument. It's him who owes that existence to Lara.

Absolutely. Modern Indiana Jones games are in fact highly derivative of games like Tomb Raider and now Uncharted. Sure, games like those owe a tremendous aesthetic debt to the Indy movies and old serials, but even when they've been good, Indy games of the past two decades have been disapppointingly content with cloning the gameplay of antecedents and throwing on a fedora.

Just seems like it'd be more appropriate if Mister "Adventure Has A Name" would do the leading rather than the following in the action/adventure genre. I'm okay with Fate of Atlantis remaining unseated as the best Indy game since it's just that good, but it's pretty pathetic that after all these years they haven't been able to put together an action/adventure (the genre intuition would tell you the character is better suited to) Indiana Jones video game that rises above "competent Tomb Raider knockoff." And apparently we have to wait six years between these mediocre offerings because at LucasArts it's all Star Wars, all the time.
 

Thugee

New member
Udvarnoky said:
Absolutely. Modern Indiana Jones games are in fact highly derivative of games like Tomb Raider and now Uncharted. Sure, games like those owe a tremendous aesthetic debt to the Indy movies and old serials, but even when they've been good, Indy games of the past two decades have been disapppointingly content with cloning the gameplay of antecedents and throwing on a fedora.

Just seems like it'd be more appropriate if Mister "Adventure Has A Name" would do the leading rather than the following in the action/adventure genre. I'm okay with Fate of Atlantis remaining unseated as the best Indy game since it's just that good, but it's pretty pathetic that after all these years they haven't been able to put together an action/adventure (the genre intuition would tell you the character is better suited to) Indiana Jones video game that rises above "competent Tomb Raider knockoff." And apparently we have to wait six years between these mediocre offerings because at LucasArts it's all Star Wars, all the time.

It would be nice if LucasArts got out of "Star Wars Mode" that they constantly operate in and show a little more focus to the Indy. My perfect example is Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings. What a disappointingly mediocre game. It seems like hardly any time was spent on it at all.
 

Randy_Flagg

Well-known member
Considering how well received FOA was, I'm surprised LucasArts never tried to revisit the adventure game genre for Indy. Obviously it wouldn't be in the style of FOA anymore, but there are more modern adventure games, like Heavy Rain, Indigo Prophecy, Dreamfall, etc. Why not a new Indy adventure game, with some action bits thrown in, rather than yet another platform jumping game? I love the TR games, but the Indy games in the TR style always felt like poor imitations of TR.
 

Watsits

New member
I agree. I began to play "The Infernal Machine" yesterday and it was like a very glitchy version of Tomb Raider. I mean do like the game because it was nice to find after I remember playing as a child. :D And the game has kept me hooked, going to finish it.
 

Lao_Che

Active member
Udvarnoky said:
Absolutely. Modern Indiana Jones games are in fact highly derivative of games like Tomb Raider and now Uncharted. Sure, games like those owe a tremendous aesthetic debt to the Indy movies and old serials, but even when they've been good, Indy games of the past two decades have been disapppointingly content with cloning the gameplay of antecedents and throwing on a fedora.

Just seems like it'd be more appropriate if Mister "Adventure Has A Name" would do the leading rather than the following in the action/adventure genre. I'm okay with Fate of Atlantis remaining unseated as the best Indy game since it's just that good, but it's pretty pathetic that after all these years they haven't been able to put together an action/adventure (the genre intuition would tell you the character is better suited to) Indiana Jones video game that rises above "competent Tomb Raider knockoff." And apparently we have to wait six years between these mediocre offerings because at LucasArts it's all Star Wars, all the time.

While I agree with the sentiment, the only Indy game that's remotely similar to Uncharted since its release is Staff of Kings. And that was supposed to come out at the same time as the first Uncharted. At this point I'd love a Indiana Jones clone of Uncharted. ;)

It may not be true for books and comics but more often than not: build a good game and they will come.

And to be fair to Staff of Kings... the proper version was supposed to be the Xbox/PS3 release.
 

JuniorJones

TR.N Staff Member
Randy_Flagg said:
Considering how well received FOA was, I'm surprised LucasArts never tried to revisit the adventure game genre for Indy. Obviously it wouldn't be in the style of FOA anymore, but there are more modern adventure games, like Heavy Rain, Indigo Prophecy, Dreamfall, etc. Why not a new Indy adventure game, with some action bits thrown in, rather than yet another platform jumping game? I love the TR games, but the Indy games in the TR style always felt like poor imitations of TR.

They did. Indiana Jones and the Iron Phoenix was in development between 93-95 but unfortunately it wasn't to be.
 

Vance

New member
Supernatural said:
It was summer of '85 and I walked into a store to grab a soda. There were a couple of unmarked arcade games in the corner. I noticed one was an overhead game, like the first Zelda and it was obviously based on Indy.

Sounds like that was "Tutankham" (sic). You would go through four mazes, collecting keys to unlock treasure, and shoot monsters coming at you - though only left or right. It was Egyptian themed, but I can see how the coloring (and 1985 graphics) would throw you.

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10227
 

dire51

Member
Vance said:
Sounds like that was "Tutankham" (sic). You would go through four mazes, collecting keys to unlock treasure, and shoot monsters coming at you - though only left or right. It was Egyptian themed, but I can see how the coloring (and 1985 graphics) would throw you.

http://www.arcade-museum.com/game_detail.php?game_id=10227
I'd have to agree with that assessment. Another Indy-ripoff that came to mind was Bally Sente's Snake Pit, but there aren't any mazes to be found. It's more like Robotron: 2084.
 

dire51

Member
Been almost three years since I've been here. Wow. Hadn't realized it had been so long. Anyway, I stumbled across this thread, and read what I'd posted way back when:

dire51 said:
Also - has anyone here ever heard of a Konami game for the Famicom Disk System called Almana no Kiseki, aka The Miracle of Almana? Think Indiana Jones meets an early Konami arcade game, Roc 'N Rope. It's not bad at all, but it can be damned frustrating. Check out the first link to see the Indyness of it:

http://www.atarihq.com/tsr/fds/almana.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almana_no_Kiseki
If you've clicked those links, you've probably seen the "scorpion card" that came with the game. It's one of the more common cards packaged with it (the same one, which I scanned, came with my copy). There are three others as well, which can be seen here. Hardcore Gaming 101 did an article about it too, which also shows the scorpion card.

Here's a nice big scan of the cover artwork, from my personal copy. I didn't own it at the time I made that post (I'd played a friend's copy way back when), but in the time since I've acquired one along with a Famicom Disk System.

As said before, it can be very frustrating to play at times, and the plot is a direct lift from Temple of Doom. But it is fun. Chances are, though, unless you have a Famicom and working Famicom Disk System plus the game, or know your way around an NES emulator and have an FDS BIOS file plus ROM, you may never play it. Even if you do have an FDS plus the game, the FDS is notorious for its lousy drive belt, and the game is on a floppy disk. So eventually, they're going to fail. It's just a matter of time.

Luckily, the good folks over at the NES Dump have given us a way to play it that requires none of that. All you need is a working NES or a clone console like the RetroDuo, along with this. I ordered a copy from them a little while back (cart only, though, because it was cheaper), and it plays just fine on both my NES and my kids' RetroDuo.
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
Merged. Also: Minecart Chase!

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InexorableTash

Active member
Activision's Pitfall! for iOS

Review over on TouchArcade: Pitfall!

The original 1982 Pitfall! for the Atari 2600 apparently wasn't influenced by Raiders of the Lost Ark - but obviously draws from the same inspiration. A jungle explorers encountering all sorts of creepy crawlies and obstacles, coded up by David Crane at Activision.

At first glance, the new game seems like a knock-off of the current darling endless runner, Temple Run which is unabashedly inspired by the opening scene in Raiders. There are even screaming monkey sounds as you start running and coins to pick up. Fortunately, initial similarities fade quickly and you realize that while it's the same genre - and definitely inspired by Temple Run - it's a whole different game.

The game opens with a loading animation that's an homage to the orginal Pitfall!. Cute, but you can't skip it and it's terribly slow. They need to work on that aspect of the game. But this should be the first hint that this is a different beast that Temple Run. Unlike that game, the new Pitfall! expects you to play for extended periods of time, not just a few idle minutes. Once the loading animation has completed the actual game look is revealed as a 3D "cel shaded" environment. Once you set off running, other differences appear as the camera swings to the side for Mirror's Edge-style gameplay, then back to a follow-cam more like Temple Run.

The usual gestures are used - swipe up to jump, down to slide, tip the device to move to the edges of the path to pick up coins, swipe to the siides to turn when the path forks. Obstacles are the predictable trees and rocks, some of which must be jumped and others ducked under. The production values of the game are stellar - unlike Temple Run which quickly grows monotonous (and trance-inducing) with the same set of traps, Pitfall! mixes it up with fallen idols, spike pits, low bridges, and so forth.

Then it gets interesting. Your endless run occasionally takes you through a village where you can choose to run through the bamboo walkways instead of on the ground. Some pits have vines to swing over. The environment is animated, with lava bombs from an erupting volcano dropping into the path, trees falling in your way, and so forth. But that's not all...

Snakes!

Yes, there are creepy crawlies that get in your way. When you're outside, there are occasionally snakes on the path. Run over them and you'll be poisoned. Twice and you're dead. Fortunately, you're carrying a bullwhip (!) and can flick it out to take care of the slithery beasts. So although the original may not have been inspired by Indy, Pitfall Harry has learned a thing or two from the master.

I mentioned outside. After a few thousand meters your run takes you into an underground cavern where the obstacles change up - collapsing ceilings, scorpions, lava pits and so on. Make it far enough and you jump onto a mine car! (Hint: swipe sideways to take the forks and remember to duck!)

Once you make it through the mine sequence you'll be back outside. Cross some rickety bridges, and you'll find yourself on a motorcycle racing down a muddy unpaved road, trying to get around obstacles as your race continues.

That's as far as I've gotten so far, which is a good time to explain three other big departures from Temple Run. The first, as hinted above, is that while the exact path is randomly generated like Temple Run, there is a definite progression through things like the underground sequence, mine car, and motorcycle, that occur at certain distances from the start. Secondly, and thankfully, it is possible to restart from checkpoints rather than having to start from the beginning at each time.

Thirdly, however, restarts require using "Macaw Tokens" which must be purchased. And unlike Temple Run, where the power ups are a subtle addition to the game, in Pitfall! the achievements and store are much more blatant and frankly distracting.

I give it 4/5 stars so far.
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
Found this in a 1985 Broderbund catalog with a bunch of yard sale games still in boxes. The 2 games, from 1982 and 1983, borrow heavily from reels 1 and 2 of Raiders.

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You can watch 10 minutes of Mask of the Sun here. It ends with faux-Belloq getting his:


Edit: and of course there's a boulder.

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Le Saboteur

Active member
So, like, it looks like The Adventurer isn't destined to be vaporware at all! It's gone through a title change, but there's an official release date and everything.

On the 30th of July, get ready to keep up with James Lee Quatemaine in Deadfall Adventures!


Dual-wielding? No thank you.
 

Henry W Jones

New member
Le Saboteur said:
So, like, it looks like The Adventurer isn't destined to be vaporware at all! It's gone through a title change, but there's an official release date and everything.

On the 30th of July, get ready to keep up with James Lee Quatemaine in Deadfall Adventures!

Looks like Xbox wants their own Uncharted to me.
 

JerryKing

Member
Not a ripoff, especially since it uses many, many sources, from old legends to Conan Doyle - but without Junior, there might be no "Tusker". And that would have been a shame, even if the final game was visibly rushed.

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JerryKing

Member
"Le Fetiche Maya", on the other hand, would definitely not have existed without Junior. Most of what I remember from it was its rather insane difficulty.

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Stoo

Well-known member
JerryKing said:
"Le Fetiche Maya", on the other hand, would definitely not have existed without Junior. Most of what I remember from it was its rather insane difficulty.
Ha! Translated, the title would be, "The Mayan Fetish".:eek:

Here's one I found while googling for something else: "Tombs & Treasure" from 1987.

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What about Paganitzu? It's a 1991 DOS game I used to play it a lot as a kid. Other forum members remember it? "Paganitzu is a puzzle game with action elements. Help the hero go through rooms of puzzles and traps to find treasure and a way out" (Mobygames)

Paganitzu consists of three separate episodes: Romancing The Rose, Quest for the Silver Dagger, and Jewel of Yucatan. Also, according to a contributor on Mobygames, Paganitzu is Aztec for Temple of the Gods. If these titles aren't Indiana Jones themed or convincingly similar enough, you should check out the main character's name: Alabama Smith, wearing a fedora. The whole game is definitely a pun; the main villain's name is Omigosh. No kidding. O, I almost forgot, the levels are full of snakes and boulders.

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