Popular franchises on LCD devices

Hi all! At one time, portable electronic games Game & Watch from Nintendo made a real splash in this area. Many companies tried to repeat success, creating their mini-devices with various games on famous franchises. What can we say, even in the USSR there was a rare series of pocket electronic devices under the electronics trademark under the brand. The game “Well, wait a minute!”, Where the wolf was supposed to catch eggs dropped from the windows with a hare.

So, in 2020, Nintendo decided to recall the old days and released Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros, where the visual style of the device was almost completely preserved. Only the screen has changed, which became color. This year Nintendo announced the new Game & Watch. This time 4 versions of The Legend of Zelda were loaded into it.

In honor of such an event, an ideal occasion appeared to recall the most interesting games on popular franchises released on such devices.

Burger King Plants vs Zombies

And I’ll start, perhaps, with one of the youngest representatives in this category: LCD Plants VS Zombies 2015. The truth is unexpected? It is even more interesting that Electronic Arts has chosen the American fast food company Burger King to spread this product. A limited action was held, according to which the participants could receive a bucket with comics, a mask of zombies or sunflower, bracelets luminous in the dark and a portable game.

The design is made in the best traditions: the screen is colorless, batteries were inserted from behind and there was a turning on/off lever, but three large buttons were located in front. The gameplay was ambiguous in terms of difficulty.

The player had to move the “shooting peas” up or down three horizontal lines. Zombies were approaching from the right side of the screen, dying already from as many as two shots. This led to the fact that with an automatic increase in complexity, several enemies immediately stood in the same line. Therefore, the last zombie physically lacked time for shelling, and three attempts instantly evaporated.

McDonald`s Crash Bandicoot, Spyro and Sonic

However, both in the field of fast food, Burger King was not a pioneer, so among restaurants it did not become the first in distribution of LCD games. In 2003, SEGA decided to use McDonald’s to sell 6 LCD Sonic franchise games. In appearance, almost all of them looked cheap. Bright plastic was used, where the characters were either painted or left untouched. In some games, it was necessary to catch rings, in others to overtake cars, kick the ball into the gate or ride on a skate along the railing.

But already 2004 was much more saturated and more diverse. Again 6 LCD games promoted Sonic and his company. Now the design is not to complain. Colorful pictures were applied to the devices, and the couple even had a protective cover.

By the way, just a few years later, a version fell into my hands, where the rabbits of Crim was to catch flowers dropped from a tree with a small creature Chao. It was quite funny, but due to small complexity, even at the final level, I quickly exhausted interest. In other games, they hit the sport more. Again there was football, to which basketball, baseball, races and skateboarding were attached to.

A few months later, the Happy Mil children’s kits added already games on Sonic from a new set, which included as many as 8 variations. Added, volleyball, fishing, hockey and flight on an airplane. I will not dwell on them, since the appearance was still good, and the gameplay was not different from the predecessors.

In the same 2004, McDonald’s also delivered portable Crash Bandicoot franchise games. Alas, there is the same pancake lump as the games on Sonic from 2003. Overvillagic bright plastic with small colored inserts was used again. It was possible to play simple races or catching falling objects.

A year later, with Crash Bandicoot, the action was repeated. Plus, they added a spyro franchise, and in the end it turned out eight portable toys of 4 for each protagonist. And oh miracle! They refused awesome plastic, and now the devices were like a packaging package from Sega. On the outside of the cover covering the screen, there was a colorful picture with the main character.

It is interesting that at least the games were 8, but to the greater extent the internal design and gameplay were different. So in Crash Bandicoot one version was designed for a cooperative with a friend, and the second contained buttons in the form of arms and legs to simulate a dance. But in Spyro, only one game had a circular stick, where it was necessary to turn the dragon 360 degrees. The rest of the variations were ordinary arrows, and the gameplay could not be called specific.

By the way, I’ll move away a little from the topic. Epoch in 1985 released LCD Burger Jump, based on the McDonald’s restaurant itself. It looked quite funny and unusual. The device was round, where the screen with colored elements was covered with a lid on which McDonald’s advertising characters were depicted. In the game itself, the clown Ronald McDonald should catch objects falling from the sky, jumping from one part of the screen to another.

Mars Attacks! and Independence Day

So, with LCD games from fast food restaurants I will finish and move to two representatives with unique gameplay mechanics. In 1996, two films were released, where the population of the Earth fights against hostile aliens. The first was called “Mars attacks!”, And the second -” Independence Day “. The Tiger Electronics company at that time, which, as a vacuum cleaner, delayed new licenses for famous games, films and cartoons, did not miss these individuals.

Many of you, of course, remember the legendary Duck Hunt game on the prefix NES, where a special gun needs to be shot ducks, and in the case of misses, the dog peeked out and made a malicious way. And here we decided to make a similar mechanism.

A folding miniature gun without any wires, and working on an ordinary finger battery, was attached to the portable device. For convenience, he was placed in a special recess on the reinfected panel, which served as a stand for the main part. There was a light sensor under the screen, lit up at the time of a shot from a miniature gun, of course, when the gun was directed exactly in the laid side.

In the game “Independence Day” it was necessary nonukonlinecasinos.uk to shoot aircraft, and in “Mars attacks!”— Martials and Martians. I can’t imagine which delight could be experienced at that time when acquiring these treasures. Even now it looks original when compared with similar projects.

By the way, in the same year, by Independence Day from Tiger Electronics, a regular version with the usual control buttons was released. The gameplay was a little processed, and now the player controlled the aircraft, shooting the enemies flying up to him.

Robocop and Terminator

And how are things from cyborgs and robots? Quite saturated, I will tell you. In 1992, Micro Games of America releases the portable game RoboCop 2, and after 3 years – the first part of Robocop. The strongest difference in them is an enemy robot on the right side of the screen. Everything else was saved without any redrawings.

The player must move the robocop up/down to evade the shells. So that everything is not so simple, the protagonist was deprived of a personal weapon. Therefore, a partner appears on the left side of the screen, which gives the robocop a single -shot rifle. To take it, you need to move your hero so that he begins to stretch his hand back, as if he wants to pick up an object.

Tiger Electronics looked much more interesting. They were based on the second and third parts of the films. Consequently, the main bosses are advanced robot policeman and samurai. Naturally, in addition to them, there are other bandits armed with firearms, grenades and even flamethrower.

The main feature is that these parts, that the subsequent action of games from Tiger Electronics is that the effect of moving the protagonist was created. Robokopa draws several positions of the legs, which was why it seemed that he was coming. True, for some reason, LCD Robocop 3 drew the main character in the air, which made it the impression that he could jump to a greater height without any problems. Also, the atmospheric was strengthened by alternately appearing black rectangles on the ground, so even two frames with a machine in LCD Robocop 2 seemed completely animated.

The main goal of the game was the following. Robocop had to “run” the level, destroying all enemies, in parallel evading their attacks. In LCD Robocop 2, even had to be selected cartridges to make up for ammunition. The continuation of this was refused, since literally there was not enough space on the screen due to the addition of the torn limbs of the robocop and several enemies. After the destruction of all the waves, the corresponding boss appeared, which had to be shot several times for the complete passage of the game.

LCD Robocop 2 Tiger Electronics ported to its branded clock. Actually, the gameplay remained the same, just now it was in a reduced format. A miniature Pinball automatic from 1989 release looked much more interesting. Moreover, there were two versions: the first was attended by two buttons and a lever, and in the second – four active and somewhat drawn. After all, Pinbol is a very fast game and at LCD games, it would seem, you cannot save the same effect. However, Remco did it. The ball was accelerated accelerated, flippers immediately reacted to pressing the corresponding button.

But the terminator in the race for the number of LCD games about his character with a bang failed. There were only two of them, and Tiger Electronics released a portable device only based on the first film. Unlike Robocop, the gameplay was vertical, that is, the enemies attacked from above, and the player’s character was shot from below. He had at his disposal a gun, a machine gun and a grenade launcher that appeared in the lower corners of the screen.

After the destruction of ordinary opponents, a giant T-800 went out in the victorious pose of the dancer, as if he had not yet moved away from the party. The most interesting thing is that he did not shoot and did not throw any grenades. He just stood in anticipation of when he was shooting his hand, legs, and then all the torso. But even it does not look as strange as the gameplay of the portable game Terminator 2 Judgment Day from Acclaim.

So, here, in the role of Donke, the Kong T-1000, and the carpenter of the Jampman was replaced by the T-800. In the course of the game, the latter should jump over the impending barrels, simultaneously dodging the beams, descended T-1000 from the second floor. As soon as the passage to the upper level opens, it is necessary to move the T-800 there, and then jump onto the chain, shaking like a pendulum above the head of the T-100. Only a delicious blow to the leg can you throw off the boss from the raped place, thereby passing the level. It looks, of course, funny, but from the confrontation of two robots you expect something more.

Judge Dredd and Rambo

In my opinion, that Robokop, that Judge Dredd is devoted to the Terminator. There was only one LCD game from Tiger Electronics on it, but what! The basis of gameplay, like a robocop 2 and 3: the player must fight off various bandits, and when moving the character, the effect of full walking is created. But already one small detail makes the game special.

Initially, Judge Dredd is not armed with anything, and he can only beat with his fists. If he defeats the enemy with a gun or shotgun, then the weapon will fall to the ground, and you can take it to yourself. Ammunition is limited, and as soon as the cartridges end, the weapon will disappear from the hands. It looks very interesting! And if you also see how many different drawings were able to fit on the screen, I just want to put it up.

Amusing how they got out with saving a place for two guns. Initially, only a pistol was drawn, and a millimeter from it was finished with a shotgun barrel. The most important thing is that everything was definitely configured and there were no cases when a gun was picking up instead of a gun.

In contrast to Judge Dredu, you can easily set a 1988 game called LCD Rambo from Acclaim Electronic. The developers obviously did not bother with variability and strong drawing. John Rambo must shoot from alternately impending helicopters, which do not even shoot in response. They use the most “high -quality” tactics – they simply go to the ram. Well, since there is nothing more to add to this game, I move to more interesting projects.

Harry Potter

The following gameplay games are quite common, but they have noted a little over the design of the devices. We are talking about the Harry Potter franchise, which, thanks to Tiger Electronics, not only visited the portable devices market, but also distinguished itself of colorful design. So the two games were optimized under the figures of the Rubius Hagrid and Harry Potter himself. The screen was in the body, and the action buttons were in the knee area.

In another version, the screen was surrounded by a plastic field, where Hogwarts’s ceremonial gates and Harry Potter figures with a troll were located. The buttons were under the screen in a row, that is, nothing unusual.

Victory is awarded by the game on Harry Potter, built into the figure of a three -headed dog. More precisely, there were buttons in the mouth in the left and right heads, and in the central – the display. Moreover, side mouths could be closed. Fortunately, this did not happen during the loss, so you could not worry about the safety of the fingers. Additional buttons were located on the neck, which was decorated with a spiked collar.

Hunt for Red October

Nevertheless, there is a game that is not inferior to Harry Potter in original design and wins the non -standard gameplay. We are talking about Led Hunt for Red October, which was released in 1990 from Toy Wizard. The game is based on the film “Hunt for Red October”, where the commander of the latest Soviet strategic submarine plans to swim to the shores of America and surrender.

Corresponding to this topic, the game device is decorated under the submarine. There were already 14 buttons for various operations and a wide display, on which a radar, depth, counter and additional bulbs were located. In fact, this is almost a miniature game simulator of a submarine control, which was accompanied by a set of rules, a paper game field, an area of ​​8×8, and four plastic chips.

Mortal Kombat

The popular Mortal Kombat franchise also did not forget to look at portable devices. For this, it is worth giving thanks to Tiger Electronics again. In 1993, Mortal Kombat 1 was released, where the player could manage one of the seven characters, namely: Sab-Ziro, Cano, Reiden, Scorpio, Liu Keng, Sonya and Johnny Cage. Moreover, the avatars of the first four were on the left side of the screen, and the other three in the right. They did it on purpose, since the selection of opponents depends on the chosen side.

Manage the character on the right side-fight with Sab-Ziro, Kano, Raiden, Scorpio and Shang Tsung. Otherwise, Liu Keng, Sonya, Johnny Cage, Gorod and, again, Shang Tsung, will appear against you. The latter even retained the ability to transform, but again everything depends on the chosen side. He will change the appearance of the opponent with whom you have already fought.

The drawing is perfect and the battles look dynamic. Of course, as far as possible on this system. They even drawed fire balls, lightning and twisting, which can be released by some character. True, in any case, damage was caused with almost the same force, regardless of the reception.

A year later, Mortal Kombat looked at the Tiger Barcodzz console, which had a device for reading barcodes from special cards attached to the game. Their use could greatly simplify the victory. Some cards strengthened your fighter, others weakened the enemy, and some led to the end of the battle. Plus, on the cards they applied additional information about the characters of the franchise. In addition, each of them had a colorful unique pattern, and there were 24 of them in total.

The cost of this beauty was a decrease in the number of accessible characters in the game. If you choose a character from the right side, then fight Rayden, Liu Kang and Might. Otherwise, Scorpio, Sab-Ziro and City will become enemies.

Further Tiger began to concentrate on Mortal Kombat 3, porting it to two conflicting consoles. The first is the famous R-Zone, where the LCD screen was built into the cartridge with the game. All this was attached to the head headset so that the screen was located opposite the eyes. Thus, this was supposed to create the effect of virtual reality. But it is easy to guess that everything was very disastrous, and in the structure of the R-Zone very much lost to the same device Virtual Boy.

So, in Mortal Kombat 3 R-Zone, the player could choose one of the eight characters: Sindel, Sonya, Shiva, Liu Kenga, Kano, Sector, Jax and Sab-Ziro. The fighters were still divided into the right and left sides, but now all this was drawn on the screen with a red outflow.

There is nothing more to allocate from this port, so I move to the second console-VRT-X. The characters were a little corrected. Now there were Sindel, Shiva, Shang Tsung, Kung Lao, Night Wolf, Sector, Jax and Straiker. The console was distinguished by a special holographic screen, which, although it was beautiful, brought more harm than good.

The fact is that the drawings of the fighters could simply not be seen due to a certain tilt of the screen or incorrect lighting in the room. Therefore, a mini lamp above the screen was attached to the device. With a poor display of the drawings, the player turned it on, and the situation improved slightly. Well, since the game hemplaino itself did not offer anything new, then this port also did not gain great popularity.

After that, Tiger switched to porting Mortal Kombat Trilogy. There were 9 characters in total, but it was possible to manage a family: Kitana, Sonya, Milina, Sector, Ermak, Sairax, Sab-Ziro. Noble were Shao Kan and Kintaro. The first was located on both sides of the screen, but the second was drawn only on the left.

I won’t stop on the usual Mortal Kombat Trilogy LCD and the version for the R-Zone and I’ll tell you better about two other ports. Tiger had a device like Tamagochi, but called Giga Pet. The functions were similar, and so that interest did not fade, other versions were released, including Giga Fighters.

Its peculiarity was that the players first trained their characters, and then participated in fights. And it was possible to fight with the characters of friends. In the first case, the consoles were connected by one wire, and the blows of your character were displayed on the opponent’s screen. In the second version, the player connected this wire to the computer and played with other people over the network.

This version had 6 fighters: Kitan, Reiden, Scorpio, Sonya, Sab-Ziro and Shao Kan. Unlike Tamagochi, the player could train three characters at once. The rest of the actions were similar. Fighters could ask to eat, send them to the shower and give them time to sleep. However, could they die from the uncleaned bowel movements – it will restore a mystery.

Mortal Kombat Trilogy was also ported to Game Game Console.Com. Thirteen characters entered the game – reptile, Rhine, Milina, Night Wolf, Kitan, Reiden, Jade, Ermak, Nub Saybot, Motaro and Shao Kan. Unfortunately, the rest could not be added due to the small volume of the cartridge.

In fact, this version is that by gameplay, that by visual components is as close as possible to the original. In solitary mode, the player could choose one of the four pillars for passing. The multiplayer became active if the console connected through the wire to the computer.