Alien (movie)
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Alien is an influential horror movie that introduced an extremely dangerous species.
The aliens' life purpose is to capture other creatures and misuse them as incubators. Each alien starts out as an egg. At some point, an octopus-like facehugger hatches and impregnates somebody. Within hours, a baby alien bursts through their chest and grows eight foot tall. For self-defense, the aliens have acidic blood that quickly burns holes through several floors of a spaceship. Recurring in sequels and games are air ducts, androids, and space trucker Ellen Ripley.
Contents
Games
Alien: Atari
In the 1979 movie, the cargo ship Nostromo lands on a planet full of eggs. After leaving, the crew must defend themselves against an alien, their inventory including flame throwers.
This mix of Pac-Man, Freeway (A26) and Frogger was programmed by POKEY co-designer Doug Neubauer under a pen name and has seven sound effects.
Alien (A26)
1982-1?-??
No music
Alien: Concept
In this real-time strategy, you can use plenty of even tiny elements from the movie.
Paul Clansey is a fan of the movie, co-founded Concept Software, designed the game, and composed a C64 song that was used in many demos and a few unrelated games.
Aliens: Activision
In the July 1986 action movie, the planet has been colonized. After contact is lost, Ripley and the marine corps find only one survivor, a little girl called Newt.
This game alternates between original dialogue and minigames. Most European magazines criticized the simpleness, but most gamers worldwide still enjoy the gameplay and the closeness to the movie.
It was designed by long-term employees at Activision headquarters, of whom Russell Lieblich composed two themes. British subsidiary Electric Dreams published it as US Version 6 Game Compendium, and both companies outsourced conversions. The last two by Mr. Micro play several sound effects. Two magazines mentioned the title Superaliens or Super Aliens, although their source is unknown.
Aliens (ZXS)
1987-1?-??
No music
Aliens (CPC)
1987-??-??
No music
Aliens: Software Studios
Published in Europe only, this rudimentary first-person shooter is the first Alien game to quote film music. While some find it confusing or repetitive, everybody praises the atmosphere.
It was produced by Electric Dreams' in-house developer Software Studios, designed by freelancer Mark Eyles, and developed by Pennsoft, Soft Machine, and four individuals. Mr. Micro again made the last two conversions.
Aliens (CP4)
1987-??-??
No music
Aliens: Square
Subtitled in Japanese, this run-and-gun credits Activision and Square for original game concept, while the MSX box credits Activision for allowing Square to call it Aliens.
Aliens: Konami
This cooperative run-and-gun was published worldwide.
Alien³: Probe
In the May 1992 movie, Ripley crashes into a prison and becomes bald. Although the movie does not have weapons, all games have. Most of them feature the nine-foot fan and the quadrupedal alien.
In these platformers, you have to touch prisoners before their chests burst. They were designed by Probe Software for Acclaim Entertainment and their Arena and LJN labels. Composers are Matt Furniss (Sega and Amiga), Jeroen Tel (NES), and Steve Collett (SNES). Andrew Rodger rearranged the Genesis music for the C64.
Alien³: B.I.T.S.
This top-down adventure tells three points of the plot. It was designed by Bits Studios, also for LJN.
Alien³: Sega
This 3D shooter was mainly found in Japan.
Links
- mobygames.com/group/189/aliens-licensees/ - MobyGames.
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(franchise) - Wikipedia.
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| Alien: Concept |  •  • 
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| Aliens: Activision | • 
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| Aliens: Software Studios | • • 
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| Aliens: Square | • 
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| Aliens: Konami | 
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| Alien³: Probe |  •  •  •  •  •  •
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| Alien³: B.I.T.S. | 
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| Alien³: Sega |
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