Awesome Possum Kicks Dr. Machino's Butt!
From Sega Retro
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| Awesome Possum Kicks Dr. Machino's Butt! | |||||||||||||||
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| System(s): Sega Mega Drive | |||||||||||||||
| Publisher: Tengen | |||||||||||||||
| Developer: Tengen | |||||||||||||||
| Supporting companies: Nu Romantic Productions (audio) | |||||||||||||||
| Sound driver: GEMS | |||||||||||||||
| Genre: Action[1] | |||||||||||||||
| Number of players: 1 | |||||||||||||||
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Awesome Possum Kicks Dr. Machino's Butt! (オーサムポッサム) is a platform game released by Tengen in 1993 for the Sega Mega Drive video game console. Inspired heavily by Sonic the Hedgehog and possibly Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind, the game features a possum named Awesome who must defeat the evil Dr. Machino and his army of robots.
The game has a strong environmental message, involving the destruction of rainforests and pollution. The instruction manual includes a full-color comic introducing the character and information about environmental activism.
Contents
Story
Mad scientist Dr. Machino has sent his robots to pollute the earth and endanger the wildlife. Aided by his animal friends, Awesome Possum sets out to destroy the robots, put a stop to the mad scientist, and save the world.
Gameplay
The game is a platformer modeled after Sonic the Hedgehog. Awesome Possum moves with 
and 
and jumps with 
, 
, or 
jump. He defeats enemies by jumping on top of them. After he jumps on an enemy, he bounces off in a ball form, similar to Sonic and Bubsy. In ball form, he can defeat enemies by hitting them from sides other than the top.
After finishing a level (except the last one), the player is quizzed on environmental and ecological questions. The player chooses an answer using the , , or buttons. The player is awarded with 10,000 bonus points for a correct answer.
Awesome Possum has a health meter with five segments. If he loses all five segments, he loses a life with the next hit he takes. He can find items to replenish his health. He can also collect recyclables throughout the levels; when he collects 50, his health is replenished to full and the player earns an extra life.
The player can enter a bonus stage after the current level is completed by finding a Bonus B item. Bonus stages are similar in style to the regular levels but more linear and densely filled with items.
Animal Friends
Awesome Possum can find animal friends to help him in the levels. He can jump on them to ride them. They defeat any enemies they run into. Awesome Possum can jump off by pressing , , or . Jumping off the rhino catapults him to a great height.
Items
| Recyclables | |
|---|---|
| Collectible items such as bottles, newspapers, and aluminum cans. When the player collects 50 recyclables, the count is reset to zero and Awesome Possum gains an extra life and has his health fully replenished. | |
| Recycle Sign | |
| Equivalent to collecting 10 recyclables. | |
| Mega Powers | |
| Increases the movement speed of Awesome Possum. | |
| Mega Jump | |
| Increases the height of Awesome Possum's jump and changes it to a ball, which can attack enemies from any angle. | |
| Extra Health | |
| Fully replenishes Awesome Possum's health bar. | |
| Extra Life | |
| Awards the player with an extra life. | |
| Bonus B | |
| Collect to play a bonus level after completing the current level. | |
| Checkpoint | |
| Checkpoint where Awesome Possum is revived after losing a life. | |
| Win Banner | |
| Pass to complete the level. If there is a boss, the boss must be defeated first. |
Levels
| The Rain Forest | |
|---|---|
| The Sea Caverns | |
| The Arctic Circle | |
| Dr. Machino's Domain | |
| The Fortress of Garbage | |
Production credits
- Design and Programming: Richard L. Seaborne
- Associate Programming: May Yam
- Art and Animation: Jose Erazo, Doug Gray, Manuel Laguatan, Jules Marino
- Map Creation: Jose Erazo, Manuel Laguatan, Paul Lidberg
- Concepts: Richard L. Seaborne, Earl Vickers
- Music and Sound: Earl Vickers, Doug Brandon, Nu Romantic
- Voices: Walter Fields, Laura Amat, Douglas Lawrence
- Producers: Steve Calfee, Bill Hindorff
History
Reception
Awesome Possum was not released outside of Japan and North America, and was heavily criticized upon release for having poor physics and controls. The character of Awesome also also provides a running commentary while playing, which was often cited as being annoying, though there is an option to disable this.
Magazine articles
- Main article: Awesome Possum Kicks Dr. Machino's Butt!/Magazine articles.
Promotional material
Physical scans
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57 |
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| Based on 20 reviews | |
| Mega Drive, JP |
|---|
 Cover
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  Cart  Manual |
| Mega Drive, US |
|---|
 Cover
|
 Cart  Manual |
Technical information
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software_l.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-02 23:21)
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "November 1993" (JP; 1993-10-08), page 138
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 GamePro, "December 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 79
- ↑ File:Awesome Possum MD credits.pdf
- ↑ GamePro, "January 1994" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 63
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 23
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "January 1994" (JP; 1993-12-08), page 26
- ↑ Console Mania, "Gennaio 1994" (IT; 199x-xx-xx), page 49
- ↑ Electronic Games (1992-1995), "December 1993" (US; 1993-11-23), page 122
- ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "November 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 50
- ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 291
- ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 3, "" (RU; 2000-xx-xx), page 9
- ↑ GamesMaster, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-20), page 52
- ↑ Hippon Super, "January 1994" (JP; 1993-12-03), page 43
- ↑ Mega, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-20), page 46
- ↑ MegaTech, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-20), page 16
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "February 1994" (UK; 1993-12-28), page 55
- ↑ Sega Power, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-03-03), page 58
- ↑ Sega Pro, "Easter 1994" (UK; 1994-03-24), page 70
- ↑ Sega Zone, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-23), page 56
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87
- ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 17
- ↑ Video Games, "2/94" (DE; 1994-01-26), page 51
- ↑ VideoGames, "December 1993" (US; 1993-1x-xx), page 86
| Awesome Possum Kicks Dr. Machino's Butt! | |
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