Bouncers
From Sega Retro
| Bouncers | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| System(s): Sega Mega-CD | ||||||||||
| Publisher: Sega of America | ||||||||||
| Developer: Dynamix, Sierra On-Line | ||||||||||
| Sound driver: GEMS | ||||||||||
| Peripherals supported: Team Player, 4 Way Play | ||||||||||
| Genre: Action | ||||||||||
| Number of players: 1-2 | ||||||||||
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Bouncers is a Sega Mega-CD action game. It was only released in North America.
Contents
Gameplay
Bouncers is a one-on-one basketball game where the players play as anthropomorphic basketballs and try to dunk themselves into hoops to score points. They cannot jump high enough to reach the hoops, so they have to jump off each other. Similar to conventional basketball, most baskets are worth two points, but any basket made from a jump at mid-court or further is worth three points. Matches are broken into four quarters. Characters are moved with 
and 
and jump with 
. They kick opponents with 
(if on the ground and close enough). Special power-ups and "power-downs" float by during the match. Some power-ups have special abilities that are used with 
.
The game can be played by one or two players. In the game options, players can choose between the Challenge mode, which is used for single games on any court, and the Tournament mode, which sets up a best-of-five tournament on random courts. Players can choose between short or long quarters (1 or 2 minutes). Players can also choose between Arcade, Standard, and Expert physics, which range from unrealistic but with a high degree of control to more realistic but with no mid-air control.
Characters
All characters play identically, though different characters are associated with different difficulty levels when playing against the AI. In single-player games, the player chooses the opponent. Each character has a short, CG-rendered introductory cartoon.
| Ugh | |
|---|---|
| Caveman | |
| Fu | |
| Martial arts expert | |
| Tank | |
| Military officer | |
| Zap | |
| Magician | |
| Chip | |
| Precocious kid | |
| Dash | |
| Superhero | |
| Gog | |
| Alien creature | |
| Spike | |
| Rock star |
Items
Items float across the screen during the match. Most items are advantageous power-ups, but there are a couple of deleterious "power-downs." Opponents can be knocked into power-downs. Items can be toggled in the options.
| Lead Boots | |
|---|---|
| Makes the character heavier, slowing movement and reducing jumps. | |
| Track Shoes | |
| Makes the character faster. | |
| Jam | |
| Allows the character to slam dunk himself with the button when going through a hoop, causing the character to bounce hard against the ground and possibly score again.
| |
| Parachute | |
| Allows the character to engage a parachute with the button and float down in a controlled descent.
| |
| Wing Shoes | |
| Allows the character to fly around the screen using the D-Pad for a duration. | |
| Spring Shoes | |
| Makes the character's next jump super high. | |
| Sticky Shoes | |
| Makes the player bounce less (and therefore recover control quicker) after hitting the ground. | |
| Bonus Ball | |
| Awards the player with instant points. Comes in two colors and awards more points for collecting the same color. | |
| Bat Bait | |
| Only found on the Haunted Mansion court. Causes the bat to ignore the character if the bat has recently picked him up or to pick him up if the bat has been ignoring him. | |
| Hover | |
| Only found on the Haunted Mansion court. Causes the character to float into the air for a duration or until the opposing character knocks him out of it. |
Courts
Courts are one screen-length with no scrolling. Each has two or three hoops and various stage-specific gimmicks that affect gameplay.
| Broken-Orbit Moon | |
|---|---|
| Lunar surface. Three hoops attached to moving satellites. Lower gravity leads to floatier control. | |
| Arctic Blast | |
| Frozen mountain. Three hoops in the cliff. Arctic winds blow characters around. The ground is icy and slippery, but snow storms occasionally cover the ground in snow and make it less icy until it melts. | |
| Wild Tropics | |
| Tropical island. Two hoops through the arms of the monkeys in the trees, plus additional hoops through the smoke rings billowed out from the volcano. Lagoon on the left side slows movement. | |
| Haunted Mansion | |
| Spooky graveyard. Two hoops through the skeleton's rib cages. A bat swoops down to pick up characters who have been kicked by their opponents. This court contains two unique power-ups, Bat Bait and Hover. | |
| Stormy Ruins | |
| Ancient ruins. Two hoops through the rings held by the statues. Thunderstorms blow characters around, and lightning can strike characters who bounce too high into the air, costing them any power-ups they may have. | |
| Bouncer City Pro-Court | |
| Downtown basketball court. Two hoops through conventional basketball baskets. The hoops are mounted higher than any of the other courts. | |
| Deep Sea Shipwreck | |
| Undersea shipwreck. Three hoops through the the mermaids' arms. Most of the court is submerged and has underwater physics. It is possible to skip along the surface of the water. |
Production credits
- Producer: Randy Thompson
- Lead Designer: Rhett Anderson
- Art Director: John Garvin
- Original Design: Rhett Anderson, Dave Hensley
- Sega Design: Rhett Anderson, John Garvin, Tim Midkiff, Randy Thompson
- Programming: Randy Thompson, Rhett Anderson, Tim Midkiff
- Art and Animation: John Garvin
- Sound Effects and Music: Chris Stevens
- Miscellaneous Art: Rob Kraft, Peter Lewis
- QA Manager: James Domico
- Writing and Animation: John Garvin
- Animblaster Technology: Randy Thompson
- Talent Coordinator: Sher Alltucker
- Voice Director: Ginny McSwain
- Ugh's Voice: Mark Hamill
- Snake's Voice: John Kassir
- Music: Jan Paul Moorhead
- SFX and Post: Ken Rogers
- Fu's and Master Fo's Voices: Michael Bell
- Music: Jan Paul Moorhead
- SFX and Post: Ken Rogers
- Tank's Voice: Michael Bell
- Music: Christopher Stevens
- SFX and Post: Ken Rogers
- Zap's Voice: Michael Bell
- Little Kid's Voice: John Kassir
- Music: Tim Clarke
- SFX and Post: Ken Rogers
- Chip's Voice: Mark Hamill
- Fish Voices: John Kassir
- Music, SFX and Post: Christopher Stevens
- Dash's Voice: Mark Hamill
- Jake's Voice: John Kassir
- Mick's Voice: Michael Bell
- Music, SFX and Post: Christopher Stevens
- Gog's Voice: John Kassir
- Music: Jan Paul Moorhead
- SFX and Post: Ken Rogers
- Spike's Voice: John Kassir
- Old Man's Voice: Mark Hamill
- Music, SFX and Post: Christopher Stevens
- Guitar: Joe Weber
- Manual Writing: Randy Thompson
- Manual Layout: Shawn Bird
- Executive Producer: Jeffrey Tunnell
Magazine articles
- Main article: Bouncers/Magazine articles.
Physical scans
| Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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|
 |
70 |
|---|---|
| Based on 6 reviews | |
| Mega-CD, US |
|---|
  Cover
|
 Disc  Manual |
Technical information
- Main article: Bouncers/Technical information.
References
- ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "December 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 328
- ↑ File:Bouncers MCD credits.pdf
- ↑ File:Bouncers mcd us manual.pdf, page 19
- ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "December 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 48
- ↑ Freak, "4/95" (IL; 1995-xx-xx), page 1
- ↑ Game Players, "Vol. 8 No. 3 March 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 62
- ↑ GamePro, "January 1995" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 68
- ↑ Next Generation, "March 1995" (US; 1995-02-21), page 96
- ↑ VideoGames, "February 1995" (US; 1995-0x-xx), page 64
| Bouncers | |
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Main page | Magazine articles | Reception | Technical information | |
