Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine

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Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine
System(s): Sega Mega-CD
Publisher: Rocket Science Games
Developer: Rocket Science Games
Peripherals supported: Six Button Control Pad
Genre: Shooting
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code US 1994-11 T-153015 BR 1996-12 R$69.9969.99 063486
Non-Sega versions No results

Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine is a Sega Mega-CD full-motion video rail shooter game. It was only released in North America and Brazil, although BMG Interactive Entertainment had once planned to bring the game to Europe.

Story

Loadstar and contraband camel

In the 22nd century, Tully Bodine is an "Outroller," a trucker who pilots a "Jump Truck" freightliner named the Loadstar on utility rails through space. Looking for one last big haul before retirement, Tully has agreed to convoy contraband camels (used for carrying cargo across the Martian landscape) for big cash. He has to steer clear of the police, led by the spiteful Sheriff Wompler, in the process.

Gameplay

Tully Bodine and Mortimer

The game is a full-motion video shooting game resembling the earlier Mega-CD game Sewer Shark. The player controls a crosshair using the D-Pad. The crosshair can be used to target enemies and fire on them using the Loadstar's "Sapper" with or to target their projectiles and neutralize them using the Loadstar's shield with . Neither device shows a projectile when used. On the final level, the Loadstar has an additional means of offense, a degausser, activated with + (or ). The degausser attacks every enemy on screen without aiming but can only be used a limited number of times.

The game is literally "on rails," as the freightliner pilots itself as it rolls down the tracks of the game's levels, with the player deciding to turn left or right by moving the crosshair to the edges of the screen when approaching a junction. Each level has a destination visible in the background that must be reached within the allotted time by making the right turns and by using the on-screen compass. The current heading is given as an angle. Taking the wrong turns results in traveling in circles. It is sometimes necessary to switch tracks to avoid a collision. The Loadstar's onboard computer, Mortimer, who is depicted as a smiley face, notifies Tully of upcoming hazards and provides directions occasionally. The Loadstar also has a horn, honked with , which is used to move slow traffic out of the way and to alert oncoming freighters to switch tracks in order to avoid a collision.

The Loadstar has a damage meter that increases as it takes damage from enemies. If the damage meter reaches 100%, the Loadstar loses "maglev" and falls to the track, grinding to a halt; the player must then restart the level at the cost of a life. Colliding with another freighter also costs a life. If the timer reaches zero, the player must restart the stage even if completed. The player gains an extra life after completing each level.

The Loadstar is equipped with a "Megashield" that is activated with + (or ). It renders the Loadstar impervious to damage. The screen tints green to indicate that the Megashield is active. The Megashield depletes while it is active, but it regenerates quickly when it is not used. Levels have maintenance bays that the Loadstar can turn into to be repaired. Mortimer notifies Tully when a maintenance bay is approaching.

The game saves the player's progress to the Mega-CD's internal memory. During gameplay, the player can invoke the main menu with +++ START  to restart the current level, replay any previously accessed level, or watch the introduction or the credits.

Levels

	Level 1
	Level 2
	Level 3

History

Development

Having invested in Rocket Science Games, Sega demanded that Loadstar was released on the Mega-CD first, despite the console's shortcomings when it came to rendering FMV footage.

Through the eyes of senior developer Brian Moriarty, many of the staff being Loadstar were attempting to use the project to better their chances of getting into film production for Hollywood. Very few were knowledgeable when it came to video games, to the point where CEO Steve Blank would not even let his children play video games at the time.

Moriarty suggests Loadstar did the minimum to get past Sega's quality standards, and was hated by Sega's staff.

“	The Sega CD version that was shipped as pretty much the first version we produced that had no obvious bugs. To pass Sega’s testing procedure, it simply had to play for a certain number of hours without crashing — and it could do this, just. But there was no quality control as such. There was no play testing. No one bothered to find out if it played any good. No one spent any time trying to make it fun. And although it passed the tests, all the Sega people hated it.	„
— Brian Moriarty

Like the majority of titles produced by Rocket Science Games, the company advertised Loadstar as coming to both the Mega-CD 32X and Saturn. The Mega-CD 32X version was intended on utilizing the hardware's increased color capabilities in a similar method that was done on Night Trap (but without a specified release date), and a further-enhanced Saturn version was planned for Q4 1995. Neither ports would be released.

Versions

The IBM PC version of the game shipped on three CD-ROMs, which was cut down to one for the Mega-CD release. Besides reduced video quality, the Mega-CD version omits the level bosses and the last level. While the PC version uses the mouse for aiming the crosshair and the arrow keys on the keyboard for steering the Loadstar, the Mega-CD version uses the D-Pad for both, leaving the player vulnerable to enemy fire when turning.

Production credits

• Producer: Matthew Fassberg
• Story & Concept Design: Ron Cobb
• Interactive Design: Brian Moriarty
• Digital Production Supervisor: Richard Cohen
• Digital Matte Painting Supervisor: Mark Sullivan
• Production Designer: David Nakabayashi
• Engineers: Peter Barrett, Sean Callahan, Cary Clark, Cary Clark, George Cossey, Edward Harp, Mickey Killianey, Mark Krueger, Bruce Leak, Tony Myles, Joe Tretinik

Digital Production

• Computer Animation: George Chang, Richard Cohen, Dean Hadlock, Hayden Landis, Neil Lim Sany, Gary Siela
• Matte Painting: Brian Flora, Mark Nonnenmacher, Mark Sullivan
• Digital Models: George Chang, Thalia Georgopoulos, Fred Lewis, Dean Hadlock
• Digital Compositing: George Chang, Wade Childress, Richard Cohen
• Texture Maps: George Chang, Brian Flora, Chris Green, David Nakabayashi, Mark Nonnenmacher

Post Production

• Western Images
  • Producer: Todd Lindo
  • Editor: John Henkel, Alan Chimenti
  • Colorist: Jim Barrett
  • Technical Director: Jerry Castro
• Sound Engineer: Mary Ellen Perry (Music Annex)
• Sound Design: Gary Clayton, Matthew Fasshery, Brian Walker
• Gameplay Music: Dean Menta (Neuromantic Productions)
• Scoring: Mark Leggett (Legativity Music)
• Voice Over
  • Scorpion: Jonathan Ackley
  • Ward: Matthew Fassberg
  • Toaster: Chris Green
  • Mort: Brian Moriarty
  • SAP: Veronica O'Donovan
• Ground Control: Mike Backes, Grey Butler, Anna Caldwell, Cathy Callahan, Lacey Gordon, Julie Jaros, Li Kramer, Tom Laskawy, Brian Moriarty, Elon Musk, Veronica O'Donovan, Tony Payne, Rosa Peralta, Susanna Richards, Josh Smith, Josh Viers, Brandy Wilson
• Mission Control
  • President, CEO: Steve Blank
  • CFO: Mark Greenough
  • VP Business Affairs: Jim Wickett
  • Executive VP: Peter Barrett
  • Executive Producer: Mark Mullen
• Special Thanks: Kathryn Gould, Jon Feiber... For having the faith

Live Action

• One Heart Productions
  • Director: Phil Parmet
  • Executive Producer: Tammara Wells
  • Line Producer: Eric Deutsch

Production Department

• Production Manager: Darrin Ball
• Assoc. Producer/Script Breakdown: Martin Pitts
• Production Consultant: Eric Small
• 2ND Assistant Director: Greg Eyemo
• Production Assistant: Damon Nonas, Jeff Kuntz, Brian Baker, Carolyn Coal
• Craft Service: Nancy Carradine
• Script Supervisor: Trisha Ronten
• Casting Director: Pam Rack
• Fight Coordinator: Bob Goodwin

Art Department

• Production Designer: Vance Lorenzini
• Production Manager: Renee Frigo
• Lead Man: Grey Dellerson
• Property Master: Bill Averill
• Sound Department
  • Sound Recordist: Tommy Lockett
  • Boom Operator: Matt Markey
• Camera Department
  • Camera Operator: Kim Haun
  • Assistant Camera: Linda Morgenstern
  • 2ND Assistant Camera: George Baker
  • Still Photographer: Darrell Randazzo
• Electric Department
  • Gaffer: Patrick Melly
  • Best Boy Electric: Anthony John
  • Electric: Colin Edwards
  • Swing: Kevin Harrop
• Grip Department
• Key Grip: Irv Gorman
• Best Boy Grip: Gene Rivera
• Grip: Scotty Graves
• Wardrobe
  • Stylist: Dana Allyson
  • Assistant Stylist: Lisa Parmet, Rosanne Fiedler
• Make-Up/Hair
  • Key Make-Up: Judd Minter
  • Key Hair Stylist: Danielle Russell
  • Make-Up: Cinzia Zanetti, Susan Seligman

Cast

• Starring
  • Tully Bodine: Barry Primus
  • Sheriff Wompler: Ned Beatty
• Principals
  • Snid: Michael P. Byrne
  • News Anchor: Cristi Conaway
  • Vern: John Beatty
  • Rat Rag Baxter: Prince Hughes
  • Helium Head O' Bannon: Craig Ryan Ng
  • Nails: Jolie Jackunas
• Featured
  • Bartender #1: Tony Cox
  • Bartender #2: Michael Anderson
  • Moon Dog: Steve Randazzo
  • Deputy #1: Paul Quinn
  • Deputy #2: Richard Haje
• Extras
  • Bouncer: Gary Willison
  • Trucker: Scott Schauer
  • Trucker: Earnest L. Brown
  • Strange Character: Patrice Quinn
  • Waitress: Regana Redd
  • Worker: Pamela Sillman
  • Worker: William Richards
  • Waitress: Tamara Lunt
  • Bar Character: Lynn Zeigler
  • Bar Character: Steve Friedlander
  • Bar Girl: Karen Sempertequi
  • Man in Silly Hat: Peter Barrett
  • Camel Bay Betty: Veronica O'Donovan
• Packaging and manual design: Three 8 Creative Group

Source:

US manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in GamePro (US) #64: "November 1994" (1994-xx-xx)

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #65: "December 1994" (1994-xx-xx)
also published in:

• Next Generation (US) #1: "Premiere Issue 1995" (1994-12-08)
• GamePro (US) #66: "January 1995" (199x-xx-xx)
• VideoGames (US) #72: "January 1995" (199x-xx-xx)

Print advert in Edge (UK) #16: "January 1995" (1994-11-24)
also published in:

• Computer & Video Games (UK) #158: "January 1995" (1994-12-15)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Consoles + (FR) NTSC-U 83 Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) NTSC-U 75 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 66 GameFan (US) NTSC-U 72 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 80 Game Informer (US) NTSC-U 64 MAN!AC (DE) PAL 66 Mega Force (FR) PAL 79 Mean Machines Sega (UK) NTSC-U 39 Next Generation (US) NTSC-U 25 Player One (FR) 40 VideoGames (US) NTSC-U 50

	62
Based on 12 reviews

Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine

Mega-CD, US
Cover
Disc Manual

Mega-CD, BR
Cover

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1	657,678,000		CD-ROM (BR)	063486
?	CRC32 MD5 SHA-1		1994-10-13					Page

External links

• Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine article by Cassidy at Bad Game Hall of Fame