Elevator Action Returns

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Elevator Action Returns
System(s): Sega Saturn
Publisher: Ving
Developer: Taito, Ving
Licensor: Taito
Original system(s): Taito F3 System
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1997-02-14 ¥5,800 (5,974)5,800e T-19903G
Non-Sega versions Arcade

Elevator Action Returns (エレベーターアクション リターンズ), stylized as Elevator Action² Returns on the cover art and known as Elevator Action II in the US, is a sequel to Elevator Action. It was originally released to arcades in 1994, but it was ported to the Sega Saturn exclusively in Japan in 1997.

Story

Kart, Edie, and Jad

In the beginning of the 20th century, an economic downturn has caused public order problems between the rich and the poor and reinvigorated a terrorist group. In order to curtail the terrorist group's heinous activities, a counter-terrorism team has been formed composed of three elite paramilitary soldiers adept in urban combat. Their mission is to break into high-rise buildings occupied by the terrorists, obtain evidence, and quickly escape.

Gameplay

Character select

Elevator Action Returns is an updated version of Elevator Action, featuring three playable characters, new weapons and enemies, and new environments besides high-rise buildings (which can now have horizontal scrolling). It can be played by one player or by two players cooperatively. As with the original, the objective is to enter the red doors in order to collect data while avoiding enemy fire and negotiating obstacles. If players miss a door, they are not allowed to go any further past a certain point. A second player can join the game at any point by pressing  START  on a second control pad.

Characters walk with or and dash with or . They crouch with . Items found on the ground are picked up by crouching over them. Characters jump up with and leap with + or +. The leap is a jumping attack that can damage enemies or objects. Characters cannot walk off the edges of platforms (including into empty elevator shafts), but they can run or leap across them. Ducking and jumping can be used to evade enemy fire. While standing in an elevator, players can direct it by pressing or . Like in the original game, elevators can be used to crush enemies standing above or below one. Characters enter doors by pressing when standing in front of them and exit by pressing . Blue doors allow players to choose an item in a spinning wheel, and red doors contain the data needed to fulfill the mission objectives. Enemies can appear from other doors. The character is briefly invulnerable after exiting a door.

Characters shoot straight ahead by pressing or shoot diagonally upward in the direction that they are facing with +. Each character has a different weapon, but they are all semi-automatic handguns with unlimited ammunition. However, characters can find and upgrade to stronger firearms as well. Each character has a machine gun and a launcher that are available as upgrades. These weapons have limited ammunition, and the character reverts to the default handgun if they run out of ammo. If an enemy is within melee range, the character does a close-range attack instead. Melee attacks can only be done while standing, but weapons can be used while standing or crouching. Each character has an explosive sub weapon that can be used by pressing +. The type of explosive varies depending on the selected character, but all of them are capable of killing multiple enemies at a time.

The game uses a two-button control scheme like the original arcade game, but there are alternative control schemes available that use , , and so that using a sub weapon has its own button rather than requiring a button combination.

Players can interact with objects in the environment. For example, electrical boxes can be shot to turn off the lights, which doubles the points awarded in the dark, or oil drums can be exploded with gunfire, which leaves a trail of fire that incinerates enemies. Players are awarded bonus points for dispatching enemies with melee attacks, crushing them with elevators, or killing them with environmental hazards such as oil drums or electric barriers. Some objects such as trash cans, garbage piles, sandbags, and crates can be destroyed to uncover items.

Each character has a health gauge showing the amount of damage that they can sustain before losing a life. Health is not replenished in between missions, but it can be replenished by items. There is no friendly fire in two-player games, and the characters cannot be harmed by their own sub weapons or by the fire from oil drums. Players also lose a life if the character is crushed by an elevator or falls off a floor. Players have a certain amount of time to enter a red door if one is nearby, and a warning flashes on screen and eventually a timer appears if time is running out. Players lose a life if time runs out. After losing a life, the character is revived in place with a moment of invulnerability if the player has lives remaining. Otherwise, the game ends and can only be continued at the cost of a credit. Players can choose a different character when continuing. The score is not reset when continuing, but it is increased by 1 to indicate how many times the game was continued. There is no way to obtain extra lives or credits during the game. There are four difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, Hard, and Very Hard).

After successfully completing the game, the original Elevator Action is unlocked. The game saves this completion to the Saturn's internal memory, along with high scores.

Playable characters

Players can choose from the following three characters. In two-player games, each player must choose a different character.

Characters are rated on the following statistics: Power (amount of health), Gun (firing speed), and Speed (walk speed).

	Kart Bradfield (カート・ブラッド・フィールド)
	Age: 23 Weapon: Glock 18 Sub weapon: Hand Grenade Power: Gun: Speed:
	A slim, long-haired blond man. He is an outcast and an unrivaled fighter. He can perform three consecutive melee attacks on an enemy instead of the default two attacks. He is the most agile of the group and somersaults instead of leaping. He has the slowest firing speed of the three characters but the fastest walk speed. His default gun is a Glock 18, which he can upgrade to an AK-47 assault rifle or an MM-1 grenade launcher. His sub weapons are Hand Grenades that explode after a short delay and clear the entire floor.
	Edie Burret (イーディ・バレット)
	Age: 21 Weapon: Beretta M92F Sub weapon: Fire Bomb Power: Gun: Speed:
	A brown-haired girl in a red tank top. She lost her mother in a terrorist bombing at a young age. Her specialty is shooting, so she is the team's fastest shooter. Because she is smaller, she can duck under gunfire that would hit the other characters. She has the least health of the three characters but the fastest firing speed. Her default gun is a Beretta M92F, which can she can upgrade to an MP5K submachine gun or an ARWEN 37 launcher. Her sub weapons are Fire Bombs that explode immediately and produce a burst of flame that burns for a short while.
	Jad the Taff (ジャド・ザ・タフ)
	Age: 32 Weapon: Desert Eagle Sub weapon: Sensor Bomb Power: Gun: Speed:
	A large, muscle-bound man. He has a cheerful personality and specializes in handling explosives. He tackles enemies and destroys objects in his way when running. He has the slowest walk speed of the three characters but the most health. His default gun is a Desert Eagle, which he can upgrade to an M60 machine gun or an 80-mm recoilless rifle. His sub weapons are Sensor Bombs that explode in shrapnel fragments when an enemy comes within proximity.

Items

	Scoring Items
	These items award bonus points.
	Bomb Replenishment Items
	These items supply 5 or 10 more bombs for use of the sub weapon.
	Health Replenishment Items
	These items recover lost health or award 1,000 bonus points if the character is already at full health. The fries replenish the least health and the bottle replenishes the most health.
	M
	Equips the character with a machine gun with 100 rounds, which can be fired continuously by holding , or adds more ammo if the player is already equipped with a machine gun.
	L
	Equips the character with a launcher with 20 rounds, which can penetrate through multiple enemies and can neutralize enemy projectiles, or adds more ammo if the player is already equipped with a launcher.

Missions

	Red After Image
	Cross the Breeze
	Colors of Night
	Under the Crack
	Crimson Line
	Vermilion Sun
	The final section has a countdown timer of 180 seconds. If players do not complete the mission before time runs out, a bad ending is shown where the terrorists succeed in launching a nuclear missile. It cannot be attempted again in the same playthrough. Otherwise, if the players succeed, the game ends with the staff roll.

Elevator Action

Elevator Action

The original 1983 arcade game Elevator Action is unlocked if players successfully complete Elevator Action Returns with the good ending. It can be played by selecting the "Old" item on the main menu. It is a single-player game in which the player controls a secret agent who enters a 30-story building at roof level and must work his way down to the basement, collecting secret documents from red doors. The agent moves from floor to floor using elevators and escalators and must avoid or kill the enemy agents trying to stop him (who come out of other doors).

The agent walks with or . He crouches with and stays crouched until he stands up with . He jumps with , which is a jumping attack that can hit enemies. Ducking and jumping can be used to evade enemy fire. He shoots his gun with or . The gun has unlimited ammunition and can fire up to three bullets at a time. While standing in an elevator, players can direct it by pressing or . An elevator cannot be controlled when the agent is not inside it. Escalators have a pad in front of them, and the agent can enter the escalator by pressing or (depending on where the escalator goes) while standing on the pad. Similarly, red doors have a pad in front of them, and the agent can enter the door by pressing or (depending on which side the door opens) and exit the door by pressing in the opposite direction.

After picking up all the documents, there is a car waiting at the bottom of the building that the agent can use to escape, ending the level. If the agent tries to leave the building without collecting all the documents, he is transported to the highest floor that still has an unopened red door and must work his way back down. In addition, if he takes too long to clear a level, an alarm sounds and the enemy agents become more aggressive. Once the player has successfully completed a level, the agent is dropped into another building for the next level. There is one building layout that is used for every level, with the placement of the red doors and some of the elevators changing randomly. The game continues indefinitely until the player loses or decides to stop playing.

The agent loses a life if he is shot by an enemy agent or crushed by an elevator or if he falls down an open shaft. The agent is revived on the same floor if the player has lives left. The game ends if the player runs out of lives. There are no continues. There are four difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, Hard, and Very Hard), and the player can set the number of points required for an extra life (10,000 to 25,000 points in increments of 5,000 points).

Production credits

• Game Design: Y.Tsuda, K.Terada
• Programming: TKHC.03, Iromust, NOB, Y.Mori
• Programming Support: Komochi Yagi, A.Kurabayashi
• Character Design: M.Kikuchi, M.Fujita, T.Yoshiba, T.Kawaishi, Baw Baw, Y.Kajihara, M.Kamiya, TRD, TSD, Y.Ishikawa, V.A.P
• BGM Compose: Yack. -Zuntata-
• Sound Effect: Babi, Nakanishi, Kamaty, By -Zuntata-
• Design: T.Takenami
• Hardware: K.Kaneoka
• Location Test: M.Fukumoto, N.Omura, R.Matsuse, Piratsuka, T.Koike, Pasona, Alpha Star
• Special Thanks: H.Shimizu, I.Fujisue, H.Fujiwara, H.Kato, N.Abe, M.Tsuneoka, T.Ushiroda, T.Toyoda, Y.Nagayama, Eichan, Q.C. Section, Osaka Lab., And Many Other People...
• Exective Producer: Koichi Nakamura

Saturn version Staff

• Programmer: T.Kuribayashi, Satoru Morikawa, Jun Takemoto, Kazuhiko Sugiyama, Minoru Kunii, Keiiti Takeda
• Bit Convert: Kazuhi Imoto
• Director: Takashi Noto, Takao Kishida
• President: Ryozo Sugawara
• Programmed By: Ving Sapporo
• Produced By: Ving

Source:

In-game credits

History

Legacy

In 2022, the game received a re-release by City Connection called Elevator Action Returns S-Tribute for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Steam.

Magazine articles

Main article: Elevator Action Returns/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Flyer

Print advert in Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) #1996-22: "1996-22 (1996-12-27)" (1996-12-13)
also published in:

• Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) #1997-01: "1997-01 (1997-01-17)" (1996-12-27)
• Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) #1997-02: "1997-02 (1997-01-31)" (1997-01-17)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score MAN!AC (DE) NTSC-J 69 Mega Fun (DE) NTSC-J 83 Playmag (FR) NTSC-J 92 Saturn Fan (JP) NTSC-J 60 Saturn Power (UK) NTSC-J 85 Sega Saturn Magazine (UK) NTSC-J 87 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 78 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 73

	78
Based on 8 reviews

Elevator Action Returns

Saturn, JP
Cover
Disc Manual

Technical information

Main article: Elevator Action Returns/Technical information.

References

Elevator Action games for Sega systems
Elevator Action (1985) | Elevator Action Returns (1997)