Cliffhanger
From Sega Retro
- For the Sega Game Gear game, see Cliffhanger (Game Gear).
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Cliffhanger | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Mega-CD | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Publisher: Sony Imagesoft | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Developer: Malibu Interactive | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distributor: SF Interactive Media (SE rental) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sound driver: GEMS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genre: Action | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of players: 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cliffhanger is a Sega Mega Drive and Sega Mega-CD beat-'em-up game released in 1993. It was developed by Malibu Interactive and published by Sony Imagesoft as a tie-in to the 1993 Sylvester Stallone film Cliffhanger.
Contents
Story
Ex-mountain rescue ranger Gabe Walker and his friend Hal Tucker answer a distress call to rescue a few trapped hikers stranded in a plane crash. When they arrive there, they they discover the distress call was a fake and are taken prisoner by a ruthless gang of international thieves led by psychopathic former military intelligence operative Eric Qualen. They are forced at gunpoint to help Qualen find three suitcases containing $100 million, which were lost after a failed airplane heist. After Gabe escapes death, he sets to save Hal and defeat Qualen in the Colorado mountain range.
Gameplay
The game is a belt-scrolling beat-em-'up. The player controls Gabe Walker, who must fight a group of terrorists trying to stop him from saving his partner Hal. Gabe walks in any direction using the D-Pad. He runs with
or
. He jumps with
. If he jumps while running, he can leap across a large gap. Levels have occasional platforming sections in which Gabe must carefully jump across bottomless pits or deep water or cross a chasm by climbing a rope. In some sections, he must climb a wall in the background using the D-Pad. Holding
causes him to climb more quickly, but he falls if he is hit while climbing quickly.
Gabe attacks enemies by punching with or kicking with
. Using the same attack successively chains into multiple moves. Gabe backhands behind him by pressing the D-Pad away from the opponent while he is punching. He rams enemies by pressing
while running. He can perform a flying kick after jumping (but cannot punch in midair). He performs a spinning back kick by holding
, which knocks enemies down. He performs a "super kick" (a spinning sweep kick) with
+
, which can be used to hit enemies all around him when he is surrounded, though this maneuver costs some health. He can block attacks with
+
(but cannot block weapons). He can duck by pressing
while blocking. He picks up weapons (which are dropped by enemies) with
when standing over them, which replace his punches. The weapons are knives, which Gabe swipes to attack multiple enemies in an area, and uzis, which provide a limited ranged attack.
His health is depicted by a red bar. He loses a life if he runs out of health. He replenishes his health by resting at a campfire. The player can choose how many lives to start the game with. The Mega Drive version has unlimited continues; the Mega-CD version has limited continues and gives the player fewer continues for starting with more lives. Extra lives are given every 100,000 points earned.
The Mega-CD version includes 3D levels where Gabe snowboards down a mountain while being chased by an avalanche. On these levels, Gabe moves with and
. He speeds up with
and slows down with
. He jumps with
. In these levels, he replenishes his health when passing through checkpoints in tunnels. He loses a life if he runs out of health or if the avalanche (shown as a bar on the right) catches up to him.
Levels
The snowboarding sections are only present in the Mega-CD version.
The Escape from Qualen | |
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In Search of the Second Case | |
On to Douglas Cabin — and Jessie | |
Qualen Cops a Chopper — and Grabs Jessie! / Get the Third Money Case and Snowboard Your Way to Safety | |
The Climb to the Top of the Bitker Ladder | |
All That Money Lost! | |
Face to Face with Qualen | |
History
Development
Programmer Chris Shrigley has released the source code to the game on his web site. The game was based on the source code from the game Ex-Mutants (also developed by Malibu Interactive).
Versions
The Mega-CD includes 3D snowboarding levels, a CD audio soundtrack derived from the film score, and full-motion video clips from the movie (including a Story option on the main menu that plays an introductory sequence).
Production credits
Mega Drive version
- Motion Picture Copyright © 1993 Cliffhanger B.V. All Rights Reserved
- Executive Producer: Rich Robinson
- Producer: Mary Ann Norris
- Assistant Producers: Patrick Goodman, David Poe
- Game Testing: Jose Cruz, Mike Giam, David Jaffe
- Olaf Olafsson, Lester Greenman, Peter Dille, Jeff Benjamin
- Programmer: Chris Shrigley
- Producer: James Maxwell
- Assistant Producer: Justin Monast
- Designers: James Maxwell, Dan MacArthur
- Artists: Jeff Godfrey, Damon DuBois, Joan Igawa, Chris Ward, Richard Beston
- Music and Sound FX by: Audiocyberworks, Eric Hammond, Keith Arem
- Game Testing: Darin Johnson, Alan Fernandez, Ben Kutcher, James Guintu
Mega-CD version
- Motion Picture Copyright © 1993 Cliffhanger B.V. All Rights Reserved
- Executive Producer: Rich Robinson
- Producer: Mary Ann Norris
- Assistant Producers: David Poe, Patrick Goodman
- Game Testing: Jose Cruz, Andre Leighton, Steve Ceragiol
- Olaf Olafsson, Lester Greenman, Peter Dille, Jeff Benjamin
- Programmer: Chris Shrigley
- Producer: James Maxwell
- Assistant Producer: Justin Monast
- Designers: James Maxwell, Dan MacArther
- Artists: Jeff Godfrey, Damon DuBois, Joan Igawa, Chris Ward, Richard Bestan
- Sound FX: Eric Hammond
- Game Testing: Darin Johnson, Alan Fernandez, Ben Kutcher, James Guintu
- Designers: James Maxwell, John O'Brien
- Artists: Stephen Thomson, Richard Bestan
- Programmer: John O'Brien
- Sound FX: Eric Hammond
- Video Captured by: Justin Monast
Magazine articles
- Main article: Cliffhanger/Magazine articles.
Promotional material
Television advertisements
Print advertisements
also published in:
- Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US) #16: "January 1994" (1993-12-21)[8]
- GamePro (US) #54: "January 1994" (199x-xx-xx)[9]
Physical scans
Mega Drive version
Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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47 | |
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Based on 10 reviews |
Mega-CD version
Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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59 | |
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Based on 10 reviews |
Technical information
- Main article: Cliffhanger/Technical information.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 GamePro, "December 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 85
- ↑ Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1994-01-31), page 2
- ↑ MegaTech, "November 1993" (UK; 1993-10-20), page 26
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mega, "May 1994" (UK; 1994-04-21), page 44
- ↑ GamePro, "November 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 213
- ↑ File:Cliffhanger MD credits.pdf
- ↑ File:Cliffhanger MCD credits.pdf
- ↑ Electronic Games (1992-1995), "January 1994" (US; 1993-12-21), page 85
- ↑ GamePro, "January 1994" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 221
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 48
- ↑ Consoles +, "Avril 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 126
- ↑ Cool Gamer, "9" (RU; 2002-10-13), page 52
- ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 301
- ↑ Hyper, "February 1994" (AU; 199x-xx-xx), page 69
- ↑ MAN!AC, "04/94" (DE; 1994-03-09), page 41
- ↑ Score, "Cervenec 1994" (CZ; 1994-07-01), page 58
- ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 10
- ↑ GamePro, "June 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 54
- ↑ Joypad, "Février 1994" (FR; 199x-xx-xx), page 100
- ↑ Mega, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-17), page 44
- ↑ Mega Action, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-24), page 58
- ↑ Mega Force, "Février 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 124
- ↑ MegaTech, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-20), page 48
- ↑ Sega Power, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-03), page 44
- ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-02-24), page 78
- ↑ Sega Zone, "March 1994" (UK; 1994-02-24), page 49
- ↑ Video Games, "4/94" (DE; 1994-03-23), page 38
Cliffhanger | |
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Main page | Comparisons | Maps | Hidden content | Magazine articles | Video coverage | Reception | Region coding | Technical information | Bootlegs
Prototypes: 1994-01
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Games based on movies starring Sylvester Stallone for Sega systems | |
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Rambo: First Blood Part II (1986) | Rocky (1987) | Rambo III (1988) | |
Rambo III (1989) | Cliffhanger (1993) | Demolition Man (1995) | Judge Dredd (1995) | |
Cliffhanger (1993) | Demolition Man (1995) | |
Cliffhanger (1993) | Judge Dredd (1995) | |
Rambo (2008) |
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