Badlands (laserdisc video game)
Encyclopedia
- This entry is for the old western shooter laserdisc video game by Konami. For the Midway racing game, see Badlands (video game)Badlands (video game)Badlands is a 1989 arcade game published by Atari Games. It was later ported by Domark under the Tengen label to a number of home computers. It is set in the aftermath of a nuclear war and races around abandoned wastelands with many hazards...
is a 1984 laserdisc video game
Laserdisc video game
A laserdisc video game is an arcade game that uses pre-recorded video played from a laserdisc, either as the entirety of the graphics, or as part of the graphics.-History:...
developed and published for the arcades
Video arcade
An amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...
by a Japanese company, Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
. In the vein of Dragon's Lair
Dragon's Lair
Dragon's Lair is a laserdisc video game published by Cinematronics in 1983. It featured animation created by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth....
, the game lets its players navigate through various animated sequences by pressing a single button at a precise moment (unlike Dragon's Lair, there is no joystick). Since the game is themed as an old West shooter
Shooter game
Shooter games are a sub-genre of action game, which often test the player's speed and reaction time. It includes many subgenres that have the commonality of focusing "on the actions of the avatar using some sort of weapon. Usually this weapon is a gun, or some other long-range weapon". A common...
, the function of the button is almost always the fire the main character's gun to fend off against attackers. If the player shoots too soon, he will be hanged for murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
. Failing to fire in time, however, will result in being killed by the attack. As the player progresses, the timing becomes more precise.The game was very particular about firing at the right time, which made it very difficult and often unplayable. At one point Buck must shoot a snake and fire at the snake at the exact second to succeed. It is even possible for Buck to shoot himself in sequences where it shows him. Distributed by Centuri
Centuri
Centuri, based in Hialeah, Florida, was one of the top six suppliers of coin operated video game machinery in the United States. Many of the machines distributed in the US under the Centuri name were licensed from overseas manufacturers, particularly Konami....
in the U.S., it was Konami's only laserdisc game.
Plot
The game's plot is remarkably darker than most games at the time. The player assumes the role of Buck, a hardworking family man, whose wife and children are murdered by a band of outlaws. One by one, Buck tracks down the various outlaws, earning higher and higher bountiesBounty (reward)
A bounty is a payment or reward often offered by a group as an incentive for the accomplishment of a task by someone usually not associated with the group. Bounties are most commonly issued for the capture or retrieval of a person or object. They are typically in the form of money...
as he progresses. The final foe is the outlaw leader, Landolf.
The outlaws, ranked in order of their bounties, are as follows:
- Gas, for $2,500
- Doug, for $2,500
- Smith, for $3,000
- Paco, for $3,000
- Bull, for $4,000
- Lloyd, for $5,000
- Liston, for $5,000
- Hawk, for $6,000
- Mary, for $7,000
- Landolf, for $10,000
Appearance
Despite the game's apparent old west setting, its storyline sent the hero, Buck, into some noticeably non-realistic settings. For example, at one point Buck walks through a cave and ends up in a prehistoric jungle populated with dinosaurs. Also, the game provided Buck with three lives. As he lost those lives, the player would see him limp by humorously on crutches, or be humorously carried away on a stretcher — a noticeable break from the game's otherwise dark and mature themes. If the player lost his/her last life, Buck would turn into a super deformedSuper deformed
Super deformed or SD is a specific style of Japanese caricature where characters are drawn in an exaggerated way, typically small and chubby, with stubby limbs and oversized heads, to make them resemble small children...
angel during which time the "game over" text would appear. In addition, some of the game's "miss" sequences (which occur when the player loses a life) are humorous as well (including, but not limited to a scorpion
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...
giving Buck a Mohawk
Mohawk hairstyle
The mohawk is a hairstyle in which, in the most common variety, both sides of the head are shaven, leaving a strip of noticeably longer hair...
, or Buck being cut in half by an axe).
In the end, if Buck could kill Landolph and his henches, the player would see him ride off into the sunset.