Mad Bodies working?

[madperry]

Now that I finally have a Gamedrive being shipped to me, I'm working on the sd card.  Has anyone got Mad Bodies working on it?  

[+jgkspsx]

Was Mad Bodies legitimately released as a download?

[+orpheuswaking]

3 hours ago, jgkspsx said:

Was Mad Bodies legitimately released as a download?

It was not 

[madperry]

6 hours ago, orpheuswaking said:

It was not 

Thats too bad.  I would love to buy it.  Tried contacting them about future availability,  and got no reply.

[+orpheuswaking]

8 hours ago, madperry said:

Thats too bad.  I would love to buy it.  Tried contacting them about future availability,  and got no reply.

I would hazard that we will never see another run. 

[Goochman]

21 hours ago, madperry said:

Now that I finally have a Gamedrive being shipped to me, I'm working on the sd card.  Has anyone got Mad Bodies working on it?  

If you're unable to play the game then it is working correctly.

[Rick Dangerous]

I would be curious to at least try it someday.  

[rayik]

To me, it's a just frustrating to play. And yes, it works on the GD.

[omf]

15 hours ago, madperry said:

Thats too bad.  I would love to buy it.  Tried contacting them about future availability,  and got no reply.

if i were you i wouldn't bother. as someone who ownes a copy i can honestly say its not particularly good, also difficult to play.

 

combining basically a shooting game and breakout into one does not work well.

[doctorclu]

So just played Mad Bodies on the Game Drive after reading omf's comment above.   It is true, the game is a hot mess.

 

I will start by saying I love the work of 3D Stooges (Gorf, Surrounded), and Force Designs.   I remember there was a lot of excitement about the game before release and this was probably their most ambitious project to date up to that point.   That is to say you can tell there was a lot of work that went into this game.   Prior to this game there were some games released that were cool unreleased games (Brett Hull, Battlesphere, Soccer Kid, Skyhammer, etc) but this was one of the first big fan productions.

 

Not sure how extensive the playtesters were for the game.   I'm sure to the developers the game made perfect sense.   When it got into the  hands of the other gamers, the excitement continued for a while, and then it was realized that the game was a mess.

 

So I'm a big fan of games like Arkanoid.   It was still a few years till Impulse X would be released, and long before the Arkanoid II port from the ST.  The only breakout games you had might be the breakout mini-games in Zool or Rayman, and maybe some minor fan made demos.  So really, this was a nice addition to the Jaguar library in that sense.   Only in practice it just fell flat.

 

In Arkanoid you have the power-ups for a laser weapon where you can fire while keeping the ball bouncing.

 

Mad Bodies you have this throughout the whole game.   The difference between the two is in Arkanoid you are firing up to the top of screen, in Mad Bodies you have to position a target somewhere between you and the top of the screen, and in a little box fire off what appears to be small bullets.  

 

Also in Arkanoid, you are firing up at stationary bricks for the most part.  In Mad Bodies you are moving a targeting block at objects that are flying towards you.   Are you starting to see why this doesn't work so well?

 

Also, you start with bouncing one large round... asteroid?   And that is easy enough.   If you miss it, your ship/paddle gets a little damage.   If you run into those things that you are firing at while bouncing the ball, you take a little damage.  About four rounds of damage, you loose a life.   If you get hit by this fireball which is extremely difficult to shoot at best (not sure it can be destroyed) it will take out your paddle in one hit.

 

A few minutes into the game you are bouncing two round asteroids, and then a few minutes later, three.

 

Overall, bouncing three objects is not a problem, what would have made this game enjoyable is if rather than a targeting square you just had an open laser weapon that shot upwards to meet the oncoming objects rather than a small targeting box.   Also, if the things you bounced did damage to things coming at you (at they do in Arkanoid) would have also made a nice touch.

 

Since that time developers have opened up game development to a good sized group of play testers who give their suggestions and round the games out pretty well to make a fun product.   I think games like Mad Bodies was a lessons learned case to get more input, or some new eyes testing a game, before release.

 

 

[+Stephen]

I remember talk of the game during development and seeing it after it came out wondering WTF all the  fuss was.  It's just absolute trash.  But with the exception of the Gorf remake, that's what we got from that team - Vlad R levels of ego and bravado, then when we actually got to see something, it did not match.  It's like looking at a Burger King Whopper in the commercial, and then getting the actual sandwich and wondering if it got stepped on.

[+LS650]

I owned Mad Bodies for a year when it first was released.  I tried really hard to like it... but it just plain sucks.

I sold it on ebay for slightly more than I paid for it, and I was not sad to see it go.

I know that you'd like to try it for yourselves, but trust me, it is a steaming coiler of a game.

[madperry]

8 hours ago, omf said:

if i were you i wouldn't bother. as someone who ownes a copy i can honestly say its not particularly good, also difficult to play.

 

combining basically a shooting game and breakout into one does not work well.

I hear ya, but I had the game when it first released.  Sold it, and regret followed.  I enjoyed how bizarre the game was.  Did not enjoy the difficulty.  I remember it coming in some vhs like case.  The oddest release I ever owned.

[guSTaw]

There is also: Breakout 2000

There is no: MultiBriques, TeknoBall - only for Falcon...

 

[Isgoed]

Despite the "weird" gameplay, it is possible with some practice to progress to the end of the level while powering up your gun, but the gameplay by the end boss is difficult, tedious and not fun.

Once I beat level 1, and progressed to the boss in level 2, but also not fun.

 

Like once in a year I play level 1 to the end boss, and then quit the game.

 

Surrounded on the other hand is a short, fun arcade game with cool sounds.

[Rick Dangerous]

Anyone make a MRQ file for it? 

[phoboz]

This really exceeded my expectations, because they were not so high to start with (based on what I read in this thread)

 

This game is just so weird, and intense so it becomes fun and addictive (as soon as you understand that you can move your pad faster holding one of the buttons)

 

I enjoyed the BOSS fights as well, but they are really difficult,... insanely difficult, but once you beat the BOSS you really feel that you have achieved something. Although, I doubt I will ever beat the second BOSS, because the difficulty level really goes trough the roof in the second wave of rounds.

 

Of course, it's not a perfect game because you get into some very frustrating situations that are impossible to get out of before taking several hits. I guess when you mash up elements from different kind of games at the same time, this is unavoidable.

 

Definately one of the hidden gems of the Jaguar for me.

Edited June 16, 2021 by phoboz

[The Graphics Man]

On 5/19/2021 at 12:43 PM, jgkspsx said:

Was Mad Bodies legitimately released as a download?

 

On 5/19/2021 at 12:43 PM, jgkspsx said:

Was Mad Bodies legitimately released as a download?

No, Mad Bodies (the "Work") was not legitimately released as a download. It has been released as a download without our authorization which is copyrighted work in accordance with Title 17 of the U.S. code.

Edited June 17, 2021 by The Graphics Man
Updated my reply

[+jgkspsx]

I didn’t think so. I think AA has rules about asking for illegal downloads.

 

That said, if there is ever a reissue, I’d really like to try it.

[tep392]

I've removed the post with the ROM.  Don't post unreleased ROM's without the approval of the author.