View source for Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine

{{short description|1994 video game}}
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{{Infobox video game
| title = Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine
| image = Loadstar's_Cover.jpg
| caption = MS-DOS cover art
| developer = [[Rocket Science Games]]
| publisher = Rocket Science Games (Sega CD) <br>[[BMG Interactive]] (DOS)
| producer = Matthew Fassberg
| designer = [[Brian Moriarty]]
| writer = [[Ron Cobb]]
| platforms = [[Sega CD]], [[MS-DOS]]
| released = '''1994:''' Sega CD<br>'''1995:''' MS-DOS
| genre = [[Interactive film|Interactive movie]], [[Shooter game|shooter]]
| modes = [[Single-player video game|Single-player]]
}}
'''''Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine''''' is a [[video game]] developed and published by [[Rocket Science Games]] for the [[Sega CD]] in 1994 and [[MS-DOS]] compatible operating systems in 1995.
== Plot ==
The main character, Tully Bodine, has agreed to convoy contraband camels for big cash. However, he has to steer clear of the police in the process.
== Gameplay ==
Designed by [[Brian Moriarty]] and based on a [[Ron Cobb]] script, ''Loadstar'' is an [[Interactive film|interactive movie]]. Ninety minutes of video footage appear during the game.<ref name="wilson199408">{{Cite magazine
|last=Wilson
|first=Johnny L.
|date=August 1994
|title=Even Interactresses Get The Blues
|url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=121
|magazine=Computer Gaming World
|pages=24–26
}}</ref> The player must steer clear of accidents and the police, and shoot down enemies and creatures, like in ''[[Sewer Shark]]''. The goal is to get the camels to their destination, deflecting attacks with the shield along the way.
==Development==
[[Sega]] had invested heavily in Rocket Science Games, and used this as leverage to get the developer to use the [[Sega CD]] console as the lead platform for ''Loadstar''.<ref name=NGen40>{{cite magazine |title=What the Hell Happened? |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] |issue=40|publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=April 1998|page=44}}</ref>
Entrepreneur [[Elon Musk]], at the time an employee of Rocket Science Games, worked as a programmer on ''Loadstar''.<ref name=pcgamesn>{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180218051825/https://www.pcgamesn.com/elon-musk-rocket-science-games-blastar | url=https://www.pcgamesn.com/elon-musk-rocket-science-games-blastar | title=Elon Musk made a game in 1984, and you can play it in your browser | date=February 15, 2018 | archive-date=February 18, 2018 | work=[[PCGamesN]] | author=Bailey, Dustin | url-status=live}}</ref> He is credited as part of the "Ground Control" team.
Designer [[Brian Moriarty]], in a 1998 interview, complained that there was almost no quality control on ''Loadstar'', and that they shipped the game as soon as it could pass the test for any game to be released for a Sega platform, which was simply to play for a certain amount of hours without [[Crash (computing)|crashing]].<ref name=NGen40/> Moreover, though he felt honored to work with [[Ron Cobb]], he said that most of the higher-level staff at Rocket Science Games were overly fixated on the movie aspects of the game, recounting, "They had people from ILM {{bracket|[[Industrial Light & Magic]]}}, and the quality they worked to went far beyond that which was actually needed. The gameplay was viewed as almost irrelevant."<ref name=NGen40/>
The game was intended to be the first installment of a three-part series, with the second and third entries planned for release in 1995.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Rocket Science Catches Fire: World's First 'Digital Supergroup'|magazine=[[Sonic the Comic]]|issue=40|date=9 December 1994}}</ref>
==Release==
A [[3DO Interactive Multiplayer]] version of ''Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine'' was announced to be in development during [[E3 1995]] and slated to be published by BMG Interactive. However, this version was never released for unknown reasons.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/stream/Gamefan_Vol_3_Issue_07#page/n42/mode/1up|title=E-3 The Biggest And Best Electronic Entertainment Show Ever! – '95 Next Generation Software Listing|magazine=[[GameFan]]|issue=7|date=July 1995|volume=3|page=41|access-date=2019-08-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129120834/https://archive.org/stream/Gamefan_Vol_3_Issue_07#page/n42/mode/1up|archive-date=2018-11-29|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/stream/3DO_Magazine_Issue_10_1996-05_Paragon_Publishing_GB#page/n32/mode/1up|title=Preview – Coming Soon|magazine=[[Paragon Publishing|3DO Magazine]]|issue=10|publisher=[[Paragon Publishing]]|date=May 1996|pages=33–34}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/stream/3DO_Magazine_Issue_12_1996-07_Paragon_Publishing_GB#page/n32/mode/1up|title=Preview – Coming Soon|magazine=[[Paragon Publishing|3DO Magazine]]|issue=12|publisher=[[Paragon Publishing]]|date=July 1996|pages=33–34}}</ref>
== Reception ==
In 1997, Jeff Sengstack of ''NewMedia'' wrote that ''Loadstar'' "bombed miserably." Its sales by that point were below 20,000 units.<ref name=makingofobsidian>{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970414221456/http://newmedia.com/NewMedia/97/05/rw/Making_Obsidian.html | url=http://newmedia.com:80/NewMedia/97/05/rw/Making_Obsidian.html | title=The Making of ''Obsidian'': Maybe It Does Take a Rocket Scientist | date=April 14, 1997 | work=NewMedia | archive-date=April 14, 1997 | author=Sengstack, Jeff | url-status=dead | access-date=March 17, 2020 }}</ref> According to [[PC Data]], which tracked computer game sales in the United States, ''Loadstar'' and ''[[Cadillacs and Dinosaurs: The Second Cataclysm]]'' sold under 8,000 copies combined by 1996.<ref name=8k>{{cite news | author=Greenstein, Jane | title=No ROM at the Inn Leaves CD Firms on Road to Consolidation | date=August 19, 1996 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017163443/http://articles.latimes.com/1996-08-19/business/fi-35640_1_hybrid-cd-roms | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-08-19-fi-35640-story.html | archive-date=October 17, 2015 | newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] | url-status=live}}</ref><!--''Loadstar'' was a commercial success.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Chaos Control|magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=7|publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=July 1995|page=70|quote=With the PC success of LucasArts' ''Rebel Assault'' and Rocket Science's Sega CD entry, ''Loadstar'', many people are eyeing track-riding shooters lately.}}</ref>-->
Reviewing the Sega CD version, Mike Weigand of ''[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]'' said that ''Loadstar'' "will bring back memories of ''[[Sewer Shark]]''. The graphics are very well done, and seeing [[Ned Beatty]] in the full-motion scenes was a surprise. A decent shooter." The magazine's five reviewers scored the game an average of 7 out of 10.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Review Crew: Load Star{{sic}}|magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]]|issue=66|publisher=[[Ziff Davis]]|date=January 1995|page=42}}</ref> ''[[GamePro]]''{{'}}s Captain Squideo said the production values of the full motion video are extraordinary, but tainted by the typically grainy video quality of the Sega CD, and that the game needed a port to the [[3DO Interactive Multiplayer]] or [[32X]] (systems with much higher full motion video capabilities than the Sega CD). He also complimented the voices and the "low key" musical score, but found the game controls poorly, with the track switching being inadequately responsive and the cursor often getting lost in the backgrounds. He nonetheless concluded that the game's production values make it above average, and deemed it "fast, fun, and addictive".<ref>{{cite magazine|title=ProReview: Loadstar|magazine=[[GamePro]]|issue=77|publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]]|date=February 1995|page=50}}</ref>
Coming Soon Magazine said this about the DOS version: "If [[Star Wars: Rebel Assault|Rebel Assault]] is among your favorite games, then why don't you try Rocket Science Games' first PC title, "Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine?" and gave the game a 71.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.csoon.com/issue9/loadstar.htm|title=Loadstar: The Legend of Tully Bodine - PC Review - Coming Soon Magazine|website=www.csoon.com|access-date=2016-10-29}}</ref>
''[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]'' reviewed the PC version of the game, rating it two stars out of five, and stated that "all the company managed to do is to prove just how little $3 million worth of Ned Beatty on digitized footage adds to a game. For all the bells and whistles, ''Loadstar'' is just three stages of shooter set on train tracks."<ref name="NG">{{cite magazine|title=Finals|magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|issue=1|publisher=[[Future US|Imagine Media]]|date=January 1995|page=98}}</ref>
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Rocket Science Games}}
[[Category:1994 video games]]
[[Category:Cancelled 3DO Interactive Multiplayer games]]
[[Category:DOS games]]
[[Category:Interactive movie video games]]
[[Category:Science fiction video games]]
[[Category:Sega CD games]]
[[Category:Single-player video games]]
[[Category:Railroad games]]
[[Category:Video games developed in the United States]]
[[Category:BMG Interactive games]]
[[Category:Rocket Science Games games]]