View source for Plan 9 from Outer Space (video game)

{{short description|1992 video game}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = Plan 9 from Outer Space
|image = Plan 9 from Outer Space cover.jpg
|developer = [[Gremlin Graphics]]
|publisher = Gremlin Graphics (Europe)/[[Konami]] (USA)
|designer =
|engine =
|released = [[1992 in video gaming|1992]]
|genre = [[Adventure game]]
|modes = [[Single-player]]
|platforms = [[Amiga]], [[Atari ST]], [[DOS]]
}}
'''''Plan 9 from Outer Space''''' is a [[point and click]] [[adventure game]] adaptation of the [[Plan 9 from Outer Space|film of the same name]]. It was developed at the Irish office of [[Gremlin Graphics]] for the [[Amiga]] and [[Atari ST]], and was released in 1992. The game was published by Gremlin in Europe and by [[Konami]] in the United States. A [[DOS]] version was also developed, though only released in the US and Europe. Two editions of the game were made available at retail; the more common version was packaged with a [[VHS]] copy of the film, while a rarer version contained only the game.
==Background==
The game is inspired by the 1957 [[Z-movie]] ''[[Plan 9 from Outer Space]]''.<ref>Rudolph Grey, Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1992). pg.203. ISBN 978-0-922915-24-8.</ref>
==Plot==
The game starts when the producer notices that the film has been stolen by [[Bela Lugosi]]'s double. The player must carry out an epic search of the locations where ''Plan 9 from Outer Space'' was filmed to find the six missing [[Reel#Motion picture terminology|reel]]s.
From the back of the DOS version box:<ref name="MobyGamesPlan9">{{cite web | title=Plan 9 From Outer Space game | url=http://www.mobygames.com/game/plan-9-from-outer-space/cover-art/gameCoverId,1643}}</ref>
:'''Plan 9.''' The critics hated it. Bela Lugosi died during it. And his double has stolen it.
:Lugosi's replacement is still bitter after 33 years from critics' reviews dubbing his only movie "The Worst Film of All-Time". Even though he remained faceless, he intends to bring glory to the cult classic using more footage of himself and ... '''colorizing''' it. As the studio's Private Eye you'll search over 70 locations, find the 6 reels and screen the film, frame-by-frame, to ensure that the warped actor did not cut Bela from the flick. Using actual digitized film footage, you'll sweat each scene, examining '''Plan 9''' with slow motion, freeze frame, fast forward and rewind. It's up to '''you''' to preserve its original awfulness.
==Reception==
''[[Computer Gaming World]]''{{'}}s [[Charles Ardai]] criticized the game's "cheap" user interface and mediocre graphics and sound, which made him uncertain whether various continuity errors were accidental or intended to satirize the film. Ardai stated that "''Plan 9'' is a genuinely, intentionally funny piece of work, which puts it several notches above the movie (in my opinion) ... thoroughly enjoyable", and funnier than ''[[Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders]]''. He added, however, that as "a licensed product, parasitic on an original work ... its smirking digs at this rather pathetic relic of a movie ... sometimes has the tone of a schoolyard bully taking cheap shots at a defenseless victim". Without the sincerity and "guilelessness" of Wood's film: "In this respect, the game attains a degree of cheapness that even the movie didn't reach, which is quite an accomplishment".<ref name="ardai199301">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=102 | title=Konami/Gremlin's Plan 9 From Outer Space | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=January 1993 | access-date=5 July 2014 | last=Ardai | first=Charles | authorlink=Charles Ardai | pages=36}}</ref> The game was reviewed in 1993 in ''[[Dragon (magazine)|Dragon]]'' #190 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 2 out of 5 stars.<ref name="Dragon190">{{cite journal|last1=Lesser|first1=Hartley|last2=Lesser|first2=Patricia|last3=Lesser|first3=Kirk|name-list-style=amp|date=February 1993|title=The Role of Computers|url=https://archive.org/stream/DragonMagazine260_201801/DragonMagazine190#page/n55/mode/2up|journal=Dragon|issue=190|pages=58}}</ref>
==Reviews==
* ''[[Amiga Action]]'' (May 1992)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://amr.abime.net/review_49415|title=Plan 9 from Outer Space review from Amiga Action 32 (May 1992) - Amiga Magazine Rack}}</ref>
* ''[[Zero (video game magazine)|Zero]]'' (June 1992)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/zero-magazine-32/page/n45/mode/2up|title = Zero Magazine Issue 32|date = June 1992}}</ref>
* ''Joker Verlag präsentiert: Sonderheft'' (1993)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://amr.abime.net/issue_2933_pages|title = Amiga Joker Amiga Joker Sonderheft Nr.4 - Adventures Page scans - Amiga Magazine Rack}}</ref>
* ''Amiga Joker'' (May 1992)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://amigareviews.classicgaming.gamespy.com/plan9fro.htm#plan9fromouterspaceaj |title=Amiga Reviews: Plan 9 from outer space |access-date=2022-03-27 |archive-date=2006-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060521172818/http://amigareviews.classicgaming.gamespy.com/plan9fro.htm#plan9fromouterspaceaj |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* ''[[Amiga Computing]]'' (October 1992)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/amiga-computing-magazine-053/page/n93/mode/2up|title = Amiga Computing Magazine Issue 053|date = October 1992}}</ref>
* ''[[CU Amiga]]'' (May 1992)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/cuamiga-magazine-027/page/n59/mode/2up|title=CU Amiga Magazine Issue 027|date=May 1992}}</ref>
* ''[[ST Format]]'' (November 1992)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.atarimania.com/atari-magazine-issue-st-format-issue-40_1202.html|title=ST Format (Issue 40) - November - 1992: Atari magazine scans, PDF}}</ref>
* ''[[Amiga Format]]'' (October 1992)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://amr.abime.net/review_889|title = Plan 9 from Outer Space review from Amiga Format 39 (Oct 1992) - Amiga Magazine Rack}}</ref>
* ''[[Amiga Power]]'' (October 1992)<ref>https://archive.org/stream/Amiga_Power_Issue_18_1992-10_Future_Publishing_GB#page/n29/mode/2up</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* {{moby game|id=/plan-9-from-outer-space|name=''Plan 9 from Outer Space''}}
* [http://www.classicgaming.com/amigareviews/plan9fro.htm ''Plan 9 from Outer Space'' review from] [[Zzap!64|Zzap!]]
[[Category:1992 video games]]
[[Category:Adventure games]]
[[Category:Amiga games]]
[[Category:Atari ST games]]
[[Category:DOS games]]
[[Category:Gremlin Interactive games]]
[[Category:Konami games]]
[[Category:Point-and-click adventure games]]
[[Category:Video games based on films]]
[[Category:Video games developed in Ireland]]
[[Category:Ed Wood]]
[[Category:Single-player video games]]