The Evolution of Alien Franchise Games...

[TrekMD]

The Alien film franchise has inspired a great many games on various systems, from retro to modern.  Some games based on the movies, others extensions of them, while others mix it with the Predators franchise.  So, let's go down memory lane and look at those games where Aliens have been an inspiration.

Let's get started with the very first game that came out and the hack of that game on, none other, than the Atari 2600 in 1982.  Yep, it may not look a lot like anything related to the movie, but this was the first licensed game based on the franchise...

[align=center:j60yzo8g]Original Alien Game
Alien for the Atari 2600

Alien 8K Hack
Atari 2600 Alien 8k 2006-01-04 Kurt Howe PAL
This hack has changed the alien sprites to resemble those of the movies, tying it better to the franchise.  Sadly, the video lacks sound but you can see the visual changes.[/align:j60yzo8g]

[zapiy]

That's the first time i have ever seen those versions, i guess its been commented before that it looks much like a game called Pacman?

[Shadowrunner]

Yep, Pac-man with Aliens alright 

[TrekMD]

LOL Yes, I think they just slapped the name on the game because they wanted to use the license.  Hey, Alien games had to start somewhere.  Zap, you must have missed the reviews of both versions of the 2600 game that are posted here. 

[TrekMD]

OK, moving now onto 1984/85 we have the release of Alien for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC.  This game is now the first game that does use the movie as its template...

[align=center:3c8g1y80]Commodore 64
C64 Longplay - Alien

ZX Spectrum
ALIEN: ZX Spectrum

Amstrad CPC
Alien 1985 Amstrad Cpc

The C64 version of this game is currently being adapted for the Atari Lynx![/align:3c8g1y80]

[zapiy]

Yeah I remember having the Speccy version and feeling frustrated when playing it.

[TrekMD]

Why were you frustrated by it? 

[Shadowrunner]

I tried the C64 version on the Dreamcast using an emulator and the DC keyboard but I never made it very far. A manual would have done wonders! Cool they are porting it to the Lynx!

[TrekMD]

The Lynx version will not be sold, by the way.  It will only be available for free to use with flashcarts. 

[zapiy]

Why were you frustrated by it?

My lack of ability to play the game lol.

[TrekMD]

Why were you frustrated by it?

My lack of ability to play the game lol.

That'll do it! 

[Greyfox]

Just to get back on topic here, amazing with the few "Alien" movie games that existed first time around, games then began to appear based on the second movie and this one, which I  never played myself, created in 1987 by SquareSoft of all companies behind the Final Fantasy series created this one, so perhaps one of you here did play this back in the day and could share some thoughts on it?

[align=center:2xkaj2y8]Aliens -MSX[/align:2xkaj2y8]
[align=center:2xkaj2y8]www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjDJfHWSNss[/align:2xkaj2y8]

Also to mention that two different "Aliens" were released on the c64 and co. Here some video of them

[align=center:2xkaj2y8]Aliens: The Computer. Game[/align:2xkaj2y8]
[align=center:2xkaj2y8]Aliens commodore 64[/align:2xkaj2y8]

[align=center:2xkaj2y8]Aliens: The Computer. Game (ZX Spectrum Version)[/align:2xkaj2y8]
[align=center:2xkaj2y8]www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-9wfWzBzY0[/align:2xkaj2y8]

[align=center:2xkaj2y8]Aliens: The Computer. Game (Amstrad CPC version)[/align:2xkaj2y8]
[align=center:2xkaj2y8]www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4qd-9CvnlU[/align:2xkaj2y8]

[align=center:2xkaj2y8]Aliens: The Computer. Game (U.S. version)[/align:2xkaj2y8]
[align=center:2xkaj2y8]C64 Longplay - Aliens[/align:2xkaj2y8]

[align=center:2xkaj2y8]Aliens: The Computer. Game (Apple II version)[/align:2xkaj2y8]
[align=center:2xkaj2y8]www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzoIoORPXOM[/align:2xkaj2y8]

[TrekMD]

Even though the first movie was successful, it wasn't until the second move that "action" was associated with the franchise and that's the kind of stuff that tends to get made into games. 

[Greyfox]

Yeah, sure does, but I can't understand how a lot of the time, they managed to completely screw up the video game versions of recent times, yet unrelated alien inspired games are far better? Makes no sense, will add one more stuff tomorrow if you haven't done already

[Shadowrunner]

That MSX game looks good. Surprised to see it was made by SquareSoft!