Random Game O' the Day: Out of this World/Heli Rescue

[digitalpress]

So you're laughing quietly to yourself as you realize that I seem to have missed DAY FIVE of "Nasty Week" and here we are on DAY SIX. Well once again, the DP Random Generator 'O Smellyness (tm) has outwitted you! For, you see, today's entry is a double-game cartridge. That's right, TWO poor games on ONE cartridge!

I know there are Odyssey2 gamers here who will probably defend this entry, but retro nostalgic or not, these two games are just plain dull. We can always get past weak graphics, especially from the era in question, but really... snooze!

Perhaps you don't share my opinion. Perhaps you do. Let's hear it, either way.

DP Guide sez:

Out of this World!/Helicopter Rescue! (Odyssey2, by Magnavox) $3/R2 -
a.k.a. Acoplagem!/Resgate!
Released in 1979. SANTULLI SLANT: Most Odyssey2 games escape the "worst of..." list because there are multiple games on a cartridge. Out of this World! is a vertical-only version of Lunar Lander, and Helicopter Rescue! is a tedious exercise that must be performed as many times as you can within a set time limit. Dull to the extreme, and an extreme example of the lack of innovation in this library. [Gr: 1, So: 1, Ga: 1, Ov: 1] c1979. #AK9419.

http://www.digitpress.com/dpsightz/odyssey2/outofthisworldhelicopterrescue1.gif http://www.digitpress.com/dpsightz/odyssey2/outofthisworldhelicopterrescue.gif

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Joe, you're just asking for it here, buddy. So let me lay it on the line for ya.

Helicopter Rescue! is a big smelly dog of a game. Probably wet too, 'cause you know wet smelly dogs love to shake their wet smelliness all over everyone within a certain "blast" radius. Hell, it's probably a flatulent wet smelly dog. And nobody likes flatulent wet smelly dogs, do they? Not even me. Unless the business end of the dog is pointed away from me.

Out Of This World!, however, does have a bit of limited entertainment value. What folks miss if they don't have the manual is that you can set the gravity from ridiculously low to ridiculously high. That extends the replay value of this game slightly. This was the first time I'd ever run across a Lunar Lander-style game in any for, and I'm a space buff, so I've got a soft spot for this half of the cartridge in question.

Woof. Splash. Phhhhttttt!

[hydr0x]

i first thought Out Of This World (SNES) was meant LOL

[VinnyT]

I was about to complain too. Out of this World for Genesis/SNES is a great game.

[ManekiNeko]

Joe, you're just asking for it here, buddy. So let me lay it on the line for ya.

Helicopter Rescue! is a big smelly dog of a game. Probably wet too, 'cause you know wet smelly dogs love to shake their wet smelliness all over everyone within a certain "blast" radius. Hell, it's probably a flatulent wet smelly dog. And nobody likes flatulent wet smelly dogs, do they? Not even me. Unless the business end of the dog is pointed away from me.

Out Of This World!, however, does have a bit of limited entertainment value. What folks miss if they don't have the manual is that you can set the gravity from ridiculously low to ridiculously high. That extends the replay value of this game slightly. This was the first time I'd ever run across a Lunar Lander-style game in any for, and I'm a space buff, so I've got a soft spot for this half of the cartridge in question.

Woof. Splash. Phhhhttttt!

I would have went the other way on this. I think I actually had this game back when I was a kid, and I thought Out of this World! was the real dud on the cartridge. You're locked into place horizontally so you have almost no freedom of movement... all you really COULD do was jet upward and fall downward, which got boring fast. Jupiter Lander on the VIC-20 was much more satisfying, thanks to the more complex gameplay and challenging terrain.

However, the Helicopter Rescue game was reasonably enjoyable back when my brother and I were kids. We'd play it every once in a while, adding our own explanation for why the little robot men needed to be saved since the game didn't seem to have one. Having said that, it's worth mentioning that we enjoyed Alien Invaders- Plus! and KC Munchkin a whole lot more.

JR

[Kid Ice]

I didn't think the lunar lander game was that bad, but the helicopter game was super easy and repetitive. I've played worse O2 games.

[o2william]

I may have "O2" in my forum handle, but even I won't try to defend these games. True, as an Odyssey2-playing lad I can remember getting a little fun out of Out of This World!, but I attribute that to youthful exuberance, not to anything intrinsically good about the game.

As PDF pointed out, you can play with the game's gravity, which adds a tiny bit to it. I think the most enjoyment I ever derived from it was to set the gravity at maximum, hold down the joystick button until all the fuel was burned, sending the ship flying off the top of the screen, and then wait for it to do a high-speed crash. Ship goes boom... funny.

As I state on my site (http://www.classicgaming.com/o2home/gmreview/review.asp?masterid=33&cartid=33), the best way to enjoy Helicopter Rescue! is to simply crash your helicopter repeatedly and laugh maniacally at the helpless victim. Now that's entertaining.