Eggs of Steel: Charlie's Eggcellent Adventure for the original Playstation is one of those games whose style really only existed for a few years. It's an early 3D platformer published by Atlus that was behind the times when it was released in the US in 1998. In a world in which Super Mario 64 already existed, Eggs of Steel used pre-rendered backgrounds in fixed camera angles and scaling 2D sprites to create the illusion of three dimensional gameplay. You control Charlie, an anthropomorphic egg night watchman in a steel mill, who must punch timeclocks and find the shutdown keys in order to turn off the machinery that he accidentally activated.
The game takes place on one screen at a time with no scrolling, although stages are comprised of several interconnected screens. Each screen is usually its own puzzle in and of itself, although occasionally Charlie must pull a lever on one screen to affect another. Charlie can jump, duck, throw bolts, and swing his wrench with a few exceptions, and aside from managing his health (donuts refill your life bar), he also must manage his temperature should he find himself in a hot situation by standing in front of or under fans. Each area has the ultimate goal of punching a number of timeclocks in order to move on, but there are several objects strewn throughout each stage. Every few stages end the level with a boss fight, which unfortunately begin with a big hint on how to beat said boss.
Fortunately, the items scattered around the factory hardly make it a collect-a-thon, instead having limited purpose. A hundred coins gets you a free life. Green coins give you chances at between-level bonus stages. Purses net you bonus points, buckets of bolts replenish your throwing bolt supply, and paper airplanes have notes with tips and story info that is purely optional, like the hint blocks in Super Mario World. There are also four color-coded keys to find in order to end the game.
One of the big selling points of Eggs of Steel in its day was that it contained a solid 30 minutes of pre-rendered cutscenes, which are detailed and smooth. Today, these are largely underwhelming, which really brings into focus why I wanted to play and talk about it again. Games like Eggs of Steel are evolutionarily obsolete. Technology has made full 3D capable of doing everything they were designed to do more easily... but there is a charm to this slice of the past that isn't present in modern platforming. Games like this or Saturn's Bug have an odd look that was underwhelming in the post-Mario 64 era, but is more interesting now when there are so few games like them. The scaling sprites and goofy animation mixed with competent platforming and more of a puzzle orientation from games like Lolo make Eggs of Steel and its ilk simple, fun diversions that value thinking and dexterity equally, creating something of a weird, out of place sub-genre whose non-contemporary production values kill the game for some players while adding a layer of nostalgia for others.
I like Eggs of Steel, and had fun playing it again today. I saved my progress so I can finish it again next week when I'm on vacation. Its graphics are dated, its jazzy soundtrack is decent if out of place, and its gameplay is something that was abandoned with the rise of analog control. Honestly, it's one of those games I like better now than I did then, as looking back, it feels more unique and less also-ran. I can't say it's for everyone, but if it sounds like it may be your kind of thing, it probably is.
Played this one?