Little Big Adventure 2
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| Little Big Adventure 2 | |
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| Developer(s) | Adeline Software International |
| Publisher(s) | Electronic Arts, Activision, Virgin Interactive |
| Engine | Custom |
| Release date(s) | May 31, 1997 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure game |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Platform(s) | PC |
| Media | CD |
Little Big Adventure 2 (LBA2) is a computer game first released at the end of 1996 as a pre-release version by Adeline Software International. It was later re-released by Electronic Arts in April 1997 in Europe, and by Activision in June 1997 in the United States under the name Twinsen's Odyssey. In July 1997, both Electronic Arts and Activision Brazil re-released LBA2 - Activision Brazil doing so under the name of "Twinsen's Odyssey". In August 1997, Virgin Interactive released both the Japanese and the English-only Asian versions of LBA2 - also under the name of Twinsen's Odyssey. LBA2 sold over 600,000 copies worldwide; LBA2 was also the third game created under the label of Adeline Software International. The game features full motion video, higher quality music than its predecessor, and fully 3D environments.
The game is a sequel to Little Big Adventure (also known as Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure).
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[edit] Plot
The game's introduction is as follows:
| Hello, I'm Twinsen, the hero of this adventure. Can you see me up on the box up there with my girlfriend Zoé? That's my trusty friend Dino-Fly on the right, and that's a portrait of Sendell, our benevolent goddess, who breathes life into everything. Thanks to the medallion, and the magical powers she gave me, I was able to save our beautiful planet Twinsun. I had to investigate all the islands to save Zoé, and prevent our world from being destroyed. The terrible dictator FunFrock had the entire planet in his grip - until I came along. [pause] Yep, I'm proud to say, Zoé and I are expecting good news. We'll soon be hearing the pitter-pat of tiny feet, so we got to hurry up and get everything ready. Our world lives in peace nowadays, everything's calm, and we all have our place in the sun. |
After Twinsen defeated FunFrock at the end of Little Big Adventure, Twinsun was peaceful... until a sudden storm covers Citadel Island. The first task of Twinsen is to help Bersimon, the Weather Wizard, dissolve the clouds and end the storm. After the storm, alien creatures, who called themselves Esmers, land on the planet. They claim to be friendly, but it is clear that they have ulterior motives for visiting.
[edit] The game
Little Big Adventure 2 has two viewing modes - for outdoor scenes a 3D perspective view is used, and for indoor scenes it uses a 3D isometric perspective (the game field is rotated 45 degrees). All characters and vehicles are 3D polygon-based objects, allowing for full rotation and movement abilities. The interior game field is divided in scenes (a small block of the game that is active). When the player exits a scene the game is saved automatically under a savegame called AUTOSAVE.LBA. However, unlike Little Big Adventure, it is possible to save the game at any state. After completion of certain tasks the player is presented with a full motion video sequence. All text in the game is spoken by the characters. The game world is one of the largest and arguably the most varied in any game - there are 3 planets to visit, with Twinsun and Zeelich containing their own islands - each with their own unique graphical style. Locations in the game include a desert, a volcano, a mine, and a large propulsion device on the Moon of Twinsun. Essentially every character in the game is interactive and will respond differently when Twinsen speaks to them.
The game's genre is adventure, however, the game combines some elements from the arcade and role-playing game genre. The game's gameplay is partially free-roaming, with the player being limited to certain islands on Twinsun. It is impossible to travel from one planet to another at the player's accord - travel between planets is a scripted storyline event.
Interactivity with the world is important in LBA 2. Almost all characters can be talked to, and enemies are often performing tasks while the game world is active. Unlike the original, the game's artificial intelligence was not groundbreaking. Though it rivaled that of other games released in the same year such as Quake II (where NPCs were limited to actions they could perform in accordance with pre-scripted events), games released a year later such as Unreal had hugely superior AI, with advanced prediction of the player's actions. In contrast, NPCs in LBA 2 are often 'sitting ducks'.
[edit] Gameplay
As with the original Little Big Adventure, the player controls Twinsen using the arrow keys. Twinsen also retains a similar set of four behaviors (see Behaviors and gameplay section of LBA article). During the game, new behavior modes are added to allow the player to quickly utilise new items that they may pickup. When the player carries the "Protopack" for example, the mode menu can be cycled vertically to reveal a mode which automatically activates the "Protopack".
Twinsen also has an inventory where he can store objects he finds. Every object has its own set place in the inventory rather than being automatically assigned.
[edit] Weapons
Little Big Adventure 2 includes several additional weapons along with the two original Little Big Adventure weapons, the Magic Ball and the Emperor's Sword (previously dubbed the "Sabre" in LBA).
- Magic Ball: The Magic Ball is a ball of energy that can be thrown by Twinsen. When Twinsen has a high level of magic, the Magic Ball can bounce off walls and other objects. As Twinsen's magic level decreases, however, the Magic Ball's bounce is reduced. The Magic Ball can be used to attack enemies or to activate switches. During both games the power of the ball is upgraded as the player completes certain tasks.
- Emperor's Sword: The Emperor's Sword is found later in the game and functions the same way as the Sabre in the original Little Big Adventure and is the only weapon that can defeat the Emperor's guards outside his palace. Its most powerful attack is in "Sporty" mode, where Twinsen backflips and then forward flips into a powerful attack. The most effective mode however, is the "Aggressive" mode, because of attack speed.
- Laser Pistol: The Laser Pistol is given to Twinsen on Otringal by the Dissidents. It fires a powerful green beam across a long distance without dropping - unlike all other projectile weapons in the game. Its downside is that it takes a long time for Twinsen to aim and fire, rendering it useless in a close quarters combat situation. In addition, when a shot hits something, it breaks into potentially lethal flying projectiles, making it only suitable for long range attacks.
- Wannie Glove: The Wannie Glove, found in the mine on the Island of Wannies, comes into use against certain projectile enemies, such as some of the creatures from the undergas. The player uses the glove to deflect its attacks and pitch them back, hopefully damaging it with its own shot.
- Blowgun: The Blowgun is similar to Machine Guns that some enemies carry on Zeelich. It fires small yellow balls at a reasonable distance - but does little damage and is practically ineffective at killing enemies if they are returning fire. The Blowgun is first given to Twinsen in the School Of Magic on Desert Island when he completes the target test. When Twinsen goes to the Island of the Mosquibees and completes their test, the Mosquibees give Twinsen a 'Super Blowgun' which is more powerful and shoots at a longer distance.
- Darts: The darts have little use in the game except a small minigame on Desert Island, where the player has to hit 2 ducks as they move across the screen. If the game is won, Twinsen is lifted up by balloons and dropped into a hole leading to the Temple Of Bu. (which could be accessed from the grass near the entrance, the fence can be jumped)
- Lightning Spell: The Lightning spell is received after the player completes the Weather Wizard's spell on Citadel Island. The Lightning Spell drains all of the player's magic supply and kills any enemy on screen at that time. It also features in the completion of an important task.
- Protection Spell: The protection spell is found in a cave on the island across from the Hacienda in Desert island. It slowly drains your magic and protects you from attacks, but not drowning or falling.
[edit] Trivia
- The team behind Little Big Adventure 2 is the core team who created the first Alone in the Dark.
- In early previews - mostly of the 1996 pre-release version - there were some drastic differences from the final version. Examples include the ferry being in the style of the ferry in the original Little Big Adventure, the woodbridge on Citadel Island being intact rather than broken, Emerald Moon having a Twinsunian blue sky, and differences in the characters (mostly Zeelichians) - most notably the Franco guards seen on Twinsun after the invasion.
- Rumors suggest that there was once an Italian speech pack available on the Internet. These rumors are yet to be proven.
- Although all three main versions (EA, Activision, Activision Brazil) have different languages available from setup (English/French/German/Spanish/Italian, English only and English/Spanish/Portuguese), the languages, which are not available for choice, are still present in the file TEXT.HQR, and can still be used by properly modifying the LBA2.CFG configuration file of the game.
[edit] External links
[edit] General resources
- Little Big Adventure II, a mirror of the original official LBA2 website.
- Little Big Adventure 2 at MobyGames
- Encyclopedia Twinsunica, an encyclopedia of the Little Big Adventure series
[edit] Fan sites and web directories
- The LBA series website directory at the Open Directory Project
- Magicball Network, a Little Big Adventure series community
- The LBA Prequel, a fangame utilizing the original LBA engine.
