"Elevator Action" - NES/Famicom

Q: When do the arcade ports stop?

A: Never. NEVER. But they will slow down eventually.

This one is for Taito's Elevator Action. My personal award to this game is "game that you've probably played in some format but didn't know the name of." The name is Elevator Action, by the way.

I actually had a Dexter (the Cartoon Network cartoon) game for the Game Boy Color as a kid that was a version of this game, and the first time I played Elevator Action I was like, oh, it's that Dexter game. Whoops.

Anyway, the original Elevator Action came out in 1983 in arcades, and here it is 2 years later on the Famicom. It wasn't ported by Taito though, it was ported by a company called Micronics (later credited as Khaos on the SNES). They didn't develop much, mostly just arcade ports for the Famicom.

So let's see how they did on this one:

Agent 17 has got some serious hips. And one very long arm.

----- Playthrough -----

In this game, you play as Agent 17, or "Otto," who apparently has to come out from his deep undercover to go into a building from the top down, and use his sharp-shooting and "black belt karate skills" (according to the English manual) to raid the building. Which is weird because there's no way to do any sort of meleeing in this game that I can tell. I feel like the writer looked at the game for 10 seconds and wrote that description. But anyway.

You can tell he's a secret agent because he comes into the building via a zipline from absolutely nowhere-- just the heavens, I guess. And he never quite makes it, so you have to watch him inch down the last few meters every time.

wr-wee wr-wee wr-wee wr-wee

Your next goal is to go down the building, shooting everyone who even shows up in your field of vision, and raiding any doors painted red for their sweet, sweet, booty. Once you get all those, you can head down and hop in your car on the ground floor for a speedy getaway and some bonus points.

Yoink! I don't know why I want this but it sure is red.

Your main threats are these Spy-vs.-Spy-lookin' fellas comin' out of the blue doors and shooting at you. They'll follow you around and up and down the elevators and escalators, but that's pretty much it. Sometimes they'll crouch, but I never saw them crouch and shoot, but I assume that probably happens in later levels.

Other things that can kill you: falling down the elevator shaft, getting crushed by the elevator... that's pretty much it as far as I found.

By the way, there are also escalators, as you may have noticed.

I guess they're second fiddle since Escalator Action sounds
significantly less interesting.

There's just about nothing else to say about this game, really... Each time you complete a level you'll be treated to the same level but in a different color. It seems like the enemy behavior changes a little bit too, and they definitely shoot faster. I'm not sure if the game

Watching a longplay on Youtube tells me that nothing ever really changes much besides that, though.

----- Review -----

How long did I play?

Like, 15 minutes.

Did I beat the game?
I beat 2 and a half stages before I died.

Intuitive Design: 

How easy is it to intuitively understand the game?

Moving and shooting is straightforward enough, and experimenting with the d-pad will teach you the things it can be used for (entering doors, crouching, controlling the elevator). The entry and exit of doors and elevators is pretty clearly marked. Overall, I'd say the game does good here.

Gameplay / Difficulty: 

How rewarding does playing the game feel?

Something is definitely missing here... I mean, the game is fine, shooting guys is fine, getting to the bottom is fine, but really there's a missing sense of immediate risk and reward from the game. As enemies start to shoot faster, it's tough to stay alive, sure, but for the most part the game just kinda ambles on.

Depth: 

How deep/long is the game?

There's really just the one level... so I'd have to say it's a pretty shallow experience, even if it does change colors twice before repeating.

If it were the Atari 2600, I guess a color change would constitute depth...

Sound / Graphics: 

How's the sound? How are the graphics?

The graphics aren't really amazing, but for the most part they're about as good as the average Famicom game we've seen so far. They certainly don't impede the gameplay which is about all you can really ask for.

The sound is pretty barebones, and there's just the one piece of music. It's pretty lame (I mean, one instrument?) but at least it's not maddening.

Personal Chord: 

Does the game have that undefinable "something" for me?

This is honestly probably the most bland NES game, or one of the most bland, that I can imagine. There's a distinct lack of character that... characterizes it, in my mind, so no, I don't really find that is leaves a mark on me personally. I don't hate it either, though.

Should You Play: 

Is there a reason to even bother with this one?

I feel like I can pretty comfortably say no, but it is nice to just know the name of it I guess because of its mild significance in the history of gaming. Given, this is just a port of that game, but hey, it's basically the same. It's honestly a pretty good port.

But no, probably not.

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