At the time it looked amazing, head and shoulders above anything else at the time and really showed what the Jag was capable of. I was the only reason I wanted a Jag back in the day.
Just ordered Jaguar’s Aliens Vs Predator finally after 30 YEARS of waiting to finally play it soon just because my Jackass 🫏 Cousin didn’t care enough to let me play it when I was over for Thanksgiving. Instead he just turned it off and ran outside or somewhere and that was the first and last time I even seen it.
Apparently Rebellion claimed Gamesmaster TV show reviewed a Beta copy of AVP, some 3 months before the retail version and they were not at all happy: Statement from Rebellion at the time: ‘ Gamesmaster [the television program] is produced about three months ahead of time - so the version they were reviewing then was three months old. What they had at that time was a pre-alpha version of the game. We told them what else was going to be put into the game, but the reviewers were, for some reason, not given this information by the people who run Gamesmaster. In fact, large areas of the map were not populated at that time; the game was only two meg rather than four, so the majority of the samples were absent.’
Great job on this, there's a few things I'd like to add if that's alright with you. First, the enemy A.I is a magnet so no matter where you (the player) are the enemies are designed to follow you until they reach you and attack. With the Motion Tracker this becomes more apparent as enemies get stuck on the geometry of the level, use this to your advantage. You can bottleneck enemies and safely take out enemies with ease, as for acid pools I'd recommend either luring aliens in large open areas as you can safely take them out or killing aliens near vents or in the elevator. The reason being is when you exit a level and return the game checks to see if there's any obstructions near the player, if there is the game will automatically de-spawn anything near you when you return. This works in vents as well, lure aliens to vent openings kill them in front of you then leave and reenter all those acid pools are gone. This makes traveling through the vents much easier as you no longer have to deal with acid damage. One thing to note is all enemies use the conga line mentality meaning enemies approach in single file and stack in single file, use this to your advantage whenever possible. Second, this game has more in common with Blake Stone Aliens of Gold as you can travel to different levels or go back to previous levels. Wolfenstein 3D is the major inspiration as there's a single flat level which is exactly what Alien Vs Predator Jaguar is whereas Doom added height and a second story to levels. As for saving your game always and I mean ALWAYS save in the elevator as Lewis or the Predator, for the alien always save in the vents. The enemy placement is dependent on RNG every level has a set amount of enemies when playing as any of the characters, Lewis is the only character that deals with enemies in vents. Almost all vents have 10 Aliens the only exceptions is AirDuct 3B and 3C both contain 5 Aliens. Third, as much as I love this game it's flawed the biggest issue is where to go exactly. This game is what I consider a "guide game" because there is absolutely no way any player is supposed to find their way in this game without outside assistance. The computer terminals only tells you so much and even then it's rather vague, the Alien and Predator? Nope the game just drops you in and that's it good luck! I personally recommend this www.thejagzone.com/jaguar/Codes/avpmaps/index.html these do a MUCH better job explaining where areas of interest is and just knowing where to go at all. Fourth, Facehuggers comes in two flavors free-roaming and Eggs, the free-roaming are found ONLY in the Med lab's located in Sub-Level 2 and 4; as well as, the Alien ship for Lewis. 3 are in level 2 Med Lab, 6 in level 4 Med Lab and finally 5 in the Alien ship found in Sub-Level 5. To deal with the Eggs simply walk up and have the egg open, the reason being is if you fire your gun the egg will automatically open and release a Facehugger by default which will waste ammo. If you have the egg open by walking near it, this takes time for the Facehugger to emerge and gives you time to destroy the egg before it happens. This helps save ammo considerably; and speaking of, when using the Smart-Gun I'd recommend short controlled bursts as this gun is the MOST POWERFUL gun in the game for Lewis. Just a single press of the fire button and aliens shred like tissue paper; whole hoards of enemies drop at this hands of this absolute BEAST of a weapon. Thank you for taking the time to read through all is, I've been playing this game for a quarter century exploring every nook and cranny on console itself or via emulator. Personally it's nice to see this game get some recognition, I love this game to death but that doesn't mean it's perfect it has a lot of faults. Thank you again for listening! Cheers!
I was hoping you would like AVP, but clearly you think much better hardware was available at the time; however not even the FX2 Chip on the SNES would come close to AVP graphics and performance. One of the issues in this game performance is that Atari wanted it to be on a 2MB cart, and the developers had to beg to get it on a 4MB Cart. Even then, the game is highly compressed (said to be 14MB uncompressed.) So the DSP which normally does sound and music is being pushed as a decompression engine, and then, the DSP is connected to RAM by a 16 bit data bus (GPU, Blitter and Object Processor are connected to Ram 64 bit (cartridge 32 bit)) which then slows down other parts of the system with bus contention. A larger Cart could have sped things up as it would have reduced compression, as would have a CD version. Also this was still an early game on the Jaguar, so with new programming skills / tricks it could have been much faster, sort of like how Uncharted 1, vs 2, vs 3 on the PlayStation 3 evolved. And even though it runs slower, AVP looks much better than Alien Trilogy on the PlayStation.
You’ve got a great voice for narration and some smooth editing; couldn’t believe how low the view count was after this came up in my recommendations. Can’t wait to see what you do next
I experienced a lot of AvP on the Jaguar. There’s a board species locally that makes a sound nearly identical to the Predator’s clicking sound when they’re clocked and watching you. The first time I heard that bird after playing a bunch of AvP on the Jag, I actually froze in place, completely freaked out for a split second!
I had a Jaguar with Doom & AVP (and many others) back in 1994, all boxed and pristine. When I moved out a few years later my dad dumped it all...... would of been worth a small fortune now 😩
Aww man! 😭 That’s tragic! I worked with someone who when they upgraded to a PS2 just took their Dreamcast and a load of games to the dump and got rid of them?!?!?!
That's why when I moved out I made sure to take EVERYTHING. I was forced to get a 2 bedroom apartment just to fit all the crap from my childhood in the second room which was my storage room. Never owned a Jaguar but I was that one moron that was the answer to the question "What moron would buy a 3DO?"
I’ve been playing this game for almost 30 years on original hardware, but to play it for the first time now I recommend an emulator, even if you pay for a real copy. The uneven frame rate when many objects are on screen exacerbates all the problems well documented in this video. After a while playing it on Jag you get used to basing your timing off the lagging sound etc etc and that’s how you have to play it or it feels weird. At steady 30fps it’s just plain less frustrating though and you don’t have to learn to trick your brain in addition to all that other BS. Which is of course worth it, because this is somehow still an amazing AVP game in those moments when none of that is getting you killed unfairly.
Whatever one thinks of this game playing it 20 years later, understand that it was a triumph of atmosphere generation! This was not only before Halo, it was even before Goldeneye. It was truly the first excellent console-exclusive shooter IMO!
@@fistfulofgamepad I actually really appreciated your video for that fact. It was fascinating to hear your observations, as someone who wanted to play it back in the day but didn't get to. I felt your review was quite fair. After 20 years of playing other shooters, I don't know how AvP on the Jag would feel for me now. I should get some kind of adaptor to hook my Jag up to a modern TV and find out. :)
Too bad it was only one of a handful of games available that made the Jaguar even worth considering. The console just didn't have any third party support. Once I wore out AVP, Doom and Tempest 2000, I found myself desperate for more games that looked interesting. Sadly there just wasn't that much available.
@@HeavyInstinct Agreed that its library was small. But luckily for me, games that I wanted to play came out *just* quickly enough for my liking. In addition to AvP and Tempest 2000, I also played the hell out of Iron Soldier and Hover Strike. Not an exclusive, but I also played a bunch of Cannon Fodder on the Jag. After that I switched to PC gaming for a while (especially Star Control 2, and.... one where you play as a squad of different insects that I can't remember the name of!), before switching back to console gaming when the Dreamcast came out.
Gamesmaster TV show still holds ire with me because they shat on Street Gangs on NES, aka River City Ransom. A classic beat em up even today. The some of the reviewers came off as thinking it was dated due to it being on NES, but one of them called it an insult and something you should give your enemies.
Lol, it was like never meet your heroes-you’re right. I bought the system in 2008 and finished Alien vs predator with all three characters. The marine was extremely tough, after you finish the final objective there is a timer for reaching safety, and the maps really did seem disorienting. Sold the system with all my games in 2019, after my Super Burnout cartridge went bad just sitting in a shelf.
i know you sold it in 2019... but if you ever encounter another cartridge going bad, try using a q-tip and "DeoxITLiquid, squeeze tube" (sold at a few places online) to clean the contacts real good. then insert and remove the cart a few times to help scrape off the remaining oxidation or debris/dust. that (and cleaning the Jaguar cart slot) has restored several used carts i've purchased over the last year that would normally give the Red Screen of Death. ...or you might already know all this, lolz
Really insightful mate. The solid research and thought is extremely evident. Albeit sounds like a bittersweet experience it’s great you’ve got to play this one after so many years. It’s certainly a title synonymous with the Jaguar. Enjoy the weekend 👍😊🕹️
Thanks mate. Glad you enjoyed it. It was a bit bittersweet but I’d rather have played it and found out rather than always wonder 😀. Hope all is well mate 😃👍
Great review, you nailed it. I got the game new with the console back in 95' for $50 USD from a mail order catalog (bargain bin price). It blew me away with the visuals and sound (just before the PS1 and Saturn hit the scene). However I was a bit too young to have the patience with the gameplay structure. I was 14 years old , went in playing it like Doom. I never even read the manual. I spent a lot of time with the game back then but did not make much progress. Today, I greatly appreciate the approach the developers made. The sluggish framerate is not an issue for me. Rebellion really had ambition with this one, even if it meant taking the console too far. Most movie games were terrible. This was made with love. It's great to read what other features they had in mind that had to be scrapped because of limitations (like the Alien climbing walls, etc). It's because of these limitations that make the game so unique. The cancelled Jaguar CD sequel had these concepts that Rebellion would use for the 1999 Aliens Vs Predator game. The game is just so timeless for me. Top 10 of all time for me. It's a great horror game for the Jag. I like to try a no death challenge with the marine...haven't done it yet. Also, killing the Queen is optional for the Marine..so that can be an added achievement.
If they increased the turn speed by even 10% that would have been nice. Spend hours searching the training center and used to get headaches going through the Ari ducts aswell. Good level of difficulty tho and completing it was rewarding. Good vid mate
Great review, sir. I begged for a Jaguar when I was 8 in the early 90's just for this. Worth it, though the console DEFINITELY suffers from a severe lack of good games. That said, the ones that are good are really good. Tempest 2000 is an all-time great in my book. Also, subscribed!
Thanks dude, I'm glad you enjoyed it, it was a lot of fun to make and a game I'd wanted to review for ages. Tempest 200 is fantastic, love that game!! Simple yet SO addictive! Thanks for the sub! 😀 More vids are on the way!😀
It was freakin hard to play and a horror when you play it at night with headphones. My Uncle still remember the Nightmares he had after playing it. The Game was a Survival game in a Location where you was completely alone from the beginning to the End. There was nothing like that at this time with this deepness.
I had someone break into my home when I was a young teenager and took a bunch of my things. I remember the worst part of it was stealing my Atari Jaguar with Alien vs. Predator. I'll never forget how damn great it was. Definitely underrated and ahead of it's time. Wish I could play it again.
I just loaded this up in BigPEmu, and I'm really surprised that overclocking had little effect. It makes the framerate stable, but it doesn't really make it any better, still maxes at about 15 fps. This would be so much more fun if it ran a little faster and a lot smoother.
The BigPEmu dev actually made a framerate uncapper for this game as a demo for an upcoming script-based modding feature, though game speed is tied to framerate so trying to run it at even just 30 FPS will make it about twice the speed it should be. Hopefully, the script will make it into the update and someone will be willing to put in the effort to decouple game logic from the framerate.
I also always wanted this game! I actually got it running on an emulator a couple months back so I could play with mouse and keyboard, and I felt the same way about it as you. The game has a really amazing atmosphere, especially for its time, but I think that the limitations it had to work with on the Jaguar and the clunkiness of the combat really age it, and not in a good way. I was also unaware of the fan remaster-- definitely will have to check that out when it's finished so I can get an experience a little closer to the way I imagined it in my head before I could play it. Great video and excellent editing! You deserve a lot more recognition for the amount of effort you put in and the quality of the videos!
Its limitations are very apparent, but I think what Rebellion were able to achieve with the limitations was very impressive, especially for the time. I liked how they then built on it with the PC version, as they then had better hardware/ resources to give us a true AvP game. I'm keeping an eye on the remaster too and looking forward to it. Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the video, I really enjoy doing them and find them a lot of fun. There are more videos in the pipeline :)
It's nice to have the perspective of the Jaguar from here in blighty, great video. Mental that I managed to get a copy of AvP for £25 ten years ago, prices have gone mad
I bought the Jaguar with AvP on the Atari Fair and I own it today. The game was great back then especially the sound design. I remember drawing the hole maps on a millimeter paper 😊
Awesome, thanks dude. I’m glad you enjoyed it, Iv got my latest video currently in the works as we speak, should hopefully have it uploaded within the next week. Alien 3 certainly doesn’t get the love it deserves and Predators is an underrated entry in the franchise. I’m looking forward to the next Alien film.
Now you can play Jaguar AvP on PC using the emulator BigPEmu, running at a higher frame rate, with WASD/movement-strafing and mouse look turning controls. Multiplayer is also possible.
I asked for an ATARI 64 specifically to play THIS game. What I didn't know was that the ATARI 64 was going to go out of business one year later. Totally worth it. Got a PSX the following Christmas.
You are right, unfortunately there is no selectable controls on Alien versus Predator which are should have been from the beginning. And therefore the strafing controls are not mapped to the pro controller shoulder buttons. However the keys 7 + 9 mapped to the z and x buttons. So it is possible to strafe and do a turn strafe and fire at the same time if you can learn to slide your thumb over top of a couple of buttons at once on the 6 face buttons of CBA and ZYX. Obviously this situation works much better than reaching down to the keypads 7 and 9 buttons. Doom also works this way, it's strafing buttons were also map to seven and nine, so they are also mapped to the z and x buttons on the pro controller. This allows you to do circle strafing in Jaguar Doom too. As you can still turn while pushing the z or x buttons. A later FPS/RPG game for the Jaguar, callee Towers II actually made to use of the pro controller and the left and right trigger buttons allow strafing in that game.
Great video, I'm also a recent Jaguar owner. The wife bought me one for my birthday last year, after my having wanted one for years but just never got around to getting one. I wanted to let you know that there are different revisions of the standard controller, and they have different d-pads. The standard controller has grey keypad buttons, and that has the mushier d-pad. While I like the standard controller's d-pad, for fighting games like Ultra Vortek, I prefer the controller with the black keypad buttons, as its d-pad has a different feel and is more precise. Based on your comments in the video, I think you may prefer that one.
Fun fact, I phoned around the shops for a Jaguar on release day. They had all sold out and heard 10-30 units was all some shops got. A tip off then came in of a shop which wasn't well known for selling consoles had 25 of em. Went to the shop and yes, bought one 💪 In general most of the games for the 64bit Jag left a bad taste in your mouth 😂
I got the Jaguar and AVP back in the day after begging my mother. My Jaguar died years ago but still have the game. Couldn't stop playing it so good for the time.
"anytime.." is sick audio que to leave on :P AVP 2010 scratches the itch for me i play every few years and i have my own war story of playing on xbox 360 multiplayer back in 2010 and everyone left a game one time except one human and myself as a predator and it felt like the movie where hte human didnt wanna give up and made me work for it and i didnt spam the easy weapons and gave him a fair shot even tho the predator was OP he toughed it out leading me into water and caves to limit the predators advantages it was my most memorable experience for AVP that felt close to the films
Dunno, I played this on my buddy's Jaguar when I was a teenager, and I always thought the one that came out on PC around 2000 was waaaaay better. Probably the best AVP game ever made, and remains that way to this day.
I definitely agree with you on that, AvP that came out on the PC in 1999 is still one of the best AvP games to this day, it's also still one of the scariest and atmospheric games I've ever played. Especially when you get facehugger'd, I lost count of the amount of time I nearly fell out of my chair as I jumped back when a face hugger left up at my screen out of newer lol. It was also one of the first games I played online back in the day which was also a great experience.
Glad you enjoyed it. I was the same as a kid. I’d always look at the screenshots on the back of the box in amazement how realistic it looked (at the time lol).
I had this when it originally came out. It was utterly superb- so atmospheric. I’m getting a GD this week so am going to play through it again. However this wasn’t’T THE BEST REASON TO BUY A jag back then as many may say. That was Tempest 2000- which is probably the greatest video game ever made.
The game still holds up to this day. Not sure what that says about the state of modern programming. I was actually able to get a beta cartridge of Alien vs Predator for the Atari Lynx. NIB of course.
When I got the game back in 95 it was an absolute dream and we didn't care about FPS or anything like that . Also you got to remember this is running on a cartridge which in itself very impressive. Sad that you never played this when it came out , because it was a fun time and eventually for me that turned into getting other great games for the system, like Power Drive Rally , Tempest 2000 , Rayman , Iron Soldier , Flashback, Dino Dudes, Cannon Fodder, Doom, Space Ace , Defender 2000 ,Super Burnout , NBA Jam TE and more , but one game that should be in every Jaguar owners library is Zero 5 , like holy cow this game blew me away back in the day(just crazy hard) and it shows what's possible with great programmer's. If only they would have made the system CD based from the beginning, because it would of been a different outcome, like did you know that Crash Bandicoot almost came out for the Jaguar , but they needed a CD's storage capacity so they opted for the PlayStation. Oh also do you know you can get cheat codes for Aliens versus Predator.
Thats the thing with the Jaguar, it did have some good games on it apart from Doom and AvP. Do you still have your Jaguar? I knew that Naughty Dog developed Way of the Warrior on the Jaguar but didn't know that Crash was intended for it. I agree with you, if they'd have gone with CD-based from the get go then things may have turned out differently and they wouldn't have been restricted the storage of carts compared to CDs, the likes of AvP could have turned out a lot differently.
This is a great video! I too have wanted to play AVP for the Jaguar, but having already played Rebellion's (amazing) AVP FPS from the turn of the century, I suspect that this game will probably pale in comparison. It was nice of you to inform viewers about the Unreal Engine 4 fan remake of the game, and to show footage of it. I hope to see more videos like this one. You have a new subscriber. (Just hope that TH-cam doesn't shadowban your channel.)
If you’ve played the PC or Xbox 360/ PS3 versions then Jag AvP will definitely look, feel and play very dated. It’s very much a 90s game in every way. The Unreal 4 version looks very promising and can hopefully show people more of what the Jag developers wanted achieve but couldn’t. Thanks for subscribing, I really appreciate it. Iv got my next video in the works as we speak and it should be out soon 😃
Games like this are greatly improved via emulation. You can increase the frame rate and remap buttons to any controller, and this vastly improves the gameplay experience.
There are games I would play today, that I wanted to bad as a kid. Most of them I've seen others play on TH-cam. So I feel you on that one. And even if a game sucks, it will still be a fullfilling quest to actually play, or perhaps even beat, the games you always wanted to play.
Absolutely, I feel if I'd have played it back in the day it would have been more enjoyable due to how good it looked back then and I may have been reviewing it today with the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia on. But I'm glad I finally played it finally, got to review it and could cross it off my list 😃👍
@@fistfulofgamepad just watched your Resident Evil 1.5 video, It was so good to see what other Resident Evil 2 we could of got, I Remember being so blown away and exited when i found out about the Second scenario in RE2, I’ve been hooked on Survival Horror ever since that dog jumped through the window in RE1, I’m guessing you and I are roughly the same age, keep up the good work, looking forward to seeing more of your content
I was just playing AvP 2010 to figure out using a capture card this week. I kept thinking how bad I wanted this as a kid. Back when displays were everywhere in Walmart and Toys R Us stores that I could get a few minutes in, but we didn't have the money. Now I look at them and still can't afford the $600+ to get a jag and AvP. This was definitely the holy grail for me as a kid.
I enjoyed AvP 2010, was a good game just lacking in the atmosphere and scares of the PC original. It is crazy how it's still an expensive game to play, in having to get a Jaguar and then the game. Hopefully one day you'll be able to pick it up :)
You where a really smart kid. Actually looking at the entire library before you made a system purchase. My friends stuck with brand loyalty and got an N64, cause we all enjoyed the SNES. I however went with the PS1 just from looking at the following 2 years launch plans. When FF7 came out, the smug look I got to wear everyday was glorious.
haha, I bet you were very much smiling when FF7 released. Every N64 owner who had played Final Fantasy games on the SNES must have been green with envy lol. But it shows that Nintendo should have gone with CD rather than cartridges for the N64. But I guess both CDs and carts have their pros and cons.
Great review , I was in the same boat buying any magazine that had an update on the game , the game much better in the mags as in your video , shame no one's done an update for this game with updated graphics and even vr!
Man I feel this. I share your story. I wanted a Jaguar as a kid just for this game. Never got one though. The price of a Jag back then was astronomical
They were silly expensive back in the day, got silly cheap when it failed and they were selling off their inventory, and now things have come full circle and they're back to being silly expansive again?!?! 😆
Loved this game, completed the alien and predator, still have the console in storage and it will surface and (hopefully) still work to complete the marine game one day
You have a very soothing vibe, reminds me a lot of RMC. I liked how you added your personal memories of the game. Glad you finally got to live the dream after all this time, even if it could never live up to expectations.
I bought the jag and AVP and loved it the tension as the marine is great, i only play as the marine i still play it today, for best results play the aliens soundtrack on random really elevates the game, its not perfect but i love it ❤
Oh...the "snes"...was a scratching my head thinking you were saying the "snares". Also, I haven't really played console video games since the Genesis/Megadrive and computer games since the Doom/LucasArts era. Yet I still find videos like this fascinating
Anytime I had to save, I would go back to the brig. Then you are in a safe zone. There were other times when I would simply pause the game and turn the tele off, come back and resume where you were.
In the early 90s I had Terminator, Aliens and RoboCop toys. All of the films (excluding RoboCop 3) are hard R rated violent films. Lol things were different back then.
@@BubblegumCrash332 they were. All the big summer blockbusters in the 80s and early 90s were R or 18, and were usually accompanied with a toy line or Saturday morning cartoon lol.
I got a used AJ, I got Wolfenstein, Doom and AVP.... This was the definitive AVP game....this is the one that needs to be remastered for current systems
Maybe with the popularity of Predator and Alien on the up with the two latest films, we may get a something. I’d like to see Nightdive Studios remaster it.
Hi guys. I played this game on that time. Now I'm a game producer, would love to show my work for you and maybe do an Alien tribute game for all the fans in the future. Wish you the best and nice video man👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I got the game when it first came out and loved it. Considering my first taste of an FPS was Zero Tolerance on the Sega Genesis this game seemed smooth. What I didn't like was the brutal difficulty and the map layout. The air ducts were hard to navigate. I liked the Atari Jaguar and eventually had 56 boxed games with the CD add-on. I should have never sold it since all that stuff is worth a lot now.
Aww man, 56 boxed games and a Jag CD would be worth a mint now, but I guess at the time you did what you had to. I've done the same, sold games/ consoles and then a few years later wish I hadn't. Zero Tolerance was a head of its time with its 2 console link-up, but I was never able to do it as none of my other friends had it. ZT was as Doom-like as we Megadrive/ Genesis owners were going to get back in the day, at least until Doom on the 32X came out, and even then we still didn't get a decent version of Doom lol.
I still enjoy this game from time to time. Predator is my go-to to play as, then the Marine. I always thought of aliens being hard mode, and predator is easy.. Great video!..
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it. You do feel like a bad-ass when playing as Predator, just a shame about his loofer-plasma cannon lol. That won't put Jesse Ventura down! lol :).
I agree, its definitely got the atmosphere and tension to rival modern day games. I'm surprised theres not been another AvP game out thats an FPS since the 360/ PS3 versions.
To this day... i regret selling my collection that consisted of every sega console, a jag with doom n cybermorph. Atari vcs (sound don't work on that) All for 350quid in 2013. Bear in mind boxes and Cd consoles were seriously temperamental. These were well worn and well loved machines played 7 days a week hour after hour since there purchase in the 80s and 90s - with the price and value. I am very greatlful for emulation though so I still get to play them all plus many more. As for AvP. The guy I bought the jag off he had this and we played it together a lot, but i was sad it didn't come in the sale. He liked weird consoles such as jaguar and had a philips cdi in the day...
Emulation does come in handy, especially as some retro games now are SO expensive you can't justify the cost of them (Deep Fear (PAL) on the Saturn - £500+). Aww man, I've never played on a CDi, I've heard they are bad, like really bad, especially the famously bad Mario and Zelda games.
@@fistfulofgamepad they are indeed very bad. Mateys cdi was Mainly used for video cd films (precursor to dvd where you had 60mins each cd) He had burn cycle, which was the star cdi game and the zelda and Mario games. He was so starved of games software he ended up buying lots of shovel ware "edutainment" type stuff. He had micro machines too - that was when i realised how underpowered or at least not made for games it was... as the cdi version is jerky and jittery compared to the megadrive version i had. My collection had games like keio flying squadron on mega cd, and the demo of it too (worth lots as it had the full game but end of level1 splash screen sends you back. But if you do level select, start level2 you had full game lol. Sega never made that mistake again) these are worth silly money. So it does make me whince when i come across a review of a game i had in that collection - that is worth savage money...sigh...
i remember seeing ads in magazines for this back in the day and thinking it looked awesome. but by the time i was playing the AvP games on pc years later i was starting to get the feeling that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. funny side note. since the time of the first 2 AvP games on pc i has always wanted to have npc squadmates helping me mow down aliens in the game with me. now those games were very good, but that's not an experience that they provided. i did find out years later that the expansion to AvP 2 did have a short section where 2 marines shoot xenos alongside of you in some tunnels, but based on the videos i've seen here on youtube it seems pretty lackluster. also 2010's AvP had a few moments where as the marine you had some ai squadmates, but they felt pretty unresponsive. then years later colonial marines came out i finally, FINALLY got to have that experience. for all of it's flaws i will always have a special place in my hear for colonial marines for that one reason. they finally gave me the npc squad vs xenomorph firefight i had been dreaming off for almost 15 years. sometimes games are magical like that. great video and thanks for sharing your experience!
Thanks dude. I’m glad you enjoyed the vid. Have you played Aliens Fireteam Elite? The npcs in that are really good, the game itself is HUGELY underrated. Play it with a few mates online is lots of fun! 😃
The question is whether it's highly regarded because of the AvP properties, because it's the best game on the Jag, or because it's actually a good game. I believe it's more the first two. To me it always felt kinda one dimensional, sparce, and unfinished. It really lacked in variety and detail, and a lot of the bells and whistles found in most games just weren't there. Even Wolfenstein and Doom had way more depth and variety. In spite of the atmosphere and suspense you really find yourself wishing for a change in scenery, some different sounds or enemies, a boss fight, secret rooms... anything.
Agreed, maybe Atari wanted it out the door and on shelves asap to try and boost sales? I agree about the cut/ paste environments, they get bland very quickly. It would have been interesting to see what would have become if they had released a sequel on the Jaguar CD.
I went to go see the AVP movie opening night when it came out. A group of friends and I went. Everyone was hyped, sold out and a huge line of fans waiting to get in and finally see Aliens square off verse Predators....as soon as the movie started the entire theatre realized what the movie was. Instead of being letdown people started riffing on it and the place was full of laughter. Honestly turned out to be one my favorite movie going experiences because of how awful the movie ended up being.
lol😂 I went to see it opening night too with my brother, and while we were excited we were hesitant as it was rated a 12A here in the UK. So we knew it wasn't going to have the violence, gore and scares of the previous films. When the film started all our fears were confirmed lol, and you could hear people openly laughing in the audience lo. Its a film watched more for comedic value now 😃. Which is a shame as Paul WS Anderson CAN do decent scares and horror, Event Horizon being a great example.
Literally THE game that sold the Jaguar to me on day 1. I saw the preview on GamesMaster TV and knew I had to have it. Sadly, Jane Whittaker's Spaghetti code, running the A. I routines on the 68000,killed the frame rate, but it was still an amazing experience. Far better than Alien Trilogy on the PlayStation. If only they had the acid puddles eat through the floor and dissappear, like in the movies.
Yeah, GamesMaster were not as keen on it and seemed to really focus on the flaws of the game and not look at the positives. Having the acid puddles eat through the floor and not linger would have been helpful. Alien Trilogy looked good on realised but hasn't aged well but is still fun.
@@fistfulofgamepadApparently Rebellion claimed Gamesmaster TV show reviewed a Beta copy of AVP, some 3 months before the retail version and they were not at all happy: Statement from Rebellion at the time: ‘ Gamesmaster [the television program] is produced about three months ahead of time - so the version they were reviewing then was three months old. What they had at that time was a pre-alpha version of the game. We told them what else was going to be put into the game, but the reviewers were, for some reason, not given this information by the people who run Gamesmaster. In fact, large areas of the map were not populated at that time; the game was only two meg rather than four, so the majority of the samples were absent.’
When i finally got the game some years ago I spent 50 dollars for this game (expensive at the time and young broke) and was so disappointed I traded the Jaguar for a Sega CD. Maybe emotions got the best of me because I probably should have kept it.
Like everyone else, I too wanted a jaguar just to play this game, never did get one but have briefly played it on emulator only as the marine, I was disappointed to find it wasn't a doom kinda game
I know what you mean, when I first played it I went in all guns blazing Doom-style and quickly learnt that Doom-style is not the way approach AvP, you have to approach it OG Resident Evil style in that you have to conserve your ammo and pick your fights.
I'm not sure how i found this review, but i'm glad i did. you're great to listen to, i never knew this game or console existed, this was really interesting, thanks!
Thanks man, I’m glad you enjoyed it 😃, I’m currently working on my next vid which should be up soon. AvP is certainly a game of it’s time. The Jaguar is a very unique console but it’s silly expensive to collect for.
As a kid this game gave me nightmares, but I'd keep playing for some reason. Also, THERE WAS A WAY TO GET RID OF THE FACE HUGGERS!? I didn't have a manual.
Gotta be honest, I preferred the AVP beat 'em up. Lot of these were lost on me when they were new, the first Wolfenstein or Doom port soiled my view of first person shooter (or adjacent) games on consoles. Outside of some libation fueled N64 GoldenEye sessions, I don't think I gave them a fair try again until Halo. That's not to say I wasn't still a console gamer, too, I was just a little compartmentalized
The AvP beat-em-up is fantastic!! An absolute coin-muncher of a game, thats a licensed game definitely done right! Many a Goldeneye sessions were had back in the day! Halo was a game-changer when it game out, an absolute classic. I enjoyed Halo Infinite too which some people really aren't keen on, but each to their own.
Working at Toy R Us in high school, I was able to (and still) own this factory sealed. Played it on BigPEmu emulator to see what the fuss is about and I agree it really matches the tension and atmosphere. Would more games of this caliber have saved the Jaguar? My opinion is unfortunately no.
I’d have to agree with you, I think the Jag was beyond saving even before AvP was released, it was very much a case of too little too late. Wow, a sealed copy, that’s something very special! I bet it’s worth a fortune! 😃💰💰💰
I have always been curious about this game. Never owned a Jaguar. I had a Sega Saturn with Alien Trilogy which I still love but I always wanted to play as the alien. Finally got to on the PC later but this game was always the starting point fore dreams of this franchise crossover. Also the SNES beat’em up game was kind of a let down
Alien Trilogy is a classic but AvP on the PC definitely has the atmosphere and the scares, I lost count of the number times i was thrown backward in my chair after getting facehuggered lol. Absolutely agree with you about AvP on the SNES, such a let down.
Really enjoyed The time you put in to Telling the story of how you really wanted Is this package A-day And how you finally got your hands on an Atari Jaguar , The game definitely had potential, It's a shame about the difficulty and that you can't play multiplayer And definitely didn't help it been on the jaguar, Great video mate I can tell you put a lot of hard work and research into it
Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed it. Having multiplayer would have definitely worked in the games favour. It is a shame as Doom showed that the Jag could do FPS multiplayer.
the system really is such a shame. sure, it has a library, but it seemed like developers never got to make the most of the awkward and imperfect hardware. if Atari had people like Psygnosis and Polyphony dedicating their efforts to the system, they might have given Sony more of a fight.
@@TheJacklikesvideos Jag is nowhere close to PS1 hardware. But yes, great games is all that matter. Better graphics on its own do not make a game better.
I still have this game. Its almost CIB except i cant find the predator controller overlay. Also the manual cover ripped off but i have the manual and cover still. I tried to play it recently on my Jaguar and it definitely aged like shit lol. But The memories are priceless
I'd have been insanely jealous of your having a Jaguar back in the day, I always wanted one 😃. Did you buy it from a store or from the infomercials which had the angry guy shouting at Bob to buy a Jaguar? Cybermorph is a very 'unique' game, I think is the polite way of putting it lol.
@@fistfulofgamepad I think my mom bought it through the freeman's catalogue.. I got it for Christmas.. wish I kept it. I think I sold it for buttons a few years later.
![[FREE] Sad R&B Trap Type Beat X 6lack Type Beat Emotional Type Beat - "TRICK OF LIGHTS"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xc3--gwzMw4/mqdefault.jpg)
This was the reason I bought a Jaguar back in the mid 90's. Have many great memories of this game
At the time it looked amazing, head and shoulders above anything else at the time and really showed what the Jag was capable of. I was the only reason I wanted a Jag back in the day.
@@fistfulofgamepad
i had it in the late 90's and loved it beat all three campaigns, still looking for updates that get it right
Me too! I still have my Jag and my copy of AvP!
@@fistfulofgamepad me too, so glad I didn't buy one though 😂
Just ordered Jaguar’s Aliens Vs Predator finally after 30 YEARS of waiting to finally play it soon just because my Jackass 🫏 Cousin didn’t care enough to let me play it when I was over for Thanksgiving. Instead he just turned it off and ran outside or somewhere and that was the first and last time I even seen it.
I enjoyed the story behind this review. Rather than just reviewing the game with no context, your backstory made me much more engaged with the video.
Thanks. I’m glad you enjoyed it 😃
Apparently Rebellion claimed Gamesmaster TV show reviewed a Beta copy of AVP, some 3 months before the retail version and they were not at all happy:
Statement from Rebellion at the time:
‘ Gamesmaster [the television program] is produced about three months
ahead of time - so the version they were reviewing then was three
months old. What they had at that time was a pre-alpha version of
the game. We told them what else was going to be put into the game,
but the reviewers were, for some reason, not given this information
by the people who run Gamesmaster.
In fact, large areas of the map were not populated at that time;
the game was only two meg rather than four, so the majority of the
samples were absent.’
Great job on this, there's a few things I'd like to add if that's alright with you.
First, the enemy A.I is a magnet so no matter where you (the player) are the enemies are designed to follow you until they reach you and attack. With the Motion Tracker this becomes more apparent as enemies get stuck on the geometry of the level, use this to your advantage. You can bottleneck enemies and safely take out enemies with ease, as for acid pools I'd recommend either luring aliens in large open areas as you can safely take them out or killing aliens near vents or in the elevator. The reason being is when you exit a level and return the game checks to see if there's any obstructions near the player, if there is the game will automatically de-spawn anything near you when you return. This works in vents as well, lure aliens to vent openings kill them in front of you then leave and reenter all those acid pools are gone. This makes traveling through the vents much easier as you no longer have to deal with acid damage. One thing to note is all enemies use the conga line mentality meaning enemies approach in single file and stack in single file, use this to your advantage whenever possible.
Second, this game has more in common with Blake Stone Aliens of Gold as you can travel to different levels or go back to previous levels. Wolfenstein 3D is the major inspiration as there's a single flat level which is exactly what Alien Vs Predator Jaguar is whereas Doom added height and a second story to levels. As for saving your game always and I mean ALWAYS save in the elevator as Lewis or the Predator, for the alien always save in the vents. The enemy placement is dependent on RNG every level has a set amount of enemies when playing as any of the characters, Lewis is the only character that deals with enemies in vents. Almost all vents have 10 Aliens the only exceptions is AirDuct 3B and 3C both contain 5 Aliens.
Third, as much as I love this game it's flawed the biggest issue is where to go exactly. This game is what I consider a "guide game" because there is absolutely no way any player is supposed to find their way in this game without outside assistance. The computer terminals only tells you so much and even then it's rather vague, the Alien and Predator? Nope the game just drops you in and that's it good luck! I personally recommend this www.thejagzone.com/jaguar/Codes/avpmaps/index.html these do a MUCH better job explaining where areas of interest is and just knowing where to go at all.
Fourth, Facehuggers comes in two flavors free-roaming and Eggs, the free-roaming are found ONLY in the Med lab's located in Sub-Level 2 and 4; as well as, the Alien ship for Lewis. 3 are in level 2 Med Lab, 6 in level 4 Med Lab and finally 5 in the Alien ship found in Sub-Level 5. To deal with the Eggs simply walk up and have the egg open, the reason being is if you fire your gun the egg will automatically open and release a Facehugger by default which will waste ammo. If you have the egg open by walking near it, this takes time for the Facehugger to emerge and gives you time to destroy the egg before it happens. This helps save ammo considerably; and speaking of, when using the Smart-Gun I'd recommend short controlled bursts as this gun is the MOST POWERFUL gun in the game for Lewis. Just a single press of the fire button and aliens shred like tissue paper; whole hoards of enemies drop at this hands of this absolute BEAST of a weapon.
Thank you for taking the time to read through all is, I've been playing this game for a quarter century exploring every nook and cranny on console itself or via emulator. Personally it's nice to see this game get some recognition, I love this game to death but that doesn't mean it's perfect it has a lot of faults. Thank you again for listening!
Cheers!
Great points, the game would really of benifited from objective markers.
I was hoping you would like AVP, but clearly you think much better hardware was available at the time; however not even the FX2 Chip on the SNES would come close to AVP graphics and performance. One of the issues in this game performance is that Atari wanted it to be on a 2MB cart, and the developers had to beg to get it on a 4MB Cart. Even then, the game is highly compressed (said to be 14MB uncompressed.) So the DSP which normally does sound and music is being pushed as a decompression engine, and then, the DSP is connected to RAM by a 16 bit data bus (GPU, Blitter and Object Processor are connected to Ram 64 bit (cartridge 32 bit)) which then slows down other parts of the system with bus contention. A larger Cart could have sped things up as it would have reduced compression, as would have a CD version. Also this was still an early game on the Jaguar, so with new programming skills / tricks it could have been much faster, sort of like how Uncharted 1, vs 2, vs 3 on the PlayStation 3 evolved. And even though it runs slower, AVP looks much better than Alien Trilogy on the PlayStation.
You’ve got a great voice for narration and some smooth editing; couldn’t believe how low the view count was after this came up in my recommendations. Can’t wait to see what you do next
Thanks man, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I really enjoyed doing it. My next vid is in the works as we speak 😃
Yup, bought a Jag for this and only this. Not a single regret. Great game.
If i would have had the money at the time, id have done exactly the same😃👍
I experienced a lot of AvP on the Jaguar. There’s a board species locally that makes a sound nearly identical to the Predator’s clicking sound when they’re clocked and watching you. The first time I heard that bird after playing a bunch of AvP on the Jag, I actually froze in place, completely freaked out for a split second!
I had a Jaguar with Doom & AVP (and many others) back in 1994, all boxed and pristine. When I moved out a few years later my dad dumped it all...... would of been worth a small fortune now 😩
Yep. Me too. I don't even know where it went!
Aww man! 😭 That’s tragic! I worked with someone who when they upgraded to a PS2 just took their Dreamcast and a load of games to the dump and got rid of them?!?!?!
That's why when I moved out I made sure to take EVERYTHING. I was forced to get a 2 bedroom apartment just to fit all the crap from my childhood in the second room which was my storage room. Never owned a Jaguar but I was that one moron that was the answer to the question "What moron would buy a 3DO?"
after spending $350 on a used console (that needed a repair) and around $80 for AvP (cart only), i can vouch for that.
I’ve been playing this game for almost 30 years on original hardware, but to play it for the first time now I recommend an emulator, even if you pay for a real copy.
The uneven frame rate when many objects are on screen exacerbates all the problems well documented in this video. After a while playing it on Jag you get used to basing your timing off the lagging sound etc etc and that’s how you have to play it or it feels weird.
At steady 30fps it’s just plain less frustrating though and you don’t have to learn to trick your brain in addition to all that other BS. Which is of course worth it, because this is somehow still an amazing AVP game in those moments when none of that is getting you killed unfairly.
Whatever one thinks of this game playing it 20 years later, understand that it was a triumph of atmosphere generation! This was not only before Halo, it was even before Goldeneye. It was truly the first excellent console-exclusive shooter IMO!
Agreed, it needs to be acknowledged how it helped develop the FPS on a console and was a definite showcase of atmosphere and tension.
@@fistfulofgamepad I actually really appreciated your video for that fact. It was fascinating to hear your observations, as someone who wanted to play it back in the day but didn't get to. I felt your review was quite fair. After 20 years of playing other shooters, I don't know how AvP on the Jag would feel for me now. I should get some kind of adaptor to hook my Jag up to a modern TV and find out. :)
Too bad it was only one of a handful of games available that made the Jaguar even worth considering. The console just didn't have any third party support. Once I wore out AVP, Doom and Tempest 2000, I found myself desperate for more games that looked interesting. Sadly there just wasn't that much available.
@@HeavyInstinct Agreed that its library was small. But luckily for me, games that I wanted to play came out *just* quickly enough for my liking. In addition to AvP and Tempest 2000, I also played the hell out of Iron Soldier and Hover Strike. Not an exclusive, but I also played a bunch of Cannon Fodder on the Jag. After that I switched to PC gaming for a while (especially Star Control 2, and.... one where you play as a squad of different insects that I can't remember the name of!), before switching back to console gaming when the Dreamcast came out.
Gamesmaster TV show still holds ire with me because they shat on Street Gangs on NES, aka River City Ransom. A classic beat em up even today. The some of the reviewers came off as thinking it was dated due to it being on NES, but one of them called it an insult and something you should give your enemies.
Lol, it was like never meet your heroes-you’re right. I bought the system in 2008 and finished Alien vs predator with all three characters. The marine was extremely tough, after you finish the final objective there is a timer for reaching safety, and the maps really did seem disorienting. Sold the system with all my games in 2019, after my Super Burnout cartridge went bad just sitting in a shelf.
i know you sold it in 2019... but if you ever encounter another cartridge going bad, try using a q-tip and "DeoxITLiquid, squeeze tube" (sold at a few places online) to clean the contacts real good. then insert and remove the cart a few times to help scrape off the remaining oxidation or debris/dust. that (and cleaning the Jaguar cart slot) has restored several used carts i've purchased over the last year that would normally give the Red Screen of Death.
...or you might already know all this, lolz
Really insightful mate. The solid research and thought is extremely evident. Albeit sounds like a bittersweet experience it’s great you’ve got to play this one after so many years. It’s certainly a title synonymous with the Jaguar.
Enjoy the weekend 👍😊🕹️
Thanks mate. Glad you enjoyed it. It was a bit bittersweet but I’d rather have played it and found out rather than always wonder 😀. Hope all is well mate 😃👍
Great review, you nailed it. I got the game new with the console back in 95' for $50 USD from a mail order catalog (bargain bin price). It blew me away with the visuals and sound (just before the PS1 and Saturn hit the scene). However I was a bit too young to have the patience with the gameplay structure. I was 14 years old , went in playing it like Doom. I never even read the manual. I spent a lot of time with the game back then but did not make much progress. Today, I greatly appreciate the approach the developers made.
The sluggish framerate is not an issue for me. Rebellion really had ambition with this one, even if it meant taking the console too far. Most movie games were terrible. This was made with love. It's great to read what other features they had in mind that had to be scrapped because of limitations (like the Alien climbing walls, etc). It's because of these limitations that make the game so unique. The cancelled Jaguar CD sequel had these concepts that Rebellion would use for the 1999 Aliens Vs Predator game.
The game is just so timeless for me. Top 10 of all time for me. It's a great horror game for the Jag. I like to try a no death challenge with the marine...haven't done it yet. Also, killing the Queen is optional for the Marine..so that can be an added achievement.
There was no sequel on CD announced but they had plans to make an expanded version of it on CD and AvP2 by a company which made Ultra Vortek.
If they increased the turn speed by even 10% that would have been nice. Spend hours searching the training center and used to get headaches going through the Ari ducts aswell. Good level of difficulty tho and completing it was rewarding. Good vid mate
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it. The air ducts are so easy to get lost in, even when using the map and are very headache-inducing.
I could never find the level 10 key card. Searched all over the room with the Alien queen. Therefore never completed it.
@@fistfulofgamepad I still have graph paper maps of the air duct systems because I suffer from C.R.S. can't remember shit.
I wonder if Jag could have been overclocked, just a bit, to achieve that 10% speed boost 🧐
@@mwk1Higher frame rates can easily be achieved using emulation.
Same, brought it when it came out. What atmospheric sound! Really made the slowness bearable. I think it was amazing!
"The Predators shoulder cannon looks like a blue loofah sponge" lol, I will never look at it the same now. Great review and video.
The deadly blue loofah sponge! lol Thanks, glad you enjoyed it😃👍
I had a Jag as well, and this was definitely one of the best games for it.
I thought the slowness of the game added to the overall tension of the game
Great review, sir. I begged for a Jaguar when I was 8 in the early 90's just for this. Worth it, though the console DEFINITELY suffers from a severe lack of good games. That said, the ones that are good are really good. Tempest 2000 is an all-time great in my book.
Also, subscribed!
Thanks dude, I'm glad you enjoyed it, it was a lot of fun to make and a game I'd wanted to review for ages. Tempest 200 is fantastic, love that game!! Simple yet SO addictive!
Thanks for the sub! 😀 More vids are on the way!😀
T2K rocks today!
It was freakin hard to play and a horror when you play it at night with headphones. My Uncle still remember the Nightmares he had after playing it. The Game was a Survival game in a Location where you was completely alone from the beginning to the End. There was nothing like that at this time with this deepness.
Totally agree, it was a game that was trending new ground and doing things differently compared to DOOM and Duke Nukem etc
This game seems quaint now but in 1994 (barely 8 years after Aliens) this game was something else.
Definitely agree with you on that, at the time it was almost like playing the film and graphically was a standout.
I had an identical experience regarding seeing this game in magazines but never playing it.
I had someone break into my home when I was a young teenager and took a bunch of my things. I remember the worst part of it was stealing my Atari Jaguar with Alien vs. Predator. I'll never forget how damn great it was. Definitely underrated and ahead of it's time. Wish I could play it again.
Aww man that sucks! ☹️
Hope you get to play it again one day 🤞
I just loaded this up in BigPEmu, and I'm really surprised that overclocking had little effect. It makes the framerate stable, but it doesn't really make it any better, still maxes at about 15 fps. This would be so much more fun if it ran a little faster and a lot smoother.
IMO it would break its gameplay.
The BigPEmu dev actually made a framerate uncapper for this game as a demo for an upcoming script-based modding feature, though game speed is tied to framerate so trying to run it at even just 30 FPS will make it about twice the speed it should be.
Hopefully, the script will make it into the update and someone will be willing to put in the effort to decouple game logic from the framerate.
I also always wanted this game! I actually got it running on an emulator a couple months back so I could play with mouse and keyboard, and I felt the same way about it as you. The game has a really amazing atmosphere, especially for its time, but I think that the limitations it had to work with on the Jaguar and the clunkiness of the combat really age it, and not in a good way. I was also unaware of the fan remaster-- definitely will have to check that out when it's finished so I can get an experience a little closer to the way I imagined it in my head before I could play it. Great video and excellent editing! You deserve a lot more recognition for the amount of effort you put in and the quality of the videos!
Its limitations are very apparent, but I think what Rebellion were able to achieve with the limitations was very impressive, especially for the time. I liked how they then built on it with the PC version, as they then had better hardware/ resources to give us a true AvP game.
I'm keeping an eye on the remaster too and looking forward to it.
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the video, I really enjoy doing them and find them a lot of fun. There are more videos in the pipeline :)
new to the channel but I appreciate your personal views and how you wanted this game more than most
Thanks man 😃
It's nice to have the perspective of the Jaguar from here in blighty, great video. Mental that I managed to get a copy of AvP for £25 ten years ago, prices have gone mad
I bought the Jaguar with AvP on the Atari Fair and I own it today. The game was great back then especially the sound design. I remember drawing the hole maps on a millimeter paper 😊
You would have definitely needed a map to navigate lol. It is of its time but its still effective today. a great game.
You earned a sub. Great review, and great to see some much deserved love for Alien³ and Predators.
Awesome, thanks dude. I’m glad you enjoyed it, Iv got my latest video currently in the works as we speak, should hopefully have it uploaded within the next week. Alien 3 certainly doesn’t get the love it deserves and Predators is an underrated entry in the franchise. I’m looking forward to the next Alien film.
Great hearing your story with this game, and you finally being able to play it and giving it a review - well done! 👌
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was a long journey but I got there in the end lol 😀
Now you can play Jaguar AvP on PC using the emulator BigPEmu, running at a higher frame rate, with WASD/movement-strafing and mouse look turning controls. Multiplayer is also possible.
I asked for an ATARI 64 specifically to play THIS game. What I didn't know was that the ATARI 64 was going to go out of business one year later. Totally worth it. Got a PSX the following Christmas.
You are right, unfortunately there is no selectable controls on Alien versus Predator which are should have been from the beginning. And therefore the strafing controls are not mapped to the pro controller shoulder buttons. However the keys 7 + 9 mapped to the z and x buttons. So it is possible to strafe and do a turn strafe and fire at the same time if you can learn to slide your thumb over top of a couple of buttons at once on the 6 face buttons of CBA and ZYX. Obviously this situation works much better than reaching down to the keypads 7 and 9 buttons.
Doom also works this way, it's strafing buttons were also map to seven and nine, so they are also mapped to the z and x buttons on the pro controller. This allows you to do circle strafing in Jaguar Doom too. As you can still turn while pushing the z or x buttons.
A later FPS/RPG game for the Jaguar, callee Towers II actually made to use of the pro controller and the left and right trigger buttons allow strafing in that game.
Genius Review. Needs more views. Love it. Thank you for that!
Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it. There’s more vids on the way! 🙂
Great video, I'm also a recent Jaguar owner. The wife bought me one for my birthday last year, after my having wanted one for years but just never got around to getting one.
I wanted to let you know that there are different revisions of the standard controller, and they have different d-pads. The standard controller has grey keypad buttons, and that has the mushier d-pad. While I like the standard controller's d-pad, for fighting games like Ultra Vortek, I prefer the controller with the black keypad buttons, as its d-pad has a different feel and is more precise. Based on your comments in the video, I think you may prefer that one.
Fun fact, I phoned around the shops for a Jaguar on release day. They had all sold out and heard 10-30 units was all some shops got. A tip off then came in of a shop which wasn't well known for selling consoles had 25 of em. Went to the shop and yes, bought one 💪
In general most of the games for the 64bit Jag left a bad taste in your mouth 😂
I got the Jaguar and AVP back in the day after begging my mother. My Jaguar died years ago but still have the game. Couldn't stop playing it so good for the time.
"anytime.." is sick audio que to leave on :P
AVP 2010 scratches the itch for me i play every few years and i have my own war story of playing on xbox 360 multiplayer back in 2010 and everyone left a game one time except one human and myself as a predator and it felt like the movie where hte human didnt wanna give up and made me work for it and i didnt spam the easy weapons and gave him a fair shot even tho the predator was OP he toughed it out leading me into water and caves to limit the predators advantages it was my most memorable experience for AVP that felt close to the films
Dunno, I played this on my buddy's Jaguar when I was a teenager, and I always thought the one that came out on PC around 2000 was waaaaay better. Probably the best AVP game ever made, and remains that way to this day.
I definitely agree with you on that, AvP that came out on the PC in 1999 is still one of the best AvP games to this day, it's also still one of the scariest and atmospheric games I've ever played. Especially when you get facehugger'd, I lost count of the amount of time I nearly fell out of my chair as I jumped back when a face hugger left up at my screen out of newer lol. It was also one of the first games I played online back in the day which was also a great experience.
Great video and great review. I completely empathise. As a child, I was awestruck with this game, but never even got to see it in action. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it. I was the same as a kid. I’d always look at the screenshots on the back of the box in amazement how realistic it looked (at the time lol).
The gameplay is actually quite similar to Metroid Prime - an ego-Metroidvania" befor Metroidvania. Very unusual and overlooked for 1994.
I had this when it originally came out. It was utterly superb- so atmospheric. I’m getting a GD this week so am going to play through it again. However this wasn’t’T THE BEST REASON TO BUY A jag back then as many may say. That was Tempest 2000- which is probably the greatest video game ever made.
The game still holds up to this day. Not sure what that says about the state of modern programming.
I was actually able to get a beta cartridge of Alien vs Predator for the Atari Lynx.
NIB of course.
When I got the game back in 95 it was an absolute dream and we didn't care about FPS or anything like that . Also you got to remember this is running on a cartridge which in itself very impressive. Sad that you never played this when it came out , because it was a fun time and eventually for me that turned into getting other great games for the system, like Power Drive Rally , Tempest 2000 , Rayman , Iron Soldier , Flashback, Dino Dudes, Cannon Fodder, Doom, Space Ace , Defender 2000 ,Super Burnout , NBA Jam TE and more , but one game that should be in every Jaguar owners library is
Zero 5 , like holy cow this game blew me away back in the day(just crazy hard) and it shows what's possible with great programmer's. If only they would have made the system CD based from the beginning, because it would of been a different outcome, like did you know that Crash Bandicoot almost came out for the Jaguar , but they needed a CD's storage capacity so they opted for the PlayStation. Oh also do you know you can get cheat codes for Aliens versus Predator.
Thats the thing with the Jaguar, it did have some good games on it apart from Doom and AvP. Do you still have your Jaguar?
I knew that Naughty Dog developed Way of the Warrior on the Jaguar but didn't know that Crash was intended for it. I agree with you, if they'd have gone with CD-based from the get go then things may have turned out differently and they wouldn't have been restricted the storage of carts compared to CDs, the likes of AvP could have turned out a lot differently.
A very legendary game ,i played in the 1994🇮🇹🙋🏻♂️
This is a great video! I too have wanted to play AVP for the Jaguar, but having already played Rebellion's (amazing) AVP FPS from the turn of the century, I suspect that this game will probably pale in comparison.
It was nice of you to inform viewers about the Unreal Engine 4 fan remake of the game, and to show footage of it.
I hope to see more videos like this one. You have a new subscriber. (Just hope that TH-cam doesn't shadowban your channel.)
If you’ve played the PC or Xbox 360/ PS3 versions then Jag AvP will definitely look, feel and play very dated. It’s very much a 90s game in every way.
The Unreal 4 version looks very promising and can hopefully show people more of what the Jag developers wanted achieve but couldn’t.
Thanks for subscribing, I really appreciate it. Iv got my next video in the works as we speak and it should be out soon 😃
Thank you for this video. I bought a Jaguar just for this game too. Seemed crazy at the time but it was worth every penny.
You're welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed it. It does seem to be the main reason a lot of people boughts Jaguars but it's worth it.
Great looking game with so much promise. I hope it gets a re-release on modern platforms one day.
The box and Art
Are still very dear to my heart
Its a thing of buety!
Games like this are greatly improved via emulation. You can increase the frame rate and remap buttons to any controller, and this vastly improves the gameplay experience.
There are games I would play today, that I wanted to bad as a kid. Most of them I've seen others play on TH-cam. So I feel you on that one. And even if a game sucks, it will still be a fullfilling quest to actually play, or perhaps even beat, the games you always wanted to play.
Absolutely, I feel if I'd have played it back in the day it would have been more enjoyable due to how good it looked back then and I may have been reviewing it today with the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia on. But I'm glad I finally played it finally, got to review it and could cross it off my list 😃👍
326 subs? Whaaaat? That's crazy, I'm sure your channel will get found at least it needs to because this is good stuff man. Well done. I subbed
Thank you, thats very kind. I'm glad you enjoyed the vid, I've got plenty more planned and in the pipeline. Thanks for the sub 😃👍
This was awesome, loved the backstory of how you eventually got your hands on a copy
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was a long journey to get it but I got there in the end lol.
@@fistfulofgamepad just watched your Resident Evil 1.5 video, It was so good to see what other Resident Evil 2 we could of got, I Remember being so blown away and exited when i found out about the Second scenario in RE2, I’ve been hooked on Survival Horror ever since that dog jumped through the window in RE1, I’m guessing you and I are roughly the same age, keep up the good work, looking forward to seeing more of your content
I was just playing AvP 2010 to figure out using a capture card this week. I kept thinking how bad I wanted this as a kid. Back when displays were everywhere in Walmart and Toys R Us stores that I could get a few minutes in, but we didn't have the money. Now I look at them and still can't afford the $600+ to get a jag and AvP. This was definitely the holy grail for me as a kid.
I enjoyed AvP 2010, was a good game just lacking in the atmosphere and scares of the PC original. It is crazy how it's still an expensive game to play, in having to get a Jaguar and then the game. Hopefully one day you'll be able to pick it up :)
You where a really smart kid. Actually looking at the entire library before you made a system purchase. My friends stuck with brand loyalty and got an N64, cause we all enjoyed the SNES. I however went with the PS1 just from looking at the following 2 years launch plans. When FF7 came out, the smug look I got to wear everyday was glorious.
haha, I bet you were very much smiling when FF7 released. Every N64 owner who had played Final Fantasy games on the SNES must have been green with envy lol. But it shows that Nintendo should have gone with CD rather than cartridges for the N64. But I guess both CDs and carts have their pros and cons.
I have a copy right here on my shelf. I just played it recently. It's still pretty awesome.
Great review , I was in the same boat buying any magazine that had an update on the game , the game much better in the mags as in your video , shame no one's done an update for this game with updated graphics and even vr!
Thanks mate! 😃
Hopefully we’ll get some kind of remaster one day 🤞
Man I feel this. I share your story. I wanted a Jaguar as a kid just for this game. Never got one though. The price of a Jag back then was astronomical
They were silly expensive back in the day, got silly cheap when it failed and they were selling off their inventory, and now things have come full circle and they're back to being silly expansive again?!?! 😆
Loved this game, completed the alien and predator, still have the console in storage and it will surface and (hopefully) still work to complete the marine game one day
30 years later I never knew you could get face huggers off 😂 thought it was an automatic death
Great vid, was interesting in this game after the AVGN. You did a nice job covering and giving us a little look into the nostalgia 👍
Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it, I really enjoyed making it. My next video should be up within the next few days 👍
You have a very soothing vibe, reminds me a lot of RMC. I liked how you added your personal memories of the game. Glad you finally got to live the dream after all this time, even if it could never live up to expectations.
Thanks dude 😃
I’m glad you enjoyed the video.
I bought the jag and AVP and loved it the tension as the marine is great, i only play as the marine i still play it today, for best results play the aliens soundtrack on random really elevates the game, its not perfect but i love it ❤
Oh...the "snes"...was a scratching my head thinking you were saying the "snares". Also, I haven't really played console video games since the Genesis/Megadrive and computer games since the Doom/LucasArts era. Yet I still find videos like this fascinating
Thanks man, glad you enjoyed the vid 😃👍
Anytime I had to save, I would go back to the brig. Then you are in a safe zone. There were other times when I would simply pause the game and turn the tele off, come back and resume where you were.
In the early 90s I had Terminator, Aliens and RoboCop toys. All of the films (excluding RoboCop 3) are hard R rated violent films. Lol things were different back then.
@@BubblegumCrash332 they were. All the big summer blockbusters in the 80s and early 90s were R or 18, and were usually accompanied with a toy line or Saturday morning cartoon lol.
I got a used AJ, I got Wolfenstein, Doom and AVP....
This was the definitive AVP game....this is the one that needs to be remastered for current systems
Won't happen unless Disney let someone use the licence.
Maybe with the popularity of Predator and Alien on the up with the two latest films, we may get a something. I’d like to see Nightdive Studios remaster it.
Hi guys. I played this game on that time. Now I'm a game producer, would love to show my work for you and maybe do an Alien tribute game for all the fans in the future. Wish you the best and nice video man👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Have you played the aliens arcade game?? It’s fun, not amazing but def worth a try! Great video, cheers!!
Yeah, the arcade game is awesome, lots of fun! Cool, I’m glad you enjoyed it 😃👍
I got the game when it first came out and loved it. Considering my first taste of an FPS was Zero Tolerance on the Sega Genesis this game seemed smooth. What I didn't like was the brutal difficulty and the map layout. The air ducts were hard to navigate. I liked the Atari Jaguar and eventually had 56 boxed games with the CD add-on. I should have never sold it since all that stuff is worth a lot now.
Aww man, 56 boxed games and a Jag CD would be worth a mint now, but I guess at the time you did what you had to. I've done the same, sold games/ consoles and then a few years later wish I hadn't.
Zero Tolerance was a head of its time with its 2 console link-up, but I was never able to do it as none of my other friends had it. ZT was as Doom-like as we Megadrive/ Genesis owners were going to get back in the day, at least until Doom on the 32X came out, and even then we still didn't get a decent version of Doom lol.
@@fistfulofgamepad Doom on the Jaguar was the best console port until the PSone version came out/
This was a flagship title on the Jaguar, together with Tempest 2000.
I still enjoy this game from time to time. Predator is my go-to to play as, then the Marine. I always thought of aliens being hard mode, and predator is easy.. Great video!..
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.
You do feel like a bad-ass when playing as Predator, just a shame about his loofer-plasma cannon lol. That won't put Jesse Ventura down! lol :).
@@fistfulofgamepad no sexy tyrannosaurus around these parts! 🤣
helped me discovere a really cool channel 10/10
Thanks 😃, I’m glad you enjoyed it. There’s another video in production as we speak 😁
Amazing review - more than this game really deserves to be fair.
Lol 😂
Thanks dude, I’m glad you enjoyed it. It’s a game that possibly get more love than it deserves, but I can’t not love it! 😃
One of the most excellent first person shooters. Graphics aside, the game play would hold up today.
I agree, its definitely got the atmosphere and tension to rival modern day games. I'm surprised theres not been another AvP game out thats an FPS since the 360/ PS3 versions.
To this day... i regret selling my collection that consisted of every sega console, a jag with doom n cybermorph. Atari vcs (sound don't work on that)
All for 350quid in 2013.
Bear in mind boxes and Cd consoles were seriously temperamental. These were well worn and well loved machines played 7 days a week hour after hour since there purchase in the 80s and 90s - with the price and value.
I am very greatlful for emulation though so I still get to play them all plus many more.
As for AvP. The guy I bought the jag off he had this and we played it together a lot, but i was sad it didn't come in the sale. He liked weird consoles such as jaguar and had a philips cdi in the day...
Emulation does come in handy, especially as some retro games now are SO expensive you can't justify the cost of them (Deep Fear (PAL) on the Saturn - £500+).
Aww man, I've never played on a CDi, I've heard they are bad, like really bad, especially the famously bad Mario and Zelda games.
@@fistfulofgamepad they are indeed very bad. Mateys cdi was Mainly used for video cd films (precursor to dvd where you had 60mins each cd)
He had burn cycle, which was the star cdi game and the zelda and Mario games.
He was so starved of games software he ended up buying lots of shovel ware "edutainment" type stuff.
He had micro machines too - that was when i realised how underpowered or at least not made for games it was... as the cdi version is jerky and jittery compared to the megadrive version i had.
My collection had games like keio flying squadron on mega cd, and the demo of it too (worth lots as it had the full game but end of level1 splash screen sends you back. But if you do level select, start level2 you had full game lol. Sega never made that mistake again) these are worth silly money. So it does make me whince when i come across a review of a game i had in that collection - that is worth savage money...sigh...
First 3d Metroidvania - one of the best game.
Great story. I always wanted a Jaguar too.
i remember seeing ads in magazines for this back in the day and thinking it looked awesome. but by the time i was playing the AvP games on pc years later i was starting to get the feeling that it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
funny side note. since the time of the first 2 AvP games on pc i has always wanted to have npc squadmates helping me mow down aliens in the game with me. now those games were very good, but that's not an experience that they provided. i did find out years later that the expansion to AvP 2 did have a short section where 2 marines shoot xenos alongside of you in some tunnels, but based on the videos i've seen here on youtube it seems pretty lackluster. also 2010's AvP had a few moments where as the marine you had some ai squadmates, but they felt pretty unresponsive.
then years later colonial marines came out i finally, FINALLY got to have that experience. for all of it's flaws i will always have a special place in my hear for colonial marines for that one reason. they finally gave me the npc squad vs xenomorph firefight i had been dreaming off for almost 15 years. sometimes games are magical like that.
great video and thanks for sharing your experience!
Thanks dude. I’m glad you enjoyed the vid. Have you played Aliens Fireteam Elite? The npcs in that are really good, the game itself is HUGELY underrated. Play it with a few mates online is lots of fun! 😃
@@fistfulofgamepad oh hell yes! that game is leaps and bounds better than colonial marines lol. and i do really enjoy it.
The question is whether it's highly regarded because of the AvP properties, because it's the best game on the Jag, or because it's actually a good game. I believe it's more the first two. To me it always felt kinda one dimensional, sparce, and unfinished. It really lacked in variety and detail, and a lot of the bells and whistles found in most games just weren't there. Even Wolfenstein and Doom had way more depth and variety. In spite of the atmosphere and suspense you really find yourself wishing for a change in scenery, some different sounds or enemies, a boss fight, secret rooms... anything.
Agreed, maybe Atari wanted it out the door and on shelves asap to try and boost sales?
I agree about the cut/ paste environments, they get bland very quickly.
It would have been interesting to see what would have become if they had released a sequel on the Jaguar CD.
I went to go see the AVP movie opening night when it came out. A group of friends and I went. Everyone was hyped, sold out and a huge line of fans waiting to get in and finally see Aliens square off verse Predators....as soon as the movie started the entire theatre realized what the movie was. Instead of being letdown people started riffing on it and the place was full of laughter. Honestly turned out to be one my favorite movie going experiences because of how awful the movie ended up being.
lol😂
I went to see it opening night too with my brother, and while we were excited we were hesitant as it was rated a 12A here in the UK. So we knew it wasn't going to have the violence, gore and scares of the previous films. When the film started all our fears were confirmed lol, and you could hear people openly laughing in the audience lo. Its a film watched more for comedic value now 😃. Which is a shame as Paul WS Anderson CAN do decent scares and horror, Event Horizon being a great example.
Jaguar is worth it just for this game and Cannon Fodder...plus i liked Crazy Ivan.
Literally THE game that sold the Jaguar to me on day 1.
I saw the preview on GamesMaster TV and knew I had to have it.
Sadly, Jane Whittaker's Spaghetti code, running the A. I routines on the 68000,killed the frame rate, but it was still an amazing experience.
Far better than Alien Trilogy on the PlayStation.
If only they had the acid puddles eat through the floor and dissappear, like in the movies.
Yeah, GamesMaster were not as keen on it and seemed to really focus on the flaws of the game and not look at the positives.
Having the acid puddles eat through the floor and not linger would have been helpful.
Alien Trilogy looked good on realised but hasn't aged well but is still fun.
@@fistfulofgamepadApparently Rebellion claimed Gamesmaster TV show reviewed a Beta copy of AVP, some 3 months before the retail version and they were not at all happy:
Statement from Rebellion at the time:
‘ Gamesmaster [the television program] is produced about three months
ahead of time - so the version they were reviewing then was three
months old. What they had at that time was a pre-alpha version of
the game. We told them what else was going to be put into the game,
but the reviewers were, for some reason, not given this information
by the people who run Gamesmaster.
In fact, large areas of the map were not populated at that time;
the game was only two meg rather than four, so the majority of the
samples were absent.’
When i finally got the game some years ago I spent 50 dollars for this game (expensive at the time and young broke) and was so disappointed I traded the Jaguar for a Sega CD. Maybe emotions got the best of me because I probably should have kept it.
A truly cinematic game.
Like everyone else, I too wanted a jaguar just to play this game, never did get one but have briefly played it on emulator only as the marine, I was disappointed to find it wasn't a doom kinda game
I know what you mean, when I first played it I went in all guns blazing Doom-style and quickly learnt that Doom-style is not the way approach AvP, you have to approach it OG Resident Evil style in that you have to conserve your ammo and pick your fights.
I'm not sure how i found this review, but i'm glad i did. you're great to listen to, i never knew this game or console existed, this was really interesting, thanks!
Thanks man, I’m glad you enjoyed it 😃, I’m currently working on my next vid which should be up soon. AvP is certainly a game of it’s time. The Jaguar is a very unique console but it’s silly expensive to collect for.
@@fistfulofgamepad can't wait!
Had to physically map this out on graph paper to find the way into the medbay thru the ventilation
Aliens vs Predator vs the Holy Grail
As a kid this game gave me nightmares, but I'd keep playing for some reason.
Also, THERE WAS A WAY TO GET RID OF THE FACE HUGGERS!? I didn't have a manual.
lol, I must admit I was surprised to find this out too as usually getting facehugger'ed is an automatic game over.
Gotta be honest, I preferred the AVP beat 'em up. Lot of these were lost on me when they were new, the first Wolfenstein or Doom port soiled my view of first person shooter (or adjacent) games on consoles. Outside of some libation fueled N64 GoldenEye sessions, I don't think I gave them a fair try again until Halo.
That's not to say I wasn't still a console gamer, too, I was just a little compartmentalized
The AvP beat-em-up is fantastic!! An absolute coin-muncher of a game, thats a licensed game definitely done right!
Many a Goldeneye sessions were had back in the day!
Halo was a game-changer when it game out, an absolute classic. I enjoyed Halo Infinite too which some people really aren't keen on, but each to their own.
Working at Toy R Us in high school, I was able to (and still) own this factory sealed. Played it on BigPEmu emulator to see what the fuss is about and I agree it really matches the tension and atmosphere. Would more games of this caliber have saved the Jaguar? My opinion is unfortunately no.
I’d have to agree with you, I think the Jag was beyond saving even before AvP was released, it was very much a case of too little too late. Wow, a sealed copy, that’s something very special! I bet it’s worth a fortune! 😃💰💰💰
I have always been curious about this game. Never owned a Jaguar. I had a Sega Saturn with Alien Trilogy which I still love but I always wanted to play as the alien. Finally got to on the PC later but this game was always the starting point fore dreams of this franchise crossover. Also the SNES beat’em up game was kind of a let down
Alien Trilogy is a classic but AvP on the PC definitely has the atmosphere and the scares, I lost count of the number times i was thrown backward in my chair after getting facehuggered lol. Absolutely agree with you about AvP on the SNES, such a let down.
I loved this review I'm still yet to finish avp
Thanks man, I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's definitely a tough game and very unforgiving.
Really enjoyed The time you put in to Telling the story of how you really wanted Is this package A-day And how you finally got your hands on an Atari Jaguar , The game definitely had potential, It's a shame about the difficulty and that you can't play multiplayer And definitely didn't help it been on the jaguar, Great video mate I can tell you put a lot of hard work and research into it
Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed it.
Having multiplayer would have definitely worked in the games favour. It is a shame as Doom showed that the Jag could do FPS multiplayer.
AVP definitely sold more magazines than games. it was so cool, a hint of the wasted potential of the Jaguar.
the system really is such a shame. sure, it has a library, but it seemed like developers never got to make the most of the awkward and imperfect hardware. if Atari had people like Psygnosis and Polyphony dedicating their efforts to the system, they might have given Sony more of a fight.
@@TheJacklikesvideos definitely. Games like Doom and AvP showed what the console could do in the right hands.
@@TheJacklikesvideos Jag is nowhere close to PS1 hardware. But yes, great games is all that matter. Better graphics on its own do not make a game better.
I still have this game. Its almost CIB except i cant find the predator controller overlay. Also the manual cover ripped off but i have the manual and cover still. I tried to play it recently on my Jaguar and it definitely aged like shit lol. But The memories are priceless
lol. I definitely agree about memories and nostalgia being priceless. Id have loved to have played this on release back in the day.
I got a jaguar in 94 when they were pretty new. Always wanted avp ...never got it. Was stuck with cyber morph.
I'd have been insanely jealous of your having a Jaguar back in the day, I always wanted one 😃. Did you buy it from a store or from the infomercials which had the angry guy shouting at Bob to buy a Jaguar? Cybermorph is a very 'unique' game, I think is the polite way of putting it lol.
@@fistfulofgamepad I think my mom bought it through the freeman's catalogue.. I got it for Christmas.. wish I kept it. I think I sold it for buttons a few years later.
I loved this game!