Science-fiction movie heroes take gamers on a retro-adventure in the hilarious twin-stick shooter The Deadly Tower of Monsters (Atlus, reviewed with PlayStation 4, rated Teen, $14.99).
Imagine legendary B-movie schlockmeister Dan Smith, fueled by the genius of an Ed Wood, directing and producing a 1950s cult classic while plucking elements of “Flash Gordon” and “Plan 9 from Outer Space” into the story.
Specifically, the tale finds renowned space explorer Dick Starspeed crash landing on the exotic planet of Gravoria.
Dick (played with Tyrone Power gusto by Jonathan Digby) tries to climb a very tall tower to stop the nefarious plans of an evil Ming-the-Merciless-type emperor.
He gets assistance from the bad guy’s daughter Scarlet Nova as well as Dick’s trusty mechanical sidekick, aptly named the Robot.
A player controls one hero on screen at a time, swapping for them at orb-shaped stations around the exotic locations, as he smacks and blasts an impressive collection of monster rejects not limited to man-eating plants, floating squids, fireball-spitting pterodactyls and large crabs.
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Each character wields an ever-growing arsenal of upgradable long-range and melee weapons. Although I had a fondness for Sparky (an electric-shaver-shaped ray gun), players will appreciate enticing gear such as a laser whip, a Tesla gun, crystal dagger, tuning fork and the always helpful flamethrower.
While maneuvering up and down the multistory structures, the heroes have even more tricks up their sleeves. Each can lean over tower precipices and shoot down at attacking enemies or, whenever in the mood, dive over the side. The hero can keep shooting while free falling and has an ability to magically teleport back to the spot where he jumped.
Additionally, they have special powers such as Dick’s use of landmines, the Robot’s ability to slow down time and Scarlet’s unleashing a temporary force field.
So, enough about the shoot-and-slash game mechanics. Three areas of the production really stood out for this lover of “Mystery Science Theater 3000” shenanigans.
First, the homage to cheesy film production never stops astounding through the game’s use of budget-cutting special effects.
Scratchy film footage, the action suddenly turning black and white, the film breaking mid-scene and the ability to fast-forward through cut scenes just like a DVD will delight the bad film connoisseur.
Next, since this is supposed to be comparable to watching a special DVD rerelease of a movie, viewers can appreciate extras such as a blathering commentary track from Mr. Smith.
The director, who sounds a little like Adam West, provides a tongue-in-cheek overview of the proceedings and will be a constant source of amusement for the player as he fondly remembers the movie-making process and love of Chinese food.
Mr. Smith is never at a loss. For example, if a player stops the character for a bit to survey an environmental obstacle course of dangers, he’ll hear from Mr. Smith: “I was trying to push a new style of filmmaking, have the hero do absolutely nothing.”
Or, spin the character around using the controller, like a gamer might do to get a chuckle, and the director notices and might say that’s “Olympic-caliber spinning” or pine about how Dick’s spinning was always the best.
Finally, and best of all, the game’s loving nod to classic sci-fi enemies seemed endless and included:
• Stop-motion dinosaurs that one might find in any of the Ray Harryhausen, effects-orchestrated movies such as “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.”
• Bulbous-headed, brain-exposed aliens in single-seater UFOs looking plucked from a “Mars Attacks” trading card.
• Bunches of radioactive giant ants that surely starred in the forgettable “Them!”
• A multistory gorilla and mechanical chameleon that will make Godzilla fans smile.
• A non-stop supply of monkey men looking like extras from the 1970s “Planet of the Apes” movies.
• Plenty of lizard humanoids wearing Sleestak-style costumes very close to the legendary Saturday morning show “Land of the Lost.”
• Aggressive scientists in lab coats sporting large fly heads that certainly originated from the black-and-white, sci-fi horror film “The Fly.”
• Giant floating eyeballs with tendrils fondly remembered in the 1958 film “The Crawling Eye.”
• And, besides the helpful Robot, plenty of other evil mechanical men challenge our heroes with inspiration culled from such 1950s films as “The Phantom Creeps,” “Tobor the Great” and “Forbidden Planet.”
Overall, a player can gleefully expect roughly five hours of action from “The Deadly Tower of Monsters” (especially as he admires the characters and locations) and more if he is willing to go back and find all of the goodies to upgrade and power-up Dick, Scarlet and the Robot.
I’m very much looking forward to a lost sequel, Mr. Smith.
• Joseph Szadkowski can be reached at jszadkowski@washingtontimes.com.
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