So, grab your Doritos and Sunkist and get ready to be taken down memory lane, when we take a look at Star Wars: The Raptor Squad Video Game Series.
The long journey for the Raptor Squad video game began with the popularity of the Star Wars phenomenon that began in the late 70's. The next thing you knew, Star Wars was everywhere! Mugs! T shirts! Beer Coasters! Everything was Star Wars.
It was around this time that Atari entered into an agreement with Sears and Roebuck to market a VCS system, the precursor to the Atari 2600. The initial interest in the system was mediocre, until a little game called "Space Invaders" hit the scene. Things blew up from there, with companies springing up almost overnight solely to develop games for the Atari 2600 system. One of the most popular games during this period was "The Empire Strikes Back", which challenged players to destroy Imperial walkers using a snowspeeder and "The Force".
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back saw much popularity, and it wasn't long before other companies were scrambling to get on the Star Wars bandwagon. In 1983 Actionvision, a splinter company headed by former Atari programmer Sam Edrington, won the license to release "Star Wars: Raptor Squad Droid Adventures" for the 2600.
This was a huge boon to the company, who was struggling from a dissapointing debut of a fishing cart called "Fat Bass". The acquisition of the Raptor Squad game breathed new life into the company who scrambled to produce the cart on time.
The initial release was favorable, with most stores selling out of the cart in a matter of days. This changed however once the consumers actually sat down to play the game. While the cart did in fact showcase the droids,Ten Spot and Two-E, the graphics were nothing new and the gameplay was sluggish at best. It was often joked that the game was responsible for at least one broken controller in every 2600 household.
 Click here for a Raptor Squad Droid Adventures Game Review |
It would be over a decade before a software company was bold enough to take up the Raptor Squad mantle again, but by this time Raptor Squad had grown in popularity, and the adventures of the Spec-Ops team had spawned many spin-off products including several Saturday morning cartoons and a comic book series. Add to that the release of game systems such as the N64,Sony Playstation and Sega Dreamcast and you have a climate that was ripe for the return of Raptor Squad.
In the fall of 97' a little known software company named Shardware hit the scene with a game called "OmegaCarp". The premise of the game was simple: You were a cybernetically enhanced Carp that was the last of your species. the world was in ruin and overrun by insane zombie fishermen. You needed to survive using only your wits and a chaingun grafted to your fin.
With a brilliant game design team able to come up with such gripping storylines, it was no wonder that the Star Wars:Rpator Squad license was offered to ShardWare in early 98'. It was a move that would prove to be beneficial for all parties involved.
The following is from a interview with lead designer John Garrett that appeared in the March 98' issue of GamingSpaz magazine : "We were totally psyched, I mean, this was a chance to work with freaking ICONS...I mean, say what you want about Han, Luke and Leia...this was freaking Raptor Squad man. I'll tell ya, the chance to work with characters like Ket and Vic and Klux, man, it's what this job is all about. In fact, I would have worked on this title for free."
 Click here for a Khara Doone Concept Sketch |
 Click here for a Raptor Squad Game Review |
Finally, players were able to take up the persona of their favorite Raptor Squad member. Levels featured longtime favorites like Khara Doone, Koort Ter'chon and Xander Paddox, who, up until this point had been considered second tier characters. The designers were obviously fans of the franchise, and it was no more apparent than in the "extras" added to the game. Some of the favorites included:
 Click here for a Raptor Squad Magazine Advertisement |
It was little additions like these that made the game a smash success. Suddenly, Raptor Squad products were revitalized, with a new anime series and potential movie project immediately put in the works.
The momentum eventually slacked off, but not before solidifying Shardware's spot in the marketplace. At the turn of the century rumors began to abound that new gaming systems were on the way. Microsoft, Nintendo and Playstation were all generating a buzz that the next generation console would put all others to shame, and that games developed for these systems would be unlike anything ever seen.
It sounded almost too good to be true. And as it turns out...it was.
In January of 2001 the happy relationship between Shardware and Sony Playstation came to an end. Citing legal problems and difference of direction, the software company pulled away from Sony and entered into an agreement with Microsoft to develop a Raptor Squad game for it's new XBox.
It was about this time that Shardware's head Designer, John Garrett, left to start his own company, FlippyPants, Inc. This left Shardware with a relatively young design team headed up by Bob Hart, assistant designer on such titles as "Forehead McIves" and "Thunderpants". Much like a Raptor Squad mission, Hart scrambled to assemble his team and recoup from the loss of Garrett. The team was faced with a late July launch and had had only scant months to get the game out.
Sensing trouble and realizing that the roll out was going to be close, Shardware began an elaborate "secretive" campaign for Raptor Squad:Black. One of the most questionable moves was the almost "dismissal" of the Star Wars logo. In many ads it didn't even appear, giving the impression that Shardware was relying more on the Raptor Squad brand to sell the game than it's roots as a Star Wars entity.
 Click here for a Raptor Squad Black Promotional Shirt |
 Click here for Vicro Magazine Cover |
 Click here for a Raptor Squad :Black Game Review |
To say the game bombed would be an understatement. The game did so poorly that many retailers wound up giving the title away as a promotional tool for other Shardware games. Hart was fired only weeks later and the design team was put on hiatus.
To find out what went wrong, one only need pop the cd into the XBox and wait. It was a train wreck from the very beginning.
One of the major selling points behind the previous Raptor Squad title that made it so playable was the character interaction. Whether you were conversing with fellow team members or your rebel control, Jax, you were always dealing with someone. This wasn't the case in Raptor Squad:Black, where you were tossed onto a derelict Star Destroyer by yourself for nearly the entire game.Add to that the decision to make the main character Jonus Kable, a second string Raptor at best, and you had the ingredients for disaster.
Another major argument was the lack of viable enemies. For some unknown reason, the major foes in this game were mynoks and exterminator droids. Many didn't know how to handle this blatant shift in gameplay and it turned off many gamers.
And finally, the game was simply criticized as not being "Star Wars-y" enough. The game played more like a "Resident Evil" rip-off than anything else. The lack of a space opera feel killed this game and put it to rest in it's grave just hours after it's release.
Critics who had long supported Shardware were now turning against them. Worse than producing a bad game, they had ruined a franchise, one that gamers held very close to their hearts. To many in the XBox community, this was inexcusable. All plans for a follow up Raptor Squad game were shelved and not another word was mentioned about a renewal of the Shardware-Star Wars contract.
Rumors began circulating that Lucasarts would re-assign the Raptor Squad license to another game company in the hopes of revitalizing the product, but those rumors were unfounded. Raptor Squad:Black had done it's damage,and the game became nothing more than a $50 beer coaster.
For many gamers, the series of Raptor Squad video games holds a special place in their hearts. It began as a humble little cart for the Atari and grew into a media darling, finding a home in houses all across the world, and then, almost as quickly, dropped back into obscurity and was forgotten.
Some day, gaming historians may look back at Raptor Squad:Black and applaud it for breaking with tradition and striking out into a different direction. Or it may remain an embarrassing mark on an otherwise colorful series. Either way, it was almost ironic that the most dark and disturbing of the Raptor Squad games be the one that finally put the series to rest.
Regardless, gaming fans still have their memories, and just as it is easy to dwell on the bad, it is easier to revel in the great. So, whenever the mood strikes you to spend time with some old friends, simply pop open your Playstation and drop in Raptor Squad and prepare to save the galaxy...again.
|
|
