Playing Hostages (The Rescue Mission)

[+wongojack]

A game with MANY titles . . .

 

I decided to finally play this game.  I tried it on multiple platforms, and I want to say that I like the Amiga the best BUT there is a problem that I can't get past.  When you are inside the embassy saving hostages and shooting terrorists, the left/right controls get reversed.  It is weird as it only happens if you are in one of the small rooms.  For example, if you enter a room and there is a window on your left and a door on your right, you MUST push left to reveal the door!  I considered swapping left and right in the emulator keys, but this same behavior does not happen if you are in one of the long hallways.

 

I tried multiple .adf files to see if there was some weird bug that had gotten fixed over the years, but I can't seem to find a version of the game where this problem is not present.  This does not happen on the NES version.  I should try the ST . . .

[roots.genoa]

I played it on the ST and I think it's the same as on the Amiga because what you described (pushing left to reveal the door) makes sense to me. When you understand how you move in the game, it's actually quite logical that way.

 

The problem is that you seem to picture things as if you were at the center of the room, so you want to press right to face the wall on the right. But if you look at the map, you'll see you're not at the center of the room but always against one of the four walls. So if you stand against the south wall for instance, it makes sense to press left to stand against the west wall (since it's on your left) in order to face the east wall (on your right). It would be easier to explain with a drawing I guess...

[+wongojack]

6 hours ago, roots.genoa said:

I played it on the ST and I think it's the same as on the Amiga because what you described (pushing left to reveal the door) makes sense to me. When you understand how you move in the game, it's actually quite logical that way.

 

The problem is that you seem to picture things as if you were at the center of the room, so you want to press right to face the wall on the right. But if you look at the map, you'll see you're not at the center of the room but always against one of the four walls. So if you stand against the south wall for instance, it makes sense to press left to stand against the west wall (since it's on your left) in order to face the east wall (on your right). It would be easier to explain with a drawing I guess...

I understand what you mean, and I started to think about it like that just to have it make sense.  The problem is that when you are in one of the longer hallways, the directions don't work like that anymore.  In the hallways, a press to the left turns the player to the left.

 

I tested the C64 version today and it plays as expected with a press to the left turning the view of the player to the left in all situations.

[Razzie.P]

I've only played this on NES as a kid, and I loved it.  I think I may check out the other ports and see it anything sticks.

[+wongojack]

Last night, I briefly played both the DOS version and the ST version of the game, so I can add a few more comparisons to this thread. There are differences with each one that add and detract from the overall experience. 

 

16 bits

The Amiga version looks great and sounds great.  The load times were also very reasonable and the transitions between the various characters was smooth and easy.  It does have the issue with control that I mentioned above, but I predict this would be less of a problem back then compared to now when we've had almost 35 years of playing FPS games to condition us.  The Atari ST version looked VERY similar to the Amiga, but the sounds and music were definitely different.  Not really better or worse except that it seemed like there was some problem with the music that should have been playing while inside the Embassy.  Sound effects worked, but music was very soft in the background (or something).  Overall, the ST version was pretty much the same as the Amiga right down to the weird controls in the small embassy rooms.  It did seem like the load times were a little longer and the transitions between characters was choppier - some things I've mentioned could be an emulation problem (I was using STeem).

 

8 bits

The NES version with its screen-driven menus is the easiest to quickly play and get into, but the rooftop/infiltration section where you rappel down the side is the worst in that version to the point of being almost pointless.  Meanwhile, the C64 version at first appears to be putting too many elements on the screen during the rooftop/infiltration section, but it ends up making that segment more fun than any of the other platforms.  It is the only version that made it necessary to actively switch to a sniper while rappelling down the building which was kind of awesome.  Once inside the embassy, it also abandons any attempt at over-the-shoulder gaming, gives you a shotgun instead of a machine gun, and throws you right into one of the only examples of FPS gaming on the C64 that I can think of.  Neither of these had the "reversed" controls inside the embassy like the 16bit versions.  Perhaps I will try the ZX Spectrum some day and add that to this section. 

 

DOS

Is DOS 8 bit?  I suppose that depends on you - lol.  Anyway, the DOS version had all of the problems of any DOS game.  The best graphics are EGA, and the sound is that PC beep/boop stuff.  Although, I will say they did a nice job pushing music through that thing.  I was using a DOSBox front end that I believe configures whatever the best possible sound options are, but it still kinda sounded sped up.  I may go back and see if I was dealing with a PAL vs NTSC issue or something.  Anyway, I didn't expect great graphics or sound from the DOS version, so who cares.  If DOSBox was speeding things up, the gameplay may have actually benefitted because it was snappy and easy to get into.  They also represented all of the elements from the Amiga and ST versions faithfully, and it seems that the other compromises required for the 8-bit versions weren't really necessary here. Also, the controls inside the embassy make sense to a 2022 gamer.  Press right to turn right 100% of the time.

 

Verdict

Playing all of them was fun.  I still feel like I should spend more time on each one and maybe play a few more versions as this game was truly ported around a lot.  However, when I think about which versions I'm excited about playing again, the DOS version actually stands out with the C64 version in second place.  I liked that I didn't have to adjust my brain to control the characters inside the embassy for both of those, and the DOS version made clearing the embassy the most fun.  Something about the way the gun handles in that one stuck with me.  The C64 version gave me the biggest challenge and giving you a shotgun switches things up.  I also REALLY liked the way the C64 dealt with the rooftop/infiltration section which was less realistic but the most fun.  A note about the NES version would be that after playing on the computers, I actually started to prefer using the keyboard to switch between views and characters.  It made me feel more like I was in command and controlling the whole team, but there's plenty of pros to the NES version including almost no load-times.

 

DOS version is on Steam

 

 

[roots.genoa]

Just watched the DOS version trailer on Steam and that music is atrocious. Completely lacked the mood of the soundtrack on Atari ST. 😔

Anyway, it's probably one of my favorite computer games back then, with North & South I guess (also from Infogrames).

[+wongojack]

1 hour ago, roots.genoa said:

Just watched the DOS version trailer on Steam and that music is atrocious. Completely lacked the mood of the soundtrack on Atari ST. 😔

Anyway, it's probably one of my favorite computer games back then, with North & South I guess (also from Infogrames).

I LOVE North v South.  Maybe I'll do that one next.  Did you know there is a modern adaptation?  I have it on several wish lists, but I haven't played it yet.

The Bluecoats: North & South on Steam (steampowered.com)
Buy The Bluecoats: North & South | Xbox

[+wongojack]

And . . . I played the ZX Spectrum version.  I have never emulated that computer, so I had to settle on which emulator to choose (and there are a lot).  I chose SpecEmu because it is portable, and I found a newer version (than what is on Zophar's) here:  https://keybase.pub/woodywoodster/specemu/specemu-3.2.b250622.zip

 

Anyway, the version of the game seemed to matter because when I played the original tape release that I first downloaded from World of Spectrum it was missing music.  Also, if played in 48k mode, you skip the infiltration completely.  Anyway, once I got the right version of the game and loaded in 128 +3 mode, it really shined.  The Spectrum version has everything that the Amiga and ST versions have, it just looks worse.  Even the music is quite good and blows the DOS version out of the water.  It is a really good version of Hostages, and pressing right or left always turns you in the expected direction.  Now if I can just figure out which key is mapped to "Break" on my keyboard . . .

[roots.genoa]

9 hours ago, wongojack said:

I LOVE North v South.  Maybe I'll do that one next.  Did you know there is a modern adaptation?  I have it on several wish lists, but I haven't played it yet.

The Bluecoats: North & South on Steam (steampowered.com)
Buy The Bluecoats: North & South | Xbox

Actually I know because it's my (unpaid) job to write about that kind of stuff. 😉 Also the boss of the company that made the new version is an honorary member of my association. There have been at least another remake before but they always change some of the mini-games unfortunately. So I prefer to keep my (probably exaggerated) memories of the original game.