10 /10 1 Votes
Distributor(s) New Line New Media Developer Black Pearl Software Composer(s) Phil Crescenzo | 5/5 SNESLive Programmer(s) Matthew C. Harmon Initial release date 1995 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Designer(s) Matthew HarmonTodd TomlinsonDan BurkeSteve BurkeShaun TsaiEric ElliotLuke Anderson Publishers Black Pearl Software, THQ, Virgin Interactive Similar Marvel Super Heroes In, Donald in Maui Mallard, The Simpsons: Bart's Nig, Disney's Aladdin, The Magical Quest Sta | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Mask (マスク) is a Super Nintendo Entertainment System side-scrolling action video game based on the first Mask movie. The film, in turn, was loosely based on the Dark Horse comic book series of the same name.
Contents
The game received moderately positive reviews from critics, who were particularly pleased with its faithful recreation of the humor and visual style of the film.
Story
Dorian Tyrell and his gang of rogues are secretly planning to take over Edge City, a small and prosperous city where the nightlife revolves around the wealthy patrons who attend the nightclub that Dorian owns and operates for the benefit of himself and his henchmen.
The player controls Stanley Ipkiss, a mild mannered bank clerk who transforms into the namesake character after discovering a green Loki mask.
Gameplay
The player has to navigate through his apartment, a high-rent district, outside and inside the bank, the local park, inside the local prison (complete with enemies wearing stereotypical striped prison uniforms), and finally through a ritzy nightclub to fight his evil nemesis, Dorian (who is also wearing the mask). All the major bosses in the game resemble characters from the film like Mrs. Peenman the angry landlady along with careless repairmen Irv and Burt Ripley; who did a shoddy job on Ipkiss' vehicle.
If the player runs out of health, then he returns to being Ipkiss, wearing his pajamas. Many of The Mask's moves featured in the game were based on scenes in the movie, such as the mallet (which he uses to smash the alarm clock in the movie), the tornado, the massive guns he pulls from his pocket during the final confrontation during the movie, and the huge "living" horn. It also features other moves, such as a sneaking move which makes The Mask invisible (his enemies do not see him), a dash move (as well as a "superdash" move where he runs at supersonic speed), and his primary attack which is a basic punch move with cartoon boxing gloves. Many of the special moves (the mallet, guns, horn, etc.) use The Mask's "Morph" power, which is replenished with power-ups. If his morph meter runs out it slowly replenishes to a smaller amount than that he started out with, much like the ammo replenishes for the main gun in Earthworm Jim.
The ending of the video game involves dancing with a 16-bit representation of Cameron Diaz accompanied by big band music. Cameron Diaz was at the peak of her Hollywood motion picture career during the mid-1990s and was assigned to play the role of Tina Carlyle (Dorian Tyrell's girlfriend) in the actual film.
Development
Though the game is ostensibly based on the movie, the graphics were based on the cartoony style of the comic book rather than the movie.
The beta version of The Mask played more like a beat 'em up rather than a side-scrolling action game. Damage in the beta version came in a series of expressions; similar to the various faces used in the 1993 first-person shooter Doom. Different backgrounds were placed in the incomplete version that were scrapped in the retail version. Violent-looking attacks like a projectile-firing gun and a karate-style low kick were deleted from the final version.
A version of the game was also in development for the Sega Genesis but was canceled.
In one speedrun of the game, designer Matt Harmon said that a carnival-themed level was scrapped from the game. In the stage select screen, there exists an unused level called "Wild Ride", and it is possible that this is that level.
Reception
The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave The Mask a score of 6.75 out of 10. They praised the variety of abilities, the faithfulness to the humor and style of the source material, and the graphics, especially the animation, while criticizing the levels as overly large, to the point of being repetitious and easy to get lost in. GamePro similarly applauded the game for its heavy use of characters and visual gags from the film, as well as the Mask's many abilities, but said that the graphics of enemies and backgrounds "are closer to '93 standards than '95 potential." They summarized that "Carrey's wild character is still fresh, and solid gameplay makes this lightweight adventure a fun trip." A reviewer for Next Generation was most enthusiastic about the fluid, cartoonish animation and the secret ways of using the backgrounds to move around the level. He was more forgiving of the level design than EGM, commenting that "while the level mazes are, at times, too convoluted for their own good, they're certainly inventive." He gave it three out of five stars, concluding that "The title could have used some difficulty tweaking, and it lacks any sort of save or continue feature, but overall it's a solid, enjoyable surprise."