I Loved the Yeti

Friday, February 24, 2012

Not Yeti Arcade Friday: Bio Force Ape

I've blogged about a few of the Not Yetis of video games before, notably The Shambler from Quake, Yooks from The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Bullymong from Borderlands 2, and Gwani from Ultima VII: Serpent Isle... but perhaps the Greatest Not Yeti of Video Games Of All Time is...

Bio Force Ape

Legendary for its zany weirdness, Bio Force Ape (1991) for the NES was never actually released.

Then all copies of it were thought to be lost.

Like the yeti, there was even a hoax about it.

Then one day it was discovered!

Read more about the game here and here.

Source

Here's footage:

And some fan art:

Fake Bio Force Ape Box Art by ~MagicTrashman on deviantART

Bio Force Ape Plush by ~obesolete on deviantART

Yeti Arcade: Yeti (x3)

There have been three games named "Yeti":

One from 1984:

Yeti for the Thomson MO5
A Donkey Kong clone

One from 1990:

Yeti for the Commodore 64
A side-scrolling jump-and-run

One from 2011:

Yeti for the PC
An experimental adventure game

This one's a free download, a precursor to an upcoming game - "Office Yeti". It's presented as a documentary about yeti's journey from the Himalayas to the big city, with players controlling the camera.

Yeti Arcade: Spelunky

Here's a recent free game getting good reviews (like this one):

Spelunky (2009)

Who's that raisin' up his arm above the protagonist?

And they've put out Minis:

And here's some fan art:

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Yeti Arcade: Scribblenauts

The Scribblenauts (2009 to present) puzzle games let you summon any thing you want when you enter its name.

So of course, if you enter "yeti", you get a yeti. And he's mean.

And if you enter "giant yeti", well...

Yeti Arcade: Sonic Rivals

Sonic Rivals (2006) got Yetee badniks.

Yeti Arcade: Mortal Kombat Armageddon

In the Konquest (single-player) mode of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006), look out for some Ice Beasts.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Yeti Arcade: Tork

Tork: Prehistoric Punk (2005) doesn't appear to have been especially noteworthy, except that you could shapeshift your caveman character into a yeti!

Trivia:
Besides a yeti, the other three "spirit animals" you could transform into were a squirrel and an armadillo. Hmm, one of these things is not like the other.

Yeti Arcade: Castlevania for DS

There be yetis in Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (2005) and Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (2008) for the Nintendo DS.

Yeti Arcade: Wario Land 4

Wario Land 4 (2001) for the Game Boy Advance has Yukiotoko (Japanese for Abominable Snowman).

Ice Yeti ripped by A.J. Nitro.

When Wario comes near, they fire an icy breath at him that moves horizontally. When hit, Wario becomes Frozen Wario.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Yeti Arcade: Metal Slug 3 & 4

Metal Slug 3 (2000), and apparently the fourth one (2002) as well, have yeti enemies.

One's even on the cover of # 3 (look on the lower right):

Interesting twist: Any character hit by the the yeti's breath gets turned into a yeti. To escape this, the player must mash the buttons or wiggle the control stick repeatedly.

Source

Yeti Arcade: Ultima Underground II

Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds (1993) didn't just have a good title. It also had yeti that threw snowballs at you.

Here's the illustration in the manual that came with the game:

Since the Gwani don't count, these are the only actual yeti in the Ultima universe. I'm glad to see one in there as the isometric-view Ultima games (IV-VIII) are my personal favorites of all time.

ALL. TIME.

Yeti Arcade: Shape Shifter

The underrated Shape Shifter (1992) for the TurboGrafx CD (remember that?) got itself a yeti boss.

I think it's pretty sweet that way back in '92 you could play a dragon fightin' a yeti.

Apparently, he was a pretty weak boss, but killing him freed the benevolent sorcerers thereby granting you the ability to change your shape without using gems.

Anyway, Shape Shifter is 16-bit retro-tastic.

See what I mean by checking out more screenshots here.