Lester the Likely

Out of This World Review (Super Nintendo)

Genre: Action/Adventure/Platformer
Number of Players: 1
Developer: Delphine Software/Interplay
Publisher: Interplay
Release Date: November 1992 (US), November 27, 1992 (JP), May 27, 1993 (EU)
Platform: Super Nintendo
Also Available On: Amiga, Atari ST, 3DO, Apple IIGS, Jaguar, Mac OS, MS-DOS, Game Boy Advance, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, TI-84 Plus CE, iOS, Linux, Android, Windows, 3DS, OS X, PS3, PS4, Vita, Xbox One, Switch, Steam

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Out of this World (aka Another World) was initially developed and released for Amiga and Atari ST personal computers by French game designer Eric Chahi in 1991. The game was later ported to the Super Nintendo, among other home consoles. The game garnered praise for its intriguing visual style and storytelling.

In most games from this era, text or dialogue was usually the vehicle used to drive the story forward. But this one did it differently. The ever-changing situations, dangers, and victories all worked together to tell the story without a word.

The game centers on the exploits of Lester Knight Chaykin- a scientist with an affinity for sports cars and conducting particle accelerator experiments in his lab during thunderstorms. True to the typical science fiction plot device, a stray bolt of lightning strikes the building and teleports Lester to a world not his own. But, as he soon finds out, perilous danger is in good plenty, and the odds of survival aren’t on his side.

Situational awareness is the central theme, which the game makes clear off the bat when you start your adventure in a pool of water. I won’t spoil the surprise for anyone who hasn’t played it, but I’ll just say that staying in the water isn’t the best course of action. The abilities and limitations of Lester are pretty realistic. There are no health meters, power-ups, or cornucopia of weapons beyond your wildest dreams.

All you have are your normal abilities to kick, run, jump, and fire a laser gun you find early in the game. Other than that, it’s just you and your wits against a hostile alien world. If you get shot, you’re vaporized. If you mistime a jump and land on a bed of spikes, it’s lights-out for you. The realistic approach to Lester’s vulnerabilities made you care about his welfare much more than if he could take an impossible amount of abuse and still walk away unscathed by the adventure’s end.

The game doesn’t focus strictly on puzzle-solving as much as it does on exploration and thinking ahead. Gaining the upper hand on your enemies requires more than just firing your gun at the first sign of trouble.

Early on in the game, it becomes clear that the guns blazing strategy doesn’t work in every situation. In some respects, Out of this World feels akin to the early Metal Gear series. Patrolling guards off-screen react if a shot is fired in their direction or if you sometimes walk too close to the edge of the current screen.

There were many times when I’d end up getting Lester killed because I neglected to take out guard-A, who then came to the aid of guard-B, whose force field I need to take down before I can get past him. Of course, there are certain situations where you have no choice but to contend with two or more of your enemies at once, but those moments make themselves evident to you. As if the guard patrol weren’t enough, you’ll also have to beware of other creatures that want to eat you.

Early on, you’ll come face to face with a ferocious beast that will test how fast Lester can run, but that’s the least of your worries. Part of your journey involves making your way through a cave that’s less than friendly to passersby. The creepy tentacles wiggling on the ceiling and chomping orifices on the ground will present their own unique challenges to reaching your goal of making a successful escape from your hostile surroundings.

With all these dangers to deal with, it would certainly be fantastic if a friend were there to help. Fortunately, Lester has such a friend. Not long after beginning the game, you’ll end up in the company of a benevolent local who is also trying to escape his cruel captors.

Once the two of you team up, your buddy becomes invaluable by opening doors and helping you evade enemies before they can get hold of you. That symbiotic dynamic is the other central theme of the game. Your success depends partly on him and vice versa. With this element, it makes for a more believable story than the all-too-common one-man army schtick.

Out of This World was designed to teach by trial and error. Failure is just par for the course, as some solutions are only apparent after learning what not to do. But, there are several scenarios in the later portion of the game that poorly telegraph what you are supposed to do.

Even when I managed to figure out a few of the solutions, I’d sometimes get stuck due to performing a set of actions out of order or encountering other obtuse issues. In that regard, the game could have benefited from having a few more visual hints to nudge the player toward the solution instead of just expecting you to know what to do intrinsically. So if all else fails, don’t “git gud”. Just get a walkthrough guide. I did, and so can you.

The game also has a forgiving checkpoint and password system. Most checkpoints aren’t that far apart. The time-consuming bits come mostly from having to start back from that same checkpoint over and over again until you successfully time a critical leap over some hazard or outsmart that guard who can’t be defeated by conventional means. Passwords are only four letters instead of a paragraph, so writing them down isn’t an arduous feat of strength.

The graphics were phenomenal for a 16-bit console at the time. The rotoscoping technique used to produce the visual style allowed the game to bring a more cinematic experience to the player. As I mentioned earlier, there is no written dialogue at all. The visual presentation lends itself to this fact, as it does all the talking for each character.

Unfortunately, all of this graphical detail on the Super Nintendo comes with a price. The frame rate is lower than in most other versions, especially the Sega Genesis and PC ports. This sometimes creates problems when you need to do a series of running jumps, or rapidly fire your weapon to punch through multiple barrier shields an enemy is hiding behind, and whatnot.

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While there’s not a great deal of variety in the game’s music, it works to an advantage. There’s a higher focus on your surrounding environment, and the music effectively conveys tension as you get closer to the danger ahead of you. There are a few differences between the Super Nintendo and Genesis versions.

Most notable is that the Genesis version features specific sound effects missing from the Super Nintendo port (like the sound of enslaved people digging into the ground in the backdrop of the prison area). However, such differences are relatively minor, and I prefer the Super Nintendo’s audio quality over the Genesis version.

If you like a decent adventure short on words and heavy on visual storytelling, then Out of This World is a gem that you will appreciate. While some of the solutions for progressing forward can be esoteric at best, and downright obtuse at worst, a GameFAQS guide will make minced meat of such obstacles.

It is certainly worth a purchase, especially if you’re a fan of Team Ico games or the Metal Gear Solid series, and curious to see the game that inspired the elements found in both. Out of This World stands as a testament to the cinematic wonders that were possible in the early days of home console gaming.

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Question for the audience: How did you discover Out of This World?