Up from (Super) Obscurity
permalinkI'm running late this week, so I thought I'd just bang out some nonsense related to Judge Dredd. Ostensibly it's based on the '90s Judge Dredd movie starring Sylvester Stallone*...but since this cartridge doesn't contain the likeness of Rob Schneider (not that I'm complaining, mind you!) I think it's just based on the fact that there was a Judge Dredd movie and thus a few bucks to be made by slapping that title on a lousy platformer.
The extra 'D' is for...EVEN MORE DRED!
*: and incidentally, this is the SECOND Stallone-related SNES game I've discussed, after Cliffhanger. It's odd how Schwarzenegger had 4 NES games to Stallone's Rambo. But Stallone does a lot better on the SNES: Stallone has THREE when you add in Demolition Man, while Arnie's in True Lies and The Last Action Hero...if it weren't for the two or three Terminator-related games (Terminator 2, Terminator 2: The Arcade Game, and arguably Robocop vs. Terminator), Sly would be ahead!
Even the Mission Briefing Faces are bored.
So, there are five bored faces hovering holographically in space, and they tell Mr. Judge Dredd that his first mission involves destroying "ammunition supplies" to prevent further block wars. I'm not sure the makers of this game have a very strong grasp on the character...but neither did the guys who did the Stallone movie, so we'll just move along!
Judge Dredd falls squarely in the realm of SNES Dangle-em-Up platformers: you play as a big lanky dude who can shoot, leap, climb and dangle:
Sure, the graphics have some neat detail,
"Dontcha know everybody needs some judging all alone...
in the cold Megacity 1 Rain"
in the cold Megacity 1 Rain"
and then there's various weird graffiti and backgrounds...
but all in all, it's pretty standard stuff. You shoot (aka, "judge") various generic punks and nogoodniks:
And sometimes, after they've been "subdued" (by being shot several times) they'll allow themselves to be "arrested" (if you walk up to them and hit a special "handcuffs" button.
That's about as much character-specific window dressing as you get. Other than that, it's a run-and-jump-and-shoot-em-up. That also means that, like almost all the rest of these SNES movie platformers, your goal isn't to find a door or the furthest-right corner of the world: each level has some "mission parameters" that you have to complete.
Unfortunately our Judge's standard equipment includes a pistol with infinite ammo, but no radio. So the only way you can check in on your mission is by finding a functional computer terminal that you can access. Fortunately there are an abundance of these sitting outside in the rain during a block war, and all of them work perfectly!
Yup, just sidle up to any of these indestructible pieces of hardware, and your judge can login (without even sitting down!) allowing you to access one of three "Status" menus:
...um, wait a minute. One of those "rippling, muscular six-pack-like pair of muscles" is located below Dredd's ugly green belt. Uh...is that what I think it is?
Well, I can't top that. Next week I'll complain about the really poorly-designed first mission!
— carlmarksguy, 2013-06-28
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