The Killing Gameshow
The Killing Gameshow, developed by Raising Hell Software and published by Psygnosis in 1990.
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Player's Review
"First prize is your life! Suited in limited protection armour you're the unwilling contestant on THE KILLING GAME SHOW. In front of a TV audience of millions you must battle your way to the top of 16 Pits of Death infested with Hostile Artificial Life Forms specially created by THE KILLING GAME SHOW's manic scientists to give you a hard time. But don't forget the rising fluid or it's "next contestant time" Give the viewers their value for money collect the awesome weapons and tools - if you can. THE KILLING GAME SHOW will have you climbing the walls- it's the only way out!"
Killing game show is a puzzle platformer which has you controlling some kind of armoured mech suit thing inspired by ED209. It was also ported to the mega-drive containing only twelve stages and also renamed to Fatal Rewind. It's worth noting that that version also supports music and sfx at the same time but the reflective water effect and intro is missing.
The longplay shows going through all stages played with SFX enabled. Although the opening demo shows the music, I do play a level at the end of the video showing the music in full. I didn't play the whole game with music as good as it is, starts to grate after a while as it loops every four minutes or so. A couple of deaths left in to show surprise death and also rewind feature.
There are eight levels each split into two stages and each has it's own theme and level mechanics. Your objective is to move left to right opening boxes and collecting keys and using them on the specific lock. You can also pick up weapons to help you destroy enemy waves as well as Freeze Wave to stop the water rising. The water [DOLL (Deadly to Organic Life Liquid)] level is constantly rising which stops you back tracking too far and can stifle exploration if the needed platform is now under water. This is also acting as a time limit and falling into it is instant death. A unique mechanic for this game is that after losing a life, the game will rewind and start playing back your actions. At any point you can retake control to try again or try something different. Once you know exactly where you need to go, you can save a lot of time by replaying from an earlier point after losing a life.
As mentioned each level has it's own mechanics going on to test you. Level 1 is quite basic, just navigate the stages, climbing where needed to exit the level watching out for a couple of mines. Level 2 is a bit more demanding with more enemies to watch out for. Level 3 introduces switches. Level four introduces transporters. Level five has you collecting letters with the magma glove which doubles as a great weapon and some item management is required. Level 6, is deadly and will really test your patience. If you go the wrong way then you will be instantly killed. Level 7 disables jump. Level 8 has fire traps to sap your energy and many enemies. Can be frustrating finding the correct switch order, the hardest level by far. A couple of stages have a collection requirement before the stage exit unlocks. Particularly with the skulls it's important not to collect too many of each colour as they must be zero to open the exit.
Overall, this was quite a standout game on release with it's rendered introduction and it's reflective water effect in game. However, it's not a whole lot of fun to play as the rising water can become frustrating as you try to figure out an optimal route. Switches can be annoying as you may not need to press them and doing so can block your path. Other times you may need to press them multiple times and in a specific order with a group of switches. With no password system you have to start over once you switch off.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:20 Loader Music
00:05:05 Demo with music
00:08:08 Credits
00:09:43 Level 1-1 (Tech Maze)
00:10:55 Level 1-2
00:13:14 Level 2-1 (The Cave)
00:16:10 Level 2-2
00:20:10 Level 3-1 (Red Castle)
00:24:55 Level 3-2
00:29:36 Level 4-1 (Future Zone)
00:34:24 Level 4-2
00:39:50 Level 5-1 (Temple)
00:44:10 Level 5-2
00:47:55 Level 6-1 (Skull Palace)
00:52:22 Level 6-2
00:56:58 Level 7-1 (Aztec Zone)
01:03:02 Level 7-2
01:08:19 Level 8-1 (Steampunk)
01:13:15 Level 8-2
01:18:56 Highscore Music / Outro
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01:20:50 Level with Full Music
Killing game show is a puzzle platformer which has you controlling some kind of armoured mech suit thing inspired by ED209. It was also ported to the mega-drive containing only twelve stages and also renamed to Fatal Rewind. It's worth noting that that version also supports music and sfx at the same time but the reflective water effect and intro is missing.
The longplay shows going through all stages played with SFX enabled. Although the opening demo shows the music, I do play a level at the end of the video showing the music in full. I didn't play the whole game with music as good as it is, starts to grate after a while as it loops every four minutes or so. A couple of deaths left in to show surprise death and also rewind feature.
There are eight levels each split into two stages and each has it's own theme and level mechanics. Your objective is to move left to right opening boxes and collecting keys and using them on the specific lock. You can also pick up weapons to help you destroy enemy waves as well as Freeze Wave to stop the water rising. The water [DOLL (Deadly to Organic Life Liquid)] level is constantly rising which stops you back tracking too far and can stifle exploration if the needed platform is now under water. This is also acting as a time limit and falling into it is instant death. A unique mechanic for this game is that after losing a life, the game will rewind and start playing back your actions. At any point you can retake control to try again or try something different. Once you know exactly where you need to go, you can save a lot of time by replaying from an earlier point after losing a life.
As mentioned each level has it's own mechanics going on to test you. Level 1 is quite basic, just navigate the stages, climbing where needed to exit the level watching out for a couple of mines. Level 2 is a bit more demanding with more enemies to watch out for. Level 3 introduces switches. Level four introduces transporters. Level five has you collecting letters with the magma glove which doubles as a great weapon and some item management is required. Level 6, is deadly and will really test your patience. If you go the wrong way then you will be instantly killed. Level 7 disables jump. Level 8 has fire traps to sap your energy and many enemies. Can be frustrating finding the correct switch order, the hardest level by far. A couple of stages have a collection requirement before the stage exit unlocks. Particularly with the skulls it's important not to collect too many of each colour as they must be zero to open the exit.
Overall, this was quite a standout game on release with it's rendered introduction and it's reflective water effect in game. However, it's not a whole lot of fun to play as the rising water can become frustrating as you try to figure out an optimal route. Switches can be annoying as you may not need to press them and doing so can block your path. Other times you may need to press them multiple times and in a specific order with a group of switches. With no password system you have to start over once you switch off.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:20 Loader Music
00:05:05 Demo with music
00:08:08 Credits
00:09:43 Level 1-1 (Tech Maze)
00:10:55 Level 1-2
00:13:14 Level 2-1 (The Cave)
00:16:10 Level 2-2
00:20:10 Level 3-1 (Red Castle)
00:24:55 Level 3-2
00:29:36 Level 4-1 (Future Zone)
00:34:24 Level 4-2
00:39:50 Level 5-1 (Temple)
00:44:10 Level 5-2
00:47:55 Level 6-1 (Skull Palace)
00:52:22 Level 6-2
00:56:58 Level 7-1 (Aztec Zone)
01:03:02 Level 7-2
01:08:19 Level 8-1 (Steampunk)
01:13:15 Level 8-2
01:18:56 Highscore Music / Outro
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01:20:50 Level with Full Music
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