Any fans of LBA/Twinsen around?

[Deleted member 11480]

I love these games. Character models were kinda crap (a bit too childish?), but overall the visuals are amazing, neat art direction, fantastic and memorable soundtrack, pretty fun gameplay without any kind of target lock (aiming on these games was really fun), great situations and challenges... I could go on and on.

These were the shit back in the day, and they still have a pretty active fan base, but I haven't seen many codexers talking about LBA around here, be it to praise or bash.

Through all these years there seems to be some sparse rumours of a LBA3 being made, but I think it was just talk. Not sure if that's good or bad news though, as a new entry would probably suck hard these days.

 

[Ermm]

Have only played the original. Very good game.

 

[pipka]

Loved the hell out of LBA2. Sadly, they aged badly after all this time and I have good memory.

First timers! Try it!

 

[Calem Ravenna]

Only played the first one and it was quite fun, though I don't remember much of it. The second was released at a most unfortunate time (1997 - my PC was dated at the time and there was no possibility of upgrading for a while) and I never played it.

 

[Gakkone]

Played the first one, but never finished it. It was interesting to say the least, very peculiar in terms of both gameplay and setting.

 

[Gragt]

To Port Beluga!

 

[Muty]

Finished the first one and loved it. Never finished the second one tho, downloading .

 

[Fowyr]

Finished both. Very fun games.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Finished both. Very fun games.

 

[asper]

Only played the first one. Great game, very peculiar.

 

[tehRPness]

Loved LBA. Didn't know there was a sequal. Sexy.

 

[Luzur]

nice games, but not something you reinstall every month.

 

[Deleted member 11480]

I just want to say that it's 2015 and we still don't have any word on a successor to these games. What a shame.

 

[Abelian]

There was a one-man project to remake LBA1 a couple of years ago and it looks like its still ongoing. Here's an old preview.

Meanwhile, the originals are available on gog.com:
LBA1 and
LBA2

 

[Deleted member 11480]

Well as much as I really appreciate some LBA love, I wish I could say I liked this remake... feels just like a way to demonstrate admiration for the game but what's the point exactly if the remake plays and (surprisingly) looks worse than the original? I think they missed the point completely if they think going full 3D for the interiors will be better than a beautiful pre rendered set like the originals did. And not only it really shows, it feels pretty stupid to achieve worse visuals than a fucking 1994 game.

A proper new entry would be so gud if done right, and you know what would fit like a glove for an LBA3? Shit made out of clay, not only the environments but maybe claymation on the characters too. The Swapper did something like this and it had an incredible, kinda "touchable" aesthetics. The spiritual successor to Neverhood is also coming up and it obviously looks fucking fantastic (http://store.steampowered.com/app/334120/). I think this would be a really good solution to achieve that weird LBA look, 3D will fail miserably to keep that charm.

Welp, one can only dream

 

[Lios]

Only played LBA 2 back then, my memories of it are cloudy but warm.
also, for my kiddo mind, it was tailored as a very effective saga of sorts- going from planet to planet, searching for those pieces of that...intergalactic...plate?
It had alien sausages (or sausage aliens), mole people, bee or fly-like entities, I also remember climbing that huge statue of Intergalactic Dark Deity in the volcano, the desert and the hotel-spa and the magic school, I also remember those giant dragon/reptile beasts that appeared from the clouds and how they gave me the creeps back then, and how awesome it was when I got myself a nifty laser gun.
*I also remember some platforming with timed jumps and some mazes (or was it only one? ) etc that were utter shit, but what can you do?

Haven't played it from then, and I can't see myself playing it again these years, but goddamn I feel good that I've played it.

 

[Gragt]

I still whistle the main theme every once in a while. It’s that catchy.

 

[Eirikur]

I approve of the marketing.

 

[Alex]

I replayed both games recently. They are very good, although the jumping can get a bit annoying. The second game is much more polished than the first, especially in the beginning, but the ending felt a bit too rushed.

 

[Abelian]

3D will fail miserably to keep that charm.

Not to be nitpicky, but the characters were always modeled in 3D. Also, all the exteriors in LBA2 were done in 3D as well.
But I get what you're saying since I prefer isometric perspective as well. Here's a sped-up video of a hobbyist modeling Twinsen's house from LBA2, and it still doesn't hold a candle to the original (although it was impressive for a one-man effort over the course of a few hours).

After the rights to the series reverted to the creators, there was talk for awhile of making LBA3 with Twinsen and Zoe's son Arthur as the protagonist, but it doesn't seem to have gone anywhere. I remember there being a Q&A with two of the original developers when the LBA series was added to Good Old Names (living up to its name in this case), but I wasn't able to find the actual interview text.

 

[taxalot]

Frederick Raynal definitely wants to make LBA 3 ; some websites reported for a fact that the game was being worked on but nothing really happened. I think he got repeatedly screwed over by his editor.t

 

[Leechmonger]

I loved LBA2 when I was a kid, great memories. The environments really captured my imagination, and I'll never forget its music. Or that DBZ ending lol

 

[Darth Roxor]

I remember playing LBA2 veeeeery long ago, when I was a kid. I remember the controls were terrible and I had no idea what I was doing, but I had much fun for some reason.

reminds me that I got it on gawg some time ago for refreshment purposes, but still haven't installed it

perhaps it's high time

 

[Villagkouras]

Yeah, I remember almost nothing from first LBA, except that I had so much fun.

Also, I recognize the sound effect of the ball (I think) that Twinsen throws in a lot of games, TV shows and commercials. I don't know whether the company owns it or it's free, but it's hard to forget it.

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

Finished both. Very fun games.