FlipOut!

FlipOut!
Original Jaguar cover art by Patrice Desjardins
Developer(s) Gorilla Systems Corporation
Publisher(s) Atari Corporation (Jaguar)
GameTek (MS-DOS)
Producer(s) Andy Rifkin
John Skruch
Jonathan Browne
Programmer(s) Brian J. Gelger
Conrad Barski
Jeffrey Fullerton
Artist(s) Daniel Ritchie
James Ford
Mike Taylor
Composer(s) J.S. Bach
Michael Beaumont
Wolfgang A. Mozart
Platform(s) Jaguar, MS-DOS
Release Jaguar
MS-DOS
Genre(s) Puzzle
Mode(s) Single-player

FlipOut! is a tile-matching puzzle video game developed by Gorilla Systems Corporation and originally published by Atari Corporation for the Atari Jaguar first in Europe on July 7, 1995 and later in North America on August 28 of the same year.[1][2][3] It is one of the first titles developed by Gorilla Systems.

Players are invited by the inhabitants of Cheese Planet, also known as Planet Phrohmaj in their native language, to join the Great Tile Flipping Festival hosted by King Fluffy across multiple planets and locations on Earth, alongside their home planet. Initially an exclusive to the Jaguar, it was later ported by the same team to MS-DOS in 1996 and was published by GameTek.

FlipOut! received mixed reception since its release, with critics being divided in regards to the game's graphics, sound, gameplay and originality.

Gameplay

Screenshot of the Jaguar version.

FlipOut! is a puzzle video game where the main objective is to match the colored tiles into their respective colored spaces, with an extra tile that does not belong to the playfield is placed before starting a round and must be kept hanging in the air to match the other ones. Should the players take too long to match the tile into its respective space before landing on the ground, will break and the round restarts as a result. There are nine stages to play through, each having their own number of rounds to play and ranging in thematic. There are also four levels of difficulty to choose from at the options screen of the main menu before starting a game, which changes the main gameplay. High-scores and other settings made by the players are automatically kept by cartridge's internal EEPROM, but progress must be saved manually by accessing the options menu at the map screen from the main mode.

On the initial level, players are tasked to match the tiles with their respective space on a 3x3 grid, with other rounds introducing new aliens that mess with the tiles and score is given after finishing each round depending on the player's performance. While gameplay remains relatively the same, stages increases in both difficulty and complexity as players progress through the game, with new aliens and obstacles being introduced to mess with the player's tiles. In addition, the playfield changes to reflect the location of the level. The final level is a 1v1 match with King Fluffy, ruler of the Cheese Planet on a 4x4 grid and defeating him results in the player being named the new ruler of the planet.[4]

Development

FlipOut! was one of the first titles developed by Gorilla Systems. An early design document shows ideas that either would be implemented into the final release, were changed or scrapped altogether, such as power-ups.[5]

Both Electronic Gaming Monthly writer Michael Price and Dan McNamee of Atari Corp. were testers for FlipOut!.[6][7] Michael was tasked on pre-evalutating prototype builds of the game in Gorilla Systems' offices, while also giving feedback and suggestions to improve the experience.[6] He also stated that the project was done on a low budget.[6] Dan, on the other hand, found ways to keep crashing the game but stated that he had fun with it.[7] FlipOut! was first showcased at E3 1995, with minimal differences compared to the final release.[8][9][10][11] When it launched, critics pointed out the flaws that Michael suggested to improve before release but he recalls his experience with the game as a "great time and a very cool experience".[6] After its release, the game was available to play at Atari Corp.'s UK division for the press.[12]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGame[13]
EGM20.5 / 40[14]
The Electric Playground7 / 10[15]
Game Players73%[16]
GamePro11.5 / 20[17]
MAN!AC54%[18]
Mega Fun69%[19]
Next Generation[20]
ST Magazine68%[21]
Video Games[22]
VideoGames6 / 10[23]

FlipOut! received mixed reception when it was released.

Next Generation reviewed the Jaguar version of the game, and stated that "FlipOut! is an enjoyable and original puzzler on a system sadly devoid of them."[20]

Legacy

After FlipOut! was released, Gorilla Systems started developing a horror-themed game for the Atari Jaguar CD titled Dante's Inferno, which was based on the first part of Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy and was scheduled for a June 1996 release, but it was never released.[6][24] In 2004, a demo of Dante's Inferno was released by the defunct Jaguar Sector II website under a CD-ROM compilation titled Jaguar Extremist Pack #1.[25][26]

References

  1. ↑ Castle, Justin (July 21, 2018). "Historical Atari Jaguar UK Magazine Advert/Reviews Collection" (PDF). Issuu. p. 340. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  2. ↑ Hardie, John (February 24, 2015). "Yes John, Thank you!". Facebook. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  3. ↑ "Gamers "flip" over new Atari release; "FlipOut!" for Jaguar 64 hits stores nationwide". TheFreeLibrary.com. Business Wire. August 28, 1995. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  4. ↑ "Ending for Flip Out! (Atari Jaguar)". vgmuseum.com. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  5. ↑ "Atari Jaguar - Flip Out". atarimania.com. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Wallett, Adrian (June 1, 2018). "Mike Price (Electronic Gaming Monthly) - Interview". arcadeattack.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  7. 1 2 Wallett, Adrian (February 2, 2018). "Dan McNamee (Atari) - Interview". arcadeattack.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  8. ↑ QLvsJAGUAR (January 18, 2011). E3 1995 – first show ever! Full length documentary. Great history! (48min 15sec). YouTube.
  9. ↑ François, Tommy; Msika, David (June 1995). "Reportage - E3 - Atari - Le Virtuel, Ça Marche". CD Consoles (in French). No. 8. Pressimage. p. 43.
  10. ↑ "E-3 The Biggest And Best Electronic Entertainment Show Ever! - Jaguar". GameFan. No. Volume 3, Issue 7. Shinno Media. July 1995. p. 37.
  11. ↑ Zengerle, Robert (July 1995). "News - E3 - Die Übermesse in Los Angeles - Jaguar". Video Games (in German). No. 44. Future-Verlag. pp. 8–33.
  12. ↑ Schaedle, Wolfgang (September 1995). "Profil - Atari News". Video Games (in German). No. 46. Future-Verlag. p. 45.
  13. ↑ Scoleri III, Joseph. "Flip Out! - Overview". Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  14. ↑ "Review Crew - Flip Out". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 74. EGM Media, LLC. September 1995. p. 40.
  15. ↑ Lucas, Victor (January 3, 1996). "Reviews - Flip Out!". The Electric Playground. Archived from the original on 21 April 2001. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  16. ↑ Salmon, Mike (September 1995). "Jaguar - Review - Flip Out!". Game Players. No. 75. Signal Research. p. 54.
  17. ↑ Larry, Scary (October 1995). "ProReview: FlipOut!". GamePro. No. 75. IDG. p. 76.
  18. ↑ Versionen, Andere (January 1996). "Spiele-Tests - Flip Out". MAN!AC (in German). No. 27. Cybermedia Verlagsgesellschaft mbH. p. 65.
  19. ↑ Souleiman, Sandrie (November 1995). "Test Jaguar - Flip Out". Mega Fun (in German). No. 38. CT Computec Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. p. 93.
  20. 1 2 "Finals - Jaguar - FlipOut!". Next Generation. No. 9. Imagine Media. September 1995. p. 90.
  21. ↑ Abramson, Marc (December 1995). "Cahier Loisirs / Jaguar - Enfin Là". ST Magazine (in French). No. 100. Pressimage. pp. 50–54.
  22. ↑ Karels, Ralph (August 1999). "Special - Atari Jaguar - Komplettübersicht Jaguar-Modul-Games - Flip Out!". Video Games (in German). No. 93. Future-Verlag. p. 56.
  23. ↑ Hallock, Betty (September 1995). "FlipOut! - A good cheese reference never hurts a game". VideoGames - The Ultimate Gaming Magazine. No. 80. L.F.P., Inc. p. 80.
  24. ↑ Gore, Chris (August 1995). "The Gorescore - Industry News You Can". VideoGames - The Ultimate Gaming Magazine. No. 79. L.F.P., Inc. p. 14.
  25. ↑ Smith, Jason. "Atari Jaguar Timeline". jaguarsector.com. Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  26. ↑ Smith, Jason. "Jaguar Sector II Atari Jaguar Software Price and Rarity Guide". jaysmith2000.com. Archived from the original on 17 November 2013. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
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