Casper
Overview
- Full Name: Casper
- Code:
- Type: Action, Adventure
- Developer: Logicware, Funcom
- Publisher: Interplay Productions
- Language: English
- Release Date: 1996
- Region: NA
- Barcode: 040421291519
- Local Title:
- Rarity: 1
- Notes:
Overview
Based on the Casper film, the game pits you in the role of the friendly ghost trying to make a friend and a second chance at life instead of scaring everyone away.
The plot centers around the "spoiled, grasping inheritor of Whipstaff Manor" - Carrigan Crittenden. She's after the treasure she thinks is hidden in the walls. Casper will need the help of Dr James Harvey - therapist to the dead - if he has any hope of succeeding in his adventures.
Casper will also have to deal with his uncles - Stretch, Stinkie and Fatso, who just love to scare "Fleshies" and thwart Casper's efforts. The gameplay is 3d - and is mostly puzzle solving, with Casper able to take a variety of forms and manipulating objects.
Game Play
Casper plays as a top-view action-adventure game with pre-rendered graphics. The game features an alternate rendition of the film's plot (with some of its dark elements retained) spread across three acts, consisting of Casper finding tokens of friendship for Kat and Dr. Harvey, then finding the pieces for the Lazarus machine (which the Ghostly Trio had disassembled to prevent Casper from using it) and finally finding the Cellular Integrator with which to restore Dr. Harvey (which is stolen by Carrigan, leading to the final challenge), while exploring the mansion, collecting jigsaw pieces to solve puzzles for morph icons, eating food for morph points and dealing with the Ghostly Trio. Unlike other versions, other than the Ghostly Trio and Carrigan, there are no enemies. The game instead focuses mainly on solving puzzles. Once again, Casper and his uncles were reprised by their respective voice actors, while Kat and Dr. Harvey were voiced by Tanya Krievins and Blair Bess (again replacing Ricci and Pullman), with Bess providing narration for each act's introduction as well as reading out several hint parchments found throughout the game. Carrigan's voice actor remains uncredited (due to her appearing at the end and her only line being "I'll take that!").
Development
Silicon Graphics workstations using Alias software were used to generate the character graphics and backgrounds.
Reception
Reviewing the 3DO version, Electronic Gaming Monthly's team of four reviewers criticized that load times are frequent, it is easy to get lost, and that the puzzles are often obscure or even don't make sense. They nonetheless had a generally positive response to the game, with Sushi-X deeming it a strong last hurrah for the 3DO. They cited the stunning graphics and wide variety of gameplay elements. A critic for Next Generation agreed that the graphics are exceptional, noting in particular the ghosts which have true transparency (an effect generally thought to be impossible for the 3DO). While also agreeing that some of the puzzles don't make sense, he felt the game was generally easy enough for its young target audience, and concluded it to be a solid though not amazing game. The magazine's brief reviews of the PlayStation and Saturn versions made similar comments.
Magazine Reviews
| Name | Date | Region | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SuperGamePower | Dec 96 |  |
80% | O fantasminha camarada está pedindo a minha ajuda! Casper mora numa mansão com os tios. Há muito tempo os fantasmas mantêm todo mundo longe da mansão, mas agora uma mocinha teimosa comprou a case e quer um tesouro escondido na mansão. Como os fantasmas mal a deixam entrar na casa, ela decided acabar, com eles. Para isso chamou o Dr. James Harvey, psicanalista de mortos que foi morar com a filha na mansão. Você é Casper e tem de ganhar a confiança dos caça-fantasmas para livrar sua pele. A primeira coisa a fazer é presentear o Dr. Harvey e Kat com itens que você acha pela casa. Se conquistar Kat, passou de fase. Daí, sempre que precisar de ajuda, Kat vem dar uma força. |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) | Aug 96 |  |
60% | Younger kids should eat this up, if they can get a strategy guide to go with it. |
| Next Generation | Sept 96 | |
60% | Think of it as a "My First Graphic Adventure," and it wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen to your 3DO, by any stretch. |
- - Need review page
Other Versions
A Sega Saturn and Playstation version were also released, alongside a scaled down version for the Gameboy Color that only had puzzles and morph icons being the ones required to reach the ending and the sound and graphics are rendered for handheld.
Credits
Interplay Productions
- Executive Producer: Alan Pavlish
- Director: Mark Nausha
- Producer: Justin Siller
- Audio Director: Charles Deenen
- Music Composed by: Richard Band
- Music Editing: Ron Valdez, Brian Luzietti
- VO editing: Chris Borders, Sergio Bustamante, Craig Duman
- VO & SFX mastering: Craig Duman, Sergio Bustamante
- Music mastering: Jason Arnold at Tower Mastering
- Mastering: Craig Duman
- Sound effects by: Pfeifer Digital Services
- Director of QA: Jeremy S. Barnes
- Asst Dir of QA: Darren Monahan
- Lead Tester: Derek Bullard
- Testers: Savina Greene, Daniel Huffman, Larry Smith, Jim Dodds, Marvic Ambata, Aaron Meyers, Aaron Olaiz, Cory Nelson, Dave Hendee, Darrell Jones, Phuong Nguyen, Steve Theskin, Daryl Quetzkow, Chris Keenan, Marc, Duran, Jeff Woods Michael Motoda, Alan Barasch, Bill Delk, Dan Forsyth
- 3D Digitizing: Dave Carroll
- Package design: Dave Gaines
- Manual text: Kelly O'Guinn
- Thanks to: Anisa Aven, Brian Christian, Richard Doerksen, Mike 'Paco' Greene, Rob Holloway
- Voice Casting & Dialogue Director: Jamie Thomason
- Voice Talent Coordinator: Julie Morgavi
- Casper: Malachi Pearson
- Fatso: Brad Garrett
- Stretch: Joe Nipote
- Stinkie: Joe Alaskey
- Dr. Harvey / Narrator Blair Bess
- Kat Harvey: Tanya Krievins
Funcom
- Creative Director: Erik Gloersen
- Project Manager: Tormod Mansaker
- Lead Programmer: Eivind Hagen
- Lead Artist: Chester Lawrence
- 3D Models & Animations: Tommy Strand
- Platform Programmers: Eivind Hagen, Jan Ove Haaland, David Foolitt
- Additional 3D Models: Meal Boyd, Hans-Jorgen Kjaernet
- Additional Animations: Joachim Barrum, Mikael Hoguchi
- Additional Design: Bjorn Arve Lagim, Gaute Godager, Tommy Sydsaeter Level Editor Programmer: Jan Ove Haaland Lead QA: Henning Solberg Assistant QA: Alf Yngve Producer / *Designer: Ragnar Tornquist
- Additional Programming by Logicware
- Biz: Steve Parsons
- Master Programmer: Bill Heineman
Media
Press Releases
7th Nov 1996 - Casper, Cutting-Edge Action/Strategy Game Appears On 32-Bit Console Platforms
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