Snatcher

[Johnny Undaunted]

Today (or yesterday by the time you read this) was just the 8th anniversary of the Catastrophe (13th if you're going by the Japanese date), the fictional event in Snatcher which led to the whole Neo Kobe mess 49 years later, so I decided to make a thread dedicated to one of my favorite games of all time.

Snatcher, as you may know, was one of Kojima's earlier games before he became famous. A graphical adventure game, Snatcher gained a huge cult-following due to being one of the first truly mature game and also contained a pretty elaborate storyline (the manuals in the earlier versions mostly covered plot aspects such than the actual gameplay itself). The game told the story of Gillian Seed, an amnesiac who is hired by the JUNKER detective agency to track down and eliminate the Snatchers, a race of bioroids who kills their victims and disguise themselves to take their place in society. Gillian has his own personal motive for investigating the snatchers, suspecting that somehow the snatcher menace is somehow connected with his own past. While the plot line was far from the original (owning it's fair share to Blade Runner, along with the Terminator's endoskeleton for the Snatchers' appearance), but it's far from being a complete ripoff either (ends being more of a homage).

Over the years, saw various versions of game from the original PC88 version to the final versions for the PlayStation and Saturn, each of them differ from each other

RA304 - PC88 Snatcher (11/26/1988)
RA004 - MSX2 Snatcher (12/13/1988)


The original version of Snatcher came out in 1988 for the PC88 computer. While primitive compared to the later versions, the PC88 version had some pretty good-looking high-resolution graphics (the resolution in the PC88 is 640x400, the screenshot here is only half that size) for it's time and an excellent soundtrack (thanks to the PC88's internal FM chip). The developers couldn't complete the game on time, so the third Act (which Kojima always planned on including in the PC88 version) had to be nixed at the last minute. Despite, the PC88 version is great on it's own and is one of my personal favorite versions of the game.

The MSX version is an almost exact port of the PC88 game, but the sound format are different (it came with a propertiary SCC sound cartridge), the loading times are much longer and the width of the display window has been shortened. I would've liked the MSX version alot more if it wasn't for the sleep-inducing loading times.

RA011 - MSX2 SD Snatcher (1990)

Two years after, SD Snatcher, an RPG version of Snatcher. The story remains largely unchanged, but takes a few liberties in order to fit in with the game's RPG premise (one part of the game has Gillian infiltrating a Snatcher-worshipping cult). SD Snatcher also has a unique and fun battle system where the player get to aim at specific's enemy parts which will disarmed them, immobilize them or even blind them. But the most interesting aspect is the addition of an earlier version of Act 3, with several differences between the later version.

RM001 - PC-Engine Snatcher CD-ROMantic Pilot Disk (8/7/1992)
RM002 - PC-Engine Snatcher CD-ROMantic (10/23/1992)

Konami's first CD-ROM game, this 16-bit remake was dubbed Snatcher CD-ROMantic due to it's use of the media. The release of the game was hyped months before by a "Pilot Disk", which contained a demo and trailer of the game, among other cool things. The actual improved upon the previous PC versions with addition of voiceovers to certain scenes (not to mention the improved graphics and CD music). But the biggest addition of the game has to be Act III, the conclusion of the game missing from the original PC versions (except for SD Snatcher).


Sega CD Snatcher (12/1994)

In 1994, Konami decided to release Snatcher in the US and Europe with a version made specifically for the western market in mind. The Sega CD version for most part, was a localized equalivent of the PC Engine version, but there were several changes too. A new intro was added based on the manga prologue that came with the game. Moreover, Act 3 was changed to include more puzzles and shooting sequences and the ending was changed to clarify what happened to some of the game's surviving characters.

VX013 - PS Snatcher(02/16/1996
VS013 - Saturn Snatcher (03/29/1996)

The final versions of the games, the PS and Saturn versions. These were released to cash-in on the release of Policenauts on the PS. The 32-bit versions were more or less like the PC Engine version, but the graphics were improved to full 32-bit color. However, some of the game's bloodier scenes were censored (Gibson's decapitated head is obscured from view and a rotting corpse is pixellated in mosaic). Moreover, this version does deserve a bit of credit for trying to add some of the extra stuff from the Sega CD version (which wasn't released in Japan), but it does laidback way of doing it (the intro is now rendered in badly-done CGI and while Mika and Katrina appear in the ending like they do in the Sega CD version, they were not given any dialogue). The PS/Saturn versions are considered to be poorest version of Snatcher due to these changes by certain fans.

[Melf]

I was thinking of doing a review of Snatcher this week. Awesome game that deserves a rerelease (Policenauts too!).

[gamevet]

I had no idea, that the Saturn and Playstation versions were based off of the Sega CD chapter. I guess I was'nt missing much, other than another version of the game.

Man, I wish I'd never sold my Sega CD version.

I was thinking of doing a review of Snatcher this week. Awesome game that deserves a rerelease (Policenauts too!).

They really need to do a compilation. It would probably never see a U.S. release though.

[Johnny Undaunted]

Awesome game that deserves a rerelease (Policenauts too!).

Well, the PS version of Policenauts was rereleased only a year ago in Japan, if that counts for anything. Now a localized release would be a different story.

I had no idea, that the Saturn and Playstation versions were based off of the Sega CD chapter. I guess I was'nt missing much, other than another version of the game.

Well, they were based off the PC Engine, but it did had some of the changes made in the Sega CD version. The problem is that they didn't put much of an effort to fully include everything. The conversation with Mika and Katherine in the end of the game, along with the intro dialogue with Gillian and Jaime that were in the Sega CD version were taken out since it would've required bringing back the Japanese voice actors for only a couple of scenes. Also, the PS/Saturn version had Konami characters in the bar, just like the Sega CD version.

[NeoZeedeater]

I love Snatcher on Sega CD. I haven't played the other versions aside from SD Snatcher on emulator.

Is there a translated version of the PC88 one on the internet?

[Johnny Undaunted]

I love Snatcher on Sega CD. I haven't played the other versions aside from SD Snatcher on emulator.

Is there a translated version of the PC88 one on the internet?

Nope, but there is a translated version of the MSX game.

[Diff-chan]

I tried to play Snatcher and came away completely unimpressed. Weaksauce artwork and a shitty, noninteractive game engine does not make a good game. Its boring to the extreme. This game has reached the annals of legend but Id say its easily one of the most overrated games ever made.

if you want to play a good adventure game, play some of the Lucasarts titles or that one that Funcom made... Longest Journey or whatever. They're infinitely better.

[Policenaut]

I love Metal Gear, but Kojima should do another Snatcher or Policenaut game, or at least a US version of Policenaut, the US 3DO version was almost complete then the game was pulled back and never released misteriously.

[gamevet]

I tried to play Snatcher and came away completely unimpressed. Weaksauce artwork and a shitty, noninteractive game engine does not make a good game. Its boring to the extreme. This game has reached the annals of legend but Id say its easily one of the most overrated games ever made.

if you want to play a good adventure game, play some of the Lucasarts titles or that one that Funcom made... Longest Journey or whatever. They're infinitely better.

Snatcher's gameplay was hardly the thing of legends, but the storyline was very compelling.

[Dyne]

Snatcher's gameplay was hardly the thing of legends, but the storyline was very compelling.

i agree with this man.