Out of This World

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Description

A young physics professor named Lester conducts a particle experiment. Suddenly, something goes wrong, a lightning strikes, and in a moment Lester finds himself in a strange alien world. Now he must fight for his life, first with his bare hands, then with a gun he finds. But what gives him courage is that he is not alone. One of the aliens who escapes from the prison together with him helps him on his dangerous quest. Friendship can overcome all the obstacles.

Out of This World combines shooting, platforming, and puzzle-solving elements. The game is divided into stages; some of them are straightforward and can only be accessed one time, while others are connected to each other, constituting a larger environment. Exploration and problem-solving are emphasized. Many levels include challenges not seen in the previous ones. Tasks may involve environmental puzzles, timed sequences, precise jumping, and combat.

Typically, enemies are defeated by using an energy gun found in an early stage. The gun's regular function is shooting energy projectiles. By pressing down and holding the fire button the player can activate an energy shield which protects Lester from regular attacks, allowing him to fire from relative safety until it evaporates. Finally, by holding the fire button even longer the gun creates powerful blasts which can disrupt shields. Most enemies are equipped with similar guns and are able to perform the same actions as Lester. Fighting enemies therefore requires tactical usage of regular attacks, shields, and bombs, as well as learning enemy patterns.

Each level can be accessed by typing a code the player learns after having completed the level. If Lester dies, the level must be restarted. There is no on-screen interface and no in-game dialogue in the game. Vector graphics are used for creating the game's environments and animated cutscenes.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "另一個世界" -- Chinese spelling (traditional)
• "עולם אחר" -- Hebrew spelling
• "Outer World" -- Japanese title
• "Another World: Коллекционное переиздание" -- Russian spelling
• "Another World" -- European/Australian title
• "アウターワールド" -- Japanese spelling

Part of the Following Groups

• Another World / Out of This World series
• Game Center CX challenge games
• Games with code-wheel copy protection
• Genre: Cinematic Platformer
• HUDless games

User Reviews

This game is the holy grail of classy presentation and elegant gameplay	DOS	J. P. Gray (120)
But not just another game!	Windows	Stokkolm (6)
Artsy masterpiece. This one is really special folks.	DOS	Zovni (10644)
Why can't more platform games be like this?	DOS	Dave Schenet (138)
Still the Best Game Ever!	Genesis	LivingDog (2)
Thinking outside the box was their forte'. Where is Delphine!?!? We need 'em back in the game!	Genesis	aaron pridemore (11)
Short, Difficult, but Playing Makes It Last Forever	SNES	Kitty Says Meow (33)
DOS: Out of This World......What a classic!	DOS	jfritzyb (10)
Brilliant, but still highly overrated	Amiga	Johnny "ThunderPeel2001" Walker (498)
Average platformer, but great cut-scenes	Windows	Andrew Fisher (643)

Critic Reviews

All Game Guide	Macintosh	1998		90
Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM)	Genesis	Feb, 1993	35 out of 40	88
Mean Machines	Genesis	Jan, 1993	87 out of 100	87
Mega Fun	SNES	Apr, 1993	86 out of 100	86
Jeuxvideo.com	SNES	Jul 16, 2010	17 out of 20	85
Mega Fun	Genesis	Jun, 1993	83 out of 100	83
Retroage	Genesis	May 08, 2010	7.7 out of 10	77
Power Unlimited	Genesis	Sep, 1993	7.6 out of 10	76
Game Captain	Windows	Feb 05, 2007	72 out of 100	72
Play Time	Genesis	Mar, 1993	71 out of 100	71

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
DOS Manual	3	Freeman (48240) Sep 19, 2016
No evidence on Win3x	5	eXo (320) Apr 07, 2015
15/20th anniversary	3	Pseudo_Intellectual (61148) Dec 30, 2013
Another World Cursors and Icons	1	Interlink Knight Jan 12, 2008

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Another World appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

3DO version

The 3DO version of Out of This World is quite different from the other versions in terms of graphics and sound. The polygon backgrounds have been replaced by hand-drawn versions, the quality of which varies from stunning to amateurish. Music is played quite consistently throughout the game. It somewhat resembles a film score, and is similar to the music in the Sega CD sequel Heart of the Alien. The sound effects seem to be the same, however. Oddly enough, after the game is completed and the credits roll, the intro sequence from Heart of the Alien is played, with the same hand-drawn art style as the rest of the game. The gameplay has not changed at all.

Advertisement

Due to its visuals, the game featured in a UK TV advert for the Amiga. The advert also featured a UK hit song called Sunshine on a Rainy Day by Zoe.

Apple IIgs release

Out of this World was one of the last commercially released games for the Apple IIgs. The port was written by Bill Heineman, who also was responsible for the SNES version (both the IIgs and the SNES share the same main processor). If the screen size was reduced, the game ran extremely smoothly on a stock unaccelerated IIgs.

Cutscenes

Out of this World was the first game to have cinematic cutscenes seen in many games today.

Development

When he needed a model for the rotoscoping in this game, Eric Chahi got his brother to run around in the back garden of their house!

DOS version

Released first on the Amiga and Atari ST, many players complained that Out Of This World was too easy. Because of this, the PC version includes two extra levels and has slightly increased difficulty in other parts of the game.

Dreamcast release

In Dec 2005 Out of this World was ported to the Dreamcast,with permission from Eric Chahi. Eric Chahi also allowed the Dreamcast port to include the datafiles. You can download the port here.

Ending

Some original storyboards, drawn up during the game's initial development, reveal an unmade ending in which Lester Chaykin survives and becomes a leader of the alien world. The storyboards can be viewed on the game's official site (http://www.anotherworld.fr/anotherworld_uk)

(Click on Another World from the side menu, then select Illustration from the top.There is a sketch with minimal detail at the bottom of the page that could represent the unmade cutscene.It seems to be Lester sitting at a throne, wearing a robe(?) and holding a sword.)

Flashback

Flashback is technically a sequel to Out Of This World. But since the storyline is completely different, it is not proper to call it a sequel.

Game Boy Advance release

In 2005, a free Game Boy Advance port of Out of this World was released by FoxySofts in the form of a downloadable rom, with the blessing of the game's original creator Eric Chahi. The port is a near flawless recreation of the original. It can be downloaded from: http://www.foxysofts.com/index.php?l=content/gba/anworld.inc

Graphics

It is important to note that Out Of This World is a technical achievement. All graphics in the game are filled vector images (2D polygons). This has been used before to save disk space with early adventure games (likeKing's Quest), but never before in an action game. Also, all music and sound effects are mixed in realtime to provide multichannel music and sound on modest sound hardware. All this on a 286!

ICO

In an issue of Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine, Japanese game designer Fumito Ueda cited this as an influence for ICO.

Intro erorrs

During the intro, watch Lester's hand as he's using the keypad. It moves forward too much, thus revealing...there is no arm attached to it! Also, at the very beginning of the intro, Lester goes up an elevator. Later on, a lightning hits a metal surface on the ground floor, but Lester is sitting right behind it. How is that possible?

References to the game

This game has a reference in Eiffel 65's song, My Console.

Release history

Out of This World was rereleased in 1995 on CD with a Windows binary in addition to the original DOS binary.

SNES version

The SNES version features a theme song -- the first time you hear it is in the very beginning of the game, when the black beast starts chasing you. There was also some tinkering with the background images of the last level (involving naked women viewed from the back) and all blood was removed.

Windows release

On April 14th, 2006 Out of this World has been re-released by it's developer Eric Chahi (who got back the rights to the game) in a completely remastered edition for Windows XP which supports resolutions of up to 1280x800. You can purchase it online and read about the making of the game (both the original version and the remake) at www.anotherworld.fr

Awards

• Amiga Joker
  • Issue 02/1993 – #2 Best Genre Mix of 1992 (Readers' Vote)
• FLUX
  • Issue #4 - #73 in the "Top 100 Video Games of All-Time" list
• Electronic Gaming Monthly
• February 1993 (issue #43) - Game of the Month (Genesis version)
• ST Format
  • January 1993 (issue #42) - #32 in '50 finest Atari ST games of all time' list

Information also contributed by Big John WV, Brian Hirt, Caim Douglas, Darksaviour69, Gil Megidish, leon101, hydra9, Jiguryo, Mark Ennis, Martin Smith, Matt Dabrowski, Zack Green and Zovni

Related Web Sites

• Another World (Official Site)