Mr. Bones (video game)

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Mr. Bones

Developer(s)	Zono Incorporated
Publisher(s)	Angelsoft Studios
Release date(s)	1997
Genre(s)	Mainly platformer
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	Sega Saturn
Media	Sega Saturn Disc
Input	Sega Saturn game controller

There are other articles with similar names; see Mr Bones (disambiguation).

Mr. Bones, is a little known game released for the Sega Saturn in 1996, by Zono Incorporated. You follow the story of Mr. Bones, a resurrected blues musician, as he attempts to save the world from destruction at the hands of the evil Da Goulian. With beautifully animated cutscenes, and a great amount of humor, Mr. Bones was one of the Saturn's most technologically advanced games, not to mention most original.

As a platformer, it has the distinction of having no two levels with the same style of gameplay. Each level operates on completely different game angles and control mechanics, so while one level may be a side-scrolling escape from a rolling log, the next would be a guitar jamming session, an arcade style zapping game, a game of memory set to drums and even one founded entirely on telling jokes. The level "The Icy Lake" is notorious among fans as one of the hardest levels to ever grace a platformer.

The game currently has a cult status among vintage gamers, not only because of its sheer originality of levels, but also because of the many FMV sequences peppered throughout the adventure. The character of Mr. Bones is particularly affable, and the live action Da Goulian plays for the back row of Mystery Science Theater.

[edit] Story

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

A dead blues musician, Mr. Bones, was mistakenly buried in a cemetery full of criminals. The evil Da Goulian, not knowing this, brings the entire graveyard to life. Mr. Bones is quickly pointed out by a nearby skeleton, and they are ordered to catch him. After escaping the graveyard, he finds a kind, yet blind man who gives him a guitar. By playing the guitar, Mr. Bones avoids capture and wanders through the forests. A vortex sucks him into another dimension, and, after several very random levels, Mr. Bones plays his guitar to a spirit who sets him free.

Mr. Bones is thrown back into the real world, but is trapped in underwater caves. After helping the Lillupians, small creatures who reside in the cave, they show him the way to Da Goulian's castle. Mr. Bones breaks in to the castle, and uses his guitar in an attempt to make Da Goulian become good. This plan does not work, but the sun soon rises, and the vampiric Da Goulian turns to ashes.