Wild 9
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| Wild 9 | |
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| Developer(s) | Shiny Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Interplay |
| Designer(s) | David Perry |
| Release date(s) | EU September, 1998 NA September 30, 1998 JP February 10, 2000 |
| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: T (Teen) USK: 12+ OFLC: M15+ |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation |
| Media | 1 CD-ROM |
| Input | DualShock |
Wild 9 is a video game developed by Shiny Entertainment for the Sony PlayStation. It's gameplay is that of a 2D platformer (with occasional breaks in dimension), and bears a striking resemblance to Shiny's Earthworm Jim. Your character within the game uses a 'RIG', similar to an electronic lasso, to capture objects and enemies. Objects can be moved to where they are needed, and enemies can be destroyed by using the RIG to smash them on the ground or into environmental dangers. There are also freefall stages (where you try to avoid obstacles while falling) and racing stages (where you chase a boss and try to defeat him while avoiding obstacles).
Contents |
[edit] Story
The Aftermath...
The ground was still covered in wispy layers of smoke, clearing slightly in the aftermath of the battle that had taken place that morning. Ash, green slime, and burnt metal covered the ground for hundreds of yards. In the near distance, the trawler - home to the Wild 9 - lay in near ruins...
"WEX! WEX, WAKE UP! SOMEBODY GET A DOCTOR!! SOMEBODY GET ME A MED-KIT AND A SANDWICH... OOOH, I KNOW THE OTHERS ARE GONNA BLAME ME FOR THIS..."
Wex Major awoke with a start. "Wha... Oww! Feel like I've been blindsided by a Munroian Canuk! B'Angus, what happened?"
"I'M FINE, THANKS FOR ASKING! SURE, I RISK LIFE AND LIMB TO KEEP YOU FROM FALLING INTO THE SHOCKTROOPER'S HANDS, AND YOU DON'T EVEN CARE IF I'M OKAY!!!"
"Shocktroopers! I was sleepin', felt something like a meteor hit the trawler and then nothing... What happened," Wex asked. Quickly adding a, "Thanks for saving me, buddy" Before B'Angus again started ranting.
Well, somehow Karn found out where we were, and sent out a transport of his elite Shocktroopers in to take us by surprise. From where I found you, it looks like you got thrown out of the trawler by the first blast. Man, you were a mess, I mean, not that you don't look lousy now, but jeez, I've never seen you look that bad, unless you count that time when you ate all those berries on Cyleop 5 and had that allergic reaction. Boy, I'd thought we'd lost you there. You looked really awful then... oh and there was that one other time when you nearly killed yourse..."
"B'ANGUS! Back to this morning please."
"Oh, yeah, well... Anyway, most of the team was pretty stunned by the first blast. They recovered quicly, and I took charge of the situation since you were out of commission." Wex groaned at hearing that. "Hey, you okay, kiddo? I can get a med-kit?" After a second of no response from Wex, B'Angus continued, "So... I send Volstagg around to try and flank 'em on the right, Boomer around to the left, Crystal and Pokkit - who, by the way, broke his own record of uselessness by producing over 37 different items before grabbing a weapon, and that was a slingshot, I might add - hit 'em with Nitro over and over. It looked like the tide was turning in our favor. My master strategy was working!
Well, leave it to the other half of the diminutive dynamic duo to mess it up..."
Wex almost didn't want to ask, but found himself asking, "What'd Pilfer do this time...?"
"You shoulda seen it. Champ, if you were there, he wouldn'tve even thought about it. But would he listen to me? Nooooo!" B'Angus was becoming more agitated with each word that passed over his lips. "Why, that lunatic gets this big idea in his head to try and run the Shocktroopers down with the trawler! Apparently, it was on the advice of 'Dr. Rasponovich'!"
Wex groaned again. Pilfer was a true lunatic, not a sane bone in his body. Dr. Rasponovich was a lizard that Pilfer carried everywhere with him and according to Pilfer, the doctor constantly gave him advice. "So," Wex tentatively began, "what happened?"
"Oh, it was ugly kid... Real ugly. THE HORROR. THE HORROR. With the damage to the trawler's controls and all the smoke, Pilfer cut off Ramzig, who couldn't see in the smoke and ran into the side of the trawler - effectively knocking him out. Pilfer then managed to get two Shocktroopers on the way to practically shattering Crystal and turning MacSheen into a hunk of scrap metal. I was luck enough to get out of the way before he could flatten me like he did Boomer... oh, the humanity of it all," B'Angus stopped to catch his breath.
"What happened to Boomer?!" Wex asked a bit hurriedly. His feelings toward Boomer were well known by all the team, and especially B'Angus. Nobody would come between Wex and B'Angus, if B'Angus could help it.
"Oh, she's fine... I suppose. I mean, she was wrapped up in that silly tartan of hers, screaming and swinging that tree trunk she calls a staff. Well, Pilfer managed to miss her with the trawler... Mostly. He clipped her in the back of the head with one of the reaar guns as he tried to run over another Shocktrooper. To add insult to injury, he missed the trooper. She's probably got a nasty headache right about now...
So her staff goes flying through the air and cracks Henry, meanwhile, Nitro's totally worn out from exploding over and over, and is basically useless. With just Pilfer - in the now totally inoperative trawler - and me against all the Shocktroopers, it made sense to take advantage of all the confusion and hide you and figure out what to do. The troopers just left about half an hour ago, assuming that you were blown to bits in the initial attack. That pretty much sums up my morning, how was yours?"
Wex couldn't believe it. After months of evading Karn's forces, eluding traps that lay everywhere for the Wild 9, it was all crumbling around him. He felt the sting of defeat for the first time, and it didn't feel too good.
"So, where's everyone?" he asked.
"Well, the troopers took everyone else. They had these little weird green guys with 'em, too. Weird, I tell you! Weird! These pipsqueaks were all over the place, blowin' up on contact with just about anything - sorta like Nitro, only green, really, really small, leave a huge slime puddle, and they don't recover from the blast... but otherwise they're just like Nitro. Well, I mean, they explode like Nitro, but that's really the only resemblance. But still, there were hundreds of these things bouncing all over the place! Oh, the humanity!" B'Angus cried. "That's the right phrase, isn't it," he asked, "oh, the humanity?"
Wex nodded, "yeah, that's the right expression..."
"Anyway," B'Angus went on, "just me and the bumbling idiot are all that got away. Pilfer's already replaced the 'Wild 9' with 'Kind of Loud 3' on the side of the trawler. He's working on repairs, but it's going to take some time. The others, well, they're probably strewn throughout the cluster by now. Karn isn't stupid enough to lock 'em up together. It'd make a rescue or breakout too tempting... looks like it's just the three of us. Whaddya say we dump 'psycho' and strike out on our own? I know this cluster like the back of my wing. We'll still look for your parents," he added, "just in a more... quiet sort of way. The ridge up there..."
"Where's the nearest place that the troopers would have taken one of the 9's?", Wex interrupted. "Is the jetbike still functionning?"
"Yeah, the jetbike wasn't damaged at all. Well, any more than the last time you took it out... remember how you almost killed yourself landing back on th..." B'Angus stopped himself for once, cocked his head to the side, and studied Wex's face.
"You aren't thinking of trying to rescue everyone single-handedly, are you? Look, babe, you're the best I've ever seen, but you'd get creamed!" B'Angus started fidgeting around his home in the Rig like he always did when he was nervous, his voice rising into shrill, excited tones, "We gotta get out of here. The troopers are bound to come back soon to reclaim the trawler, and they're probably not going to be too happy about you still being alive!"
"No," Wex said as he got on his feet, "I'm going after them. All of 'em. They put their faith in me, and now it's time for me to show them it wasn't a mistake... You stay here with Pilfer and get the trawler repaired."
"What? Are you sure you aren't suffering delusions?! You starting to buy into the 'Chosen One' stuff? You'll never free the others without my help! The Black Sheep himself couldn't keep me from going with you, well, maybe he could... Somebody's got to watch your back, and who better than me?" B'Angus put on his best fighting face.
That was almost too easy, Wex thought. "All right, I will need some help. And you are the best, so I guess it's up to us. Where to first?"
"Bombopolis. Gotta be. It's close. Heavily secured. Gotta be there." B'Angus was now pacing back and forth like a general plotting an attack. "It'll be tough. But as we head further from here, towards the center of the cluster, towards Karn's palace, it'll just get tougher and tougher." He was starting to worry himself now, thinking about the dangers that lay ahead, brow becoming more tightly knit with every step he took.
Wex flexed his right hand, and the Rig clicked and hummed to life. B'Angus stopped pacing and looked at Wex. With a simple flick of the wrist, an enormous energy bolt leapt from the Rig on Wex's shoulder to a nearby boulder. A slight turn of the wrist, and the beam picked up the boulder with ease, held it there and then slammed it to the ground. Nothing but dust was left. The Rig's humming slowly faded, "Karn," Wex spoke up to the sky, "you'd better pray that none of my friends have been harmed or you'll curse the day you were created..."
An audible 'ulp' came from B'Angus. He had never before seen Wex so angry, nor had he realized how easy it was for Wex to destroy something as massive as the boulder. Maybe it woudn't be so bad after all. "Boy, would I hate to be one of Karn's Shocktroopers now..." he thought as Wex headed toward the damaged trawler to get the jetbike.
[edit] Wild 9 Members
The Wild 9 is composed of nine orphaned teenage mutants that are basically fighting against the tyranny of an absolutely huge monster, who's face is the size of New York State. It’s composed of:
[edit] Wex Major
- The Charming and quick-witted leader of Wild 9, Wex uses both these assets in holding the rag-tag group together. He possesses "The Rig" weapon system, and much to his amazement, he is the only person capable of operating this powerful weapon. As a result, Wex is rumored to be "The Great Champion"; the mystical folk hero believed to lead the oppressed people of the Andromeda Galaxy to defeat Karn and his forces. Wex has reluctantly agreed to lead this motley crew upon the condition that once he finds his kidnapped parents in this enormous galaxy, he will leave and return to Earth.
[edit] B'Angus
- B'Angus is a pesky critter that permanently resides in Wex's Rig. B'Angus is a refugee of sorts; hiding for dear life from his arch-nemesis, "The Black Sheep", in the only indestructible container in the universe...the Rig. His loyalty to Wex and the Wild 9 is second to none...too bad his cowardice is greater.
[edit] MacSheen
- Mac can often be found hitting on Boomer or boldly posturing about his prowess in just about any activity. "Careful? Careful's my middle name!" Mac acts as a "living" battery/power tool system, complete with hundreds of possible attachments, enabling him to transform into anything the team needs; radar dish, vehicle, or even a massive gatling gun for Volstagg to use. (Mac doesn't like that last one so much, even though him and Stag are best buds.) This highly self-assured mechanical teen can be likened to a 16-year-old who just received his driver's license...and a brand new Ferrari!
[edit] Volstagg
- The final piece of the "Wild Trio" (Wex, Stagg, and Mac), volstagg is the strong man of the group. Stagg was once a normal looking prince and heir to an entire kingdom. A young man in search of adventure, Volstagg left his castle one day only to be kidnapped by a group of Karn's bio-geneticists. their experiment left him in the state his is in now, with the strength of three gorillas and the speed of a gazelle. he returned to his home only to find it in ruins, destroyed by karn's army. He's big, He's bad, and now he has a bone to pick with Karn.
[edit] Boomer McTwist
- This spunky, Scottish redhead of the Wild 9 is no stranger to action. This seemingly innocent little lady is the daughter of the famed Scottish superhero, the "Tartan Spartan". Boomer carries her deceased father's superhero tartan in a sling on her belt. When needed, she can throw down the tartan to gain the superhero powers of her father. Her devotion to the Wild 9's cause is absolute...provided she doesn't kill B'Angus first.
[edit] Pokkit
- If Pokkit went to high school, the caption under his yearbook photo would read: "Most Likely To Die Sad And Alone". This pitiful little guy so desperately wants to be accepted by his teammates. The big-hearted Pokkit even goes to such lengths as to tie a bike flag to his 3'4" body so that his presence can be known at even 6'. Pokkit is an experiment in 'bio-warping' technology. He wears a jacket covered in pockets from which he ideally can produce any object he needs. Too bad it doesn't work out that way. When they need to get out of a jam, Pokkit will reach in and produce a doughnut. And when the 9 are starving in a desert, you can be certain that Pokkit will produce a bazooka. Now can you see WHY Karn got rid of this experiment?! This walking junkdrawer is Pilfer's whipping boy. The usually sour hair of Crystal has the biggest of crushes on Pokkit. And the rest, well they usually just don't notice him.
[edit] Crystal
- Pure living crystalline. Crystal is, by far, the team's most intelligent member, and something of a science geek. She is the tactical and analytical support for her leader Wex Major. She has absolutely no evidence of emotion on her physical body, but there is something much more unique about her... She has a head of living hair! The hair is boisterous, and basically the outlet that expresses all of Crystal's emotions. In a fight, Crystal moves with unerring accuracy, while her hair belts out wild Bruce Lee-ish battle-cries. But mostly the hair just pigs out and snores and drools, um... Eats and sleeps. Crystal is solar powered through the gem she houses in her midsection. When removed from the light source for too long, she crystallizes and becomes immobile.
[edit] Henry
- Henry is the least human in form, yet the most human in spirit. The actual character of Henry is a body of morphing water encased in a very awkwardly constructed eco-suit. He has a curious and awestruck outlook on life, and humans in general. He has a short attention span, and will often change thoughts mid-sentence. He interfaces with the ship and acts as the team's chief science officer and mobile recon unit. He formerly manned a bio-genetic ship for Karn, however broke free and eventually met up with the Wild 9
[edit] Pilfer
- He's a lunatic. He's insane. He's a Karn experiment in multiple personalities, 167 to be exact. HE'S THE CAPTAIN OF THE WILD 9 SHIP!?!?!?! Often found in the corner holding loud and obnoxious converstions with himself, Pilfer pilots the hunk-of-junk that is the Wild 9's mobile home base.
[edit] Nitro
- Seeking to destroy the Wild 9, Karn forced his bio-engineers to create the most destructive being in all of the Andromeda Cluster. Nitro is the result of that experiment. Encased within a protective suit, Nitro is sealed off from everything in his environment, as he is allergic to anything and everything. His allergies manifest themselves in powerful explosions, making him a powerful weapon.
[edit] The Rig
The Rig is a devastating piece of equipment that can either be used to lift and throw objects, or swing from items which requires strength that the user doesn't possess. Using either Anti-Gravity or type of tractor beam technology, the Rig helps Wex throughout his quest.
The machine itself; is worn as a backpack that somehow interacts with a worn component on the arm, the movement and trajectory of the users arm movements is copied and appied to the movement and speed of the object picked up with the beam the Rig sends out. turning off The Rig just drops the object where it is.
Energy for the rig is collected by the destruction of Karns troopers, if enough energy is collected, the beam becomes red and more powerful, slowly scorching whatever is picked up.
B'Angus is known to hide inside the Rig as it is said to be indestructible, occasionally giving wise words to Wex.
[edit] Trivia
The transportation tunnels in the freefall levels are similar to the 'stream riding' levels in another one of Shiny's games MDK which also derives from the 'tube race' levels from Earthworm Jim.
The game soundtrack by Tommy Tallarico, contains remade tracks originally from Shinys previous games Earthworm Jim and MDK which Tommy Tallarico also composed.
Wild 9 was released in Japan under the name 'Wildroid 9' with difficulty adjustments and slightly redesigned characters in the style of anime.
