Hold your pocket wider, agent! [Pink Panther: Risk right to risk]
Just imagine: in the yard there is 1996, a popular culture blooms with new colors – people run to the cinema for the first part of the film “Mission Impossible”, they drive children to “101 Dalmatians”, and “Fighting Club” Chaka Palanik and “Game of Thrones” of George Rules appear on the shelves in bookstores.P. Martina.
With games, everything is somewhat more complicated. This industry only conquers its niche among a wide audience – not every house has SNES or other similar platforms. Home computers serve less often for games, more often for work, and parents – owners of PC – think about how to form their children with the help of these machines.
Children, in turn, do not want to sit behind the next keyboard simulator, they need an adventure – bright, colorful, with a simple and memorable story.
It is here that the “Adventure/ Educational” genre is released on stage, designed to help both generations. And one of the most striking representatives of the genre, both in the West and with us, became quests about Pink Panther.
This is a very important task. Therefore, I called you, Panther.
Unfortunately, to say about the company that created the “right to risk”, and then the sequel-“Focus-Pocus”, is almost nothing. Founded by Katerina Winchester in 1994 in New York, Wanderlust Interactive, Inc. I received the right to work on the pink panther franchise in 1996 and managed to release 2 games before the founder left in 1997-Pink Panther: Risk Risk and Pink Panther: Focus-Pico.
The further story of the company is a sad story about how another good studio fell into a series of mergers. I do not like to talk about sad, but I will not deprive you of the opportunity with her
Technically, the company continued to exist and even absorbed several other companies – Western Technologies Inc, Smith Engineering and Adrenalin Entertainment, but Katerina’s departure marked the power in the company – the new leader became Jay Smith, founder of Western Technologies. He renamed the company to Adrenalin Entertainment and took a course that considered optimal – creating and porting of sports simulators.
Unfortunately, the long time for the development and transfer of games did not affect financial indicators – the company gained average fame in the market, but did not represent real competition to giants such as Neversoft, Activision, Electronic Arts and their brainchilds – FIFA, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, etc.D.
Jay Smith made a decision that, in his opinion, was supposed to save the company and in 1999 announced the merger of Adrenalin Entertainment with McGlen Micro, Inc. – Company from the sphere of e -commerce. The team did not appreciate the decision of the head, and in 2000, most of the company’s employees went to the new game studio located next door – Sennari Interactive.
The latest news about the brainchild – McGlen Internet Group – reports the fall of the company’s action after the association with Adrenalin Entertainment. Since 2000, the company has disappeared from sight in the abyss of the information vacuum.
Pantherrra, this is a nightmare! You have to save “Calling Echo-Ho!”
Panther no longer just runs and amuses the viewer with joking tricks, but works as a real secret agent. The inspector of the Clinz gives him the next task-to go to the “Ringeous Echo-Ho” children’s camp, where he has to look after the brilliant children of high-ranking persons from different countries and-no less-protect the world throughout the world!
Mysterious events begin to take place in the camp, and only Panther is able to understand them with the support of his old acquaintance professor – von Shlyapen. Saving children, Panther will visit England, Egypt, China, Butan, India and Australia, seeing the most famous historical milestones.
Mannered butler, Arab traders, crocodiles and a secret enemy with their assistants – on the way to unraveling, we have to not only see many interesting places, but also go through a considerable number of tests.
A large number of locations, interactive characters and objects in a holistic plot are an excellent key to an exciting adventure, where you have to think to save the situation. Of course, the game was not too demanding on the player so that children could quickly solve the riddles themselves or with their parents.
This is not just a device, but such a personal peak, your peak compact!
The Pink Panther meets us with the visual style of the cartoon and the absence of constant elements of the interface on the screen. This was the right solution that the authors adopted from other large Point-And-Click Advents of that time-Full Throttle, The Secret of Monkey Island and T.D.
Due to the absence of the https://royal-valley-casino.co.uk/ interface, the player literally feels inside a full -length work about his beloved hero. How is the ease in the management and understanding of what is happening?
Everything is very simple!
1. The interactive cursor constantly changes when it is entrusted to the activity zone. The player will immediately understand where you can go and what you can interact at the moment.
2. The objects with which you can interact are distinguished against the background of the backdrops of a bright and more monophonic drawing – thanks to the animated style of the game itself, this does not violate the integrity of what is happening.
3. Inventory, stored in a bottomless panther pocket, is not required to store many items at a time, which makes it convenient for scrolling, although the player sees only one position at the same time.
There were no additional activities of the same level in the game that in some other counterparts (for example, Full Throttle offered to ride a motorcycle, distributing unlucky pursuers with a bat on the faces and wheels), but she did not demand that the standard gaming design is enough to tell this interesting story, without allocating it.
Special mention deserves the peak – “Personal information computer”. It has a separate interface and can be caused at any time of the game, except for the screensaver. I will talk about him a little later, in the section on the training component of Advenchura.
Panther, you do not see anything strange?
In 1996, the largest projects were more focused on a gameplay breakthrough than in the schedule – Quake, Diablo, Tomb Raider, etc.D. – All these games have a characteristic picture, but more remembered by game experience. At the same time, there were projects with an interesting visual solution among Point-And-Click Advencur-the legendary Neverhood and the next adventures of unbridled Larry in Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!
The Pink Panther was not visually unique as the Point-And-Click Adventure-it was a hero literally transferred from the television screen in a similar drawing among characters made in the usual animation style of that time.
At the same time, the game is really well animated – the panther twists its tail, hides and takes things out of its bottomless pocket, changes clothes and participates in action moments just as it did on television screens.
Compared to the animated series and the action of the action, the game is much less in the game. This is because the animated product was primarily aimed only at the visual buffoonery – the characters had no replicas, it was the humor of mimiks and Charlie Chaplin, and not playful comments and jokes. And this leads us to the main difference between the game from cartoons, namely –
I listen to you, Panther.
It is difficult to appreciate the work invested in the voice acting. In addition to Henry Mancini, known since the sixties music, there are several simple musical topics in the game to transmit the mood of specific scenes, as well as nine full -fledged songs in English recorded by the musical producer and composer of the game Jared Faber along with Emily Kapnek. Each song received according to a full -fledged clip made on intra -game animation.
Interestingly, many songs did not fit with national stereotypes about a particular country at all. For example, the song in Egypt is more reminiscent of the work of Tom Jones, and two songs in India are R’N’B and the work of relevant Boyz Bends (such as Backstreet Boys).
As for the votes – the actors of the voice acting did their work for fame, and Michael Tremein’s voice is now tightly associated with a previously dumb pink handsome in the title role. Of course, it is difficult to talk about voice acting when most readers did not hear the original voices, but the Russian version. And then the time to make curtsy aside ..
To be a pink bachelor – a disease, then do not even try to cure me!
“Risk’s right to risk” became a debut not only for Wanderlust that created it.
The company “Logrus” (known to many by “difficulties of translation”) before that was engaged in localization of Microsoft and decided to try itself beyond the technical translation.
And, as it always happens with localization, they did something, but something is not: something:
Many names are very competently adapted and translated (“Ringeous echo-hooh!»Instead of Chillywawa or von Shlyapen instead of Von Schmarty), but at the same time, the play of words is often lost. For example, the main villain is the name of The Dogfather, which is a direct reference to the godfather. The “loggrass” decided that Dad Papa Papa will look more appropriate – do not rush to write it down in sins, it is unlikely that the children in the Russian Federation would understand who the “dog father” is ”.
The reappearance is also ambiguous. The voice of the main character was presented by Alexander Bykov, who not only successfully approached the role, but is also very similar in sounding to the original Michael Tremeyn. Voices in the Russian version are generally selected quite correctly, they do not violate the integrity of what is happening, despite the fact that only 5 people participated in the voice acting of the Russian version (against 20 in the original).
The character on the left is comical, and in the English version speaks with a terrible accent that prevents him from being serious. The second character is a concentrated eccentric, his accent is almost not noticeable. But everything was mixed in dubbing.
Things are interesting with accents. For example, the panther boss – the inspector of the Club – in the original has a very bright French accent, which is almost not noticeable in Russian dubbing. But Nigel- a child from England, in the English version, speaks in the nose barely noticeably in the nose, not much different from a speech from a panther and other characters. In localization, he pulls vowels, sometimes almost rolling into throat sounds, mints the words and in general-Benedict Kumberbetch nervously smokes aside due to a lack of “Britain”.
However, dubbing did not make this game another – he simply adapted it for society and his children in another country. After all, do not forget – in addition to entertainment, the goal of the game was ..
Yes, everything is not quite like ours!
First of all, a distinctive feature Training The component of the game was a peak – the “Personal Information Computer” mentioned by me previously. It contains data for each country – from its relics and ancient temples to modern culture.
In the peak you can read the old article from Vika about Taj Mahal, a couple of clicks – and you will already find out how the Beatles were created!
But, we will be honest, children play this game not in order to read. They more easily perceive the information presented to them through the plot-thanks to emotional involvement, the likelihood that the viewer will be deposited on the subcortex much higher. And the game copes with this task no worse.
In addition to clips and travels, the game is replete with small bright moments that are remembered with a smile of years later-whether it is a meeting with the Hindu goddess in the body of a little girl, a skirmish with friendly football fans or a fight with swords and Kung Fu’s scenes behind the scenes of the Chinese opera!
With all the abundance of actions, almost all the dialogs that do not promote the plot are narrative – about the rites conducted in the gangs;I learned about overpopulation in China and much more from this game than from books (Although he was a great lover of children’s encyclopedias in childhood).
Well, it’s time to bring ..
It is almost impossible to teach this, it is rather … blind luck?
“Risk right to risk” was a good game – and the game of my time. Many topics affected by the game require rethinking, and Adventor herself probably deserves Remaster with some improvements. Because she has one important feature that did not reach and does not get many games – she united the sincerity of the narrative with everyday problems.
Despite the naivety, the game speaks in simple language with us, saying that in one place people live like this, and in another – otherwise – otherwise.
A little staggered with a tambourine, you can start this game even on modern machines. And, if you did not play it in childhood yourself – sit down and play with your younger brother or sister, nephew or child.
A couple of grin and involuntary interest in what is happening – I guarantee 🙂