The game became extremely popular, and every kid wanted to give that bad boy a try...
Not long after...that same year, in fact, a long-running Pinball company by the name of Stern Electronics decided to try their own hand at animated interactive gaming with an adventure by the name of "Cliff Hanger"...so how was it that they released this game so quickly in the wake of "Dragon's Lair"? Why simple...they already had an animated story ready to go...
Hmmm...he looks kind of familiar...almost like...no...
Yes...It is in fact, Lupin the 3rd.
Stern Electronics had somehow obtained permission to use footage from Hayao Miyazaki's first animated film, the 1979 classic entitled "Castle Cagliostro" (and some footage from "Mystery of Mamo"). They basically chopped the footage to include mostly the action sequences, (frequently recycling/looping footage) leaving the rest of the story very crudely edited and put together, replacing the original Japanese dialogue with extremely campy dubbing (not that most dubbing back then wasn't campy)...I mean, seriously, everyone sounds like they are doing an exaggerated parody of themselves in the silliest voices they can come up with...and every once in awhile, the Japanese voices can be heard, for example, Lupin bursts into the Princess's room and says, "Kurarissu!" (Clarissa).
The story is loosely based on that of Castle Cagliostro, in which you play Lup-...I mean..."CLIFF"...a dashing, roguish thief with a heart of gold who's main goal is to rescue a beautiful Princess from having to marry an evil Count...pretty much your typical plot in video games back then.
The one main problem with this game would have to be the game play itself...unlike games such as Dragon's Lair or Space Ace, in which the player is prompted to perform an action by random flashes on the screen, you were pretty much on your own with Cliff Hanger...which means you'd better get used to seeing Lupin/Cliff getting hanged on the "Game Over" screen...a LOT (which comes from the opening footage from "Mystery of Mamo".
Really, there just isn't anything extraordinary about this game compared to it's predecessors...and audiences found nothing extraordinary either...
While Dragon's Lair was given great reviews and praised for helping against the great Arcade financial crisis of 1983, Cliff Hanger and Stern Electronics weren't so lucky...despite "Cliff Hanger"'s extensive publicity campaign, including appearances int he background of films like "The Goonies" and a few other films/anime shows, by 1985, the "Videogame Depression" had claimed Stern Electronics as another victim. The company disbanded, leaving only a few to form a short-lived company by the name of Pinstar, who made conversion kits for old Bally and Stern machines. A sad end to what once was a proud figure in the amusement industry.
Today, "Cliff Hanger" can be played on arcade roms such as MAME, along with Dragon's Lair/Space Ace. Very few original cabinets, if any at all exist, as most of them were destroyed so the game could be converted for home consoles...but it will always serve as a memory and example that perhaps some things are best left alone, and that cutting corners doesn't always necessarily work.
Here's a link to see the game all the way through: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tQqf8nciH0&feature=related
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