''Little Big Adventure 2'' is a 1997
adventure game
An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or Puzzle video game, puzzle-solving. The Video game genres, genre's focus on story allows it to draw ...
developed by
Adeline Software International
Adeline Software International was a video game developer founded in February 1993 as a subsidiary company of Delphine Software International, and based in Lyon, France. The team mostly came from Infogrames, another French video game company, afte ...
and published by
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
.
It was later re-released by
Activision
Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one o ...
in June 1997 in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
under the name ''Twinsen's Odyssey''. In July 1997, both Electronic Arts and Virgin Interactive Software re-released ''LBA 2'' - Virgin Interactive Software doing so under the name of "''Twinsen's Odyssey''". ''LBA 2'' sold over 300,000 copies worldwide.
The game is a sequel to ''
Little Big Adventure
''Little Big Adventure'' is a 1994 action-adventure game developed by Adeline Software International. It was published in Europe by Electronic Arts, and by Activision in North America, Asia and Oceania under the name ''Relentless: Twinsen's Adv ...
'' (also known as ''Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure''). ''LBA 2'' was also the third game created under the label of Adeline Software International. The game features three-dimensional environments and
full-motion video
Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games feature FMVs as a way to present information duri ...
, and all of its music is in
CD-DA
Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the ''Red Book'', one of a series of Rainbow Books (named fo ...
quality.
In October 2011 ''Little Big Adventure 2'' was re-released digitally on
GOG.com
GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) is a digital distribution platform for video games and films. It is operated by GOG sp. z o.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of CD Projekt based in Warsaw, Poland. GOG.com delivers DRM-free video games through it ...
and in October 2015 on
Steam
Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
. In October 2021 both Little Big Adventure 1 and 2 engines source code were released under the
GPL
The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general u ...
.
Gameplay
''Little Big Adventure 2'' has two viewing modes - for indoor scenes it uses a 3D
isometric perspective (the game field is rotated 45
degree
Degree may refer to:
As a unit of measurement
* Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement
** Degree of geographical latitude
** Degree of geographical longitude
* Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics
...
s) like its predecessor, but for outdoor scenes a
3D perspective view is used. All characters and vehicles are 3D
polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...
-based objects, allowing for full rotation and movement abilities. The interior game field is divided in scenes (a small block of the game that is active). After completion of certain tasks the player is presented with a
full motion video
Full-motion video (FMV) is a video game narration technique that relies upon pre-recorded video files (rather than sprites, vectors, or 3D models) to display action in the game. While many games feature FMVs as a way to present information duri ...
sequence. All text in the game is spoken by the characters. The LBA world is considered extremely large and varied for games of its time. There are three planets to visit, with Twinsun and Zeelich containing their own islands, each with their own unique graphical style. Essentially every character in the game is interactive and will respond differently when Twinsen speaks to them.
Like its predecessor, ''LBA 2'' is
real-time
Real-time or real time describes various operations in computing or other processes that must guarantee response times within a specified time (deadline), usually a relatively short time. A real-time process is generally one that happens in defined ...
adventure
An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...
. It combines several
action game
An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, and platform gam ...
/
arcade
Arcade most often refers to:
* Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine
** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware
** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board
* Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games
* ...
sequences and some elements from the
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
genre. The game's gameplay is partially
free-roaming, allowing the player to travel around the islands once they have been "unlocked" by completing certain objectives; there are also many tasks which are optional or non-linear. Certain locations in the game are initially blocked from the player until they progress to a certain stage.
Almost all characters can be talked to, and enemies are often performing tasks while the game world is active.
Plot
After Twinsen defeated FunFrock at the end of ''
Little Big Adventure
''Little Big Adventure'' is a 1994 action-adventure game developed by Adeline Software International. It was published in Europe by Electronic Arts, and by Activision in North America, Asia and Oceania under the name ''Relentless: Twinsen's Adv ...
'', Twinsun was peaceful, until a sudden storm covered Citadel Island. The Dino-Fly, a creature encountered in ''LBA 1'' is struck by lightning and crashes in Twinsen and Zoe's garden. Twinsen seeks help from Ker'aooc, a healing
wizard, who lives on Desert Island. But ferry crossings are cancelled. He aids Bersimon, the island's weather wizard, resulting in the clouds disappearing. After the storm, alien creatures, who call themselves Esmers, land on the planet, under a false diplomatic guise and Twinsen begins training under the Wizard's School after hearing of missing children on the planet. The Esmers use their army to secretly capture Twinsun's Children and openly invite the Wizards to their planet (which is revealed later to be a trap to capture them). After graduating as a wizard, Twinsen is informed by his master of the possible plot of the Esmers and is sent to investigate their planet by accepting their invitation to all Wizards. Once Twinsen lands in Zeelich (the Esmers' two-layered,
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...
-like gas home planet), the invitation proves to be a trap and he is arrested on the landing port. After tricking one of the guards with the help of another prisoner, Twinsen manages to escape imprisonment and escapes the planet in one of the ships. He eventually crashes in the mountains of Citadel Island, where he is attacked by an Esmerian soldier, after defeating him and making his way into the city he finds out that the Esmers have taken over the planet and have imposed
martial law
Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory.
Use
Marti ...
. After going home to check on Zoe he finds out that Baldino has left him a protopack (Prototype Jetpack; it can hover, not fly) in the warehouse, he retrieves it and sets out to find his friend. Once making it to Desert Island he finds out that Baldino has disappeared, he proceeds to investigate his house and discovers that Baldino has built a spacecraft and for some reason went to Emerald Moon (Twinsun's moon). He visits the Wizard's School and learns from his master that in order to proceed in his journey and face the Esmers, who prove to be more than he can handle, he must obtain a powerful artifact from beneath Citadel Island.
Home to several different species, Zeelich is a two-layered planet, the upper layer located above the sea of toxic gas that plagues the planet. The lower layer is located beneath the gas. Its inhabitants await the day when a certain prophecy will be fulfilled, and the Dark Monk, the shadow god, will emerge and restore Zeelich.
Twinsen eventually gathers together four fragments making up a key which must be placed inside a little temple on Celebration Island. He unmasks Dark Monk, who is really FunFrock, the villain from the first game. He kills FunFrock, and returns to stop the moon of Twinsun crashing into the planet.
Development
The music of ''Little Big Adventure 2'' is composed by the French composer Philippe Vachey.
Reception
''Little Big Adventure 2'' sold above 300,000 units by August 1999.
GameSpot reported, "In France, Twinsen is big. In the States, he's an obscure oddity."
Robert Coffey of ''
Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...
'' said, "With its unparalleled sense of marvel and imagination, engaging story, and deft mix of action and adventure, ''Twinsen's Odyssey'' is a true delight and simply the most charming game I've ever played".
GameSpot
''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
's Ron Dulin gave the game 8.1 out of 10, stating "Fans of adventure games will not want to pass this one up".
José Dias of ''Adventure Classic Gaming'' said "Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure is among the most original and intriguing adventure games ever released." and gave it a 4 out of 5.
''
Next Generation'' rated it four stars out of five, and stated that "if you love action/adventure games, ''Twinsen's Odyssey'' should be in your collection."
''Little Big Adventure 2'' was a runner-up for ''
Computer Gaming World
''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...
''s 1997 "Adventure Game of the Year" award, which ultimately went to ''
The Curse of Monkey Island
''The Curse of Monkey Island'' is an adventure game developed and published by LucasArts in 1997. A sequel to 1991's ''Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge,'' it is the third game in the Monkey Island (series), ''Monkey Island'' series.
It follows ...
''. The editors called ''Little Big Adventure 2'' "a charming 3D action/adventure hybrid."
References
External links
Little Big Adventure II a mirror of the original official LBA 2 website.
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{{Frédérick Raynal
1997 video games
Action-adventure games
Adventure games
Adeline Software International games
Activision games
Commercial video games with freely available source code
DOS games
Electronic Arts games
Games commercially released with DOSBox
Open-source video games
Software using the GPL license
Video game sequels
Video games developed in France
Video games with isometric graphics
Windows games