''The Humans'' is a
puzzle
A puzzle is a game, Problem solving, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together (Disentanglement puzzle, or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at th ...
-
platform video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
developed by
Imagitec Design in
Dewsbury
Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and originally published by
Mirage Technologies for the
Amiga
Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...
in May 1992.
It was later
ported to other
home computers and
consoles. The goal of the game varies per level but usually revolves around bringing at least one of the player-controlled
human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
s to the designated end area marked by a colored
tile
Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...
. Doing this requires players taking advantage of the
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...
's ability to build a human
ladder
A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps used for climbing or descending. There are two types: rigid ladders that are self-supporting or that may be leaned against a vertical surface such as a wall, and rollable ladders, such a ...
and use
tool
A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...
s such as
spear
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...
s,
torches,
wheel
A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...
s,
rope
A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarly ...
s and a
witch doctor in later levels.
''The Humans'' was conceived by Rodney Humble during his time working with Imagitec Design as a project for the
Atari Lynx spawning a
trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...
based upon the
human evolution
Human evolution is the evolutionary process within the history of primates that led to the emergence of ''Homo sapiens'' as a distinct species of the hominid family, which includes the great apes. This process involved the gradual development of ...
inspired by
Psygnosis ''
Lemmings
A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also include ...
'', creating and drawing his ideas before transferring the design work to Imagitec
programmer
A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software.
A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...
s in developing them further, serving as the first game to be published by
MicroProse
MicroProse is an American video game publisher and video game developer, developer founded by Bill Stealey, Sid Meier, and Andy Hollis in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the ''Civilization (series), Civilizatio ...
offshoot Mirage, while
Atari Corporation liked the title and commissioned two additional
conversion
Conversion or convert may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman''
* "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series
* "The Conversion" ...
s for their
platforms.
''The Humans'' was very well received by video game magazines and garnered praise for the originality, presentation and audio upon its initial Amiga launch. Other versions of the game have been met with a more mixed reception from critics and reviewers alike. It was followed by three
sequels: ''The Humans: Insult to Injury'' in 1992, ''Humans 3: Evolution - Lost in Time'' in 1995, and ''The Humans: Meet the Ancestors!'' in 2009.
Gameplay
''The Humans'' is a puzzle game similar to ''
Lemmings
A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also include ...
'' whose objective is to manipulate the given number of humans, taking advantage of abilities and tools to achieve the level's goal, usually consisting of finding a certain tool, killing a certain number of
dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
s or bringing at least one human to the end point, marked by a conspicuous colored tile. Each level is independent of the next, each with its own tools, goal, and set number of humans allowed per level. The only things that carry from level to level are the total number of humans in the player's tribe and the player's total score.
[''The Humans'' manual (Amiga, EU)][''The Humans'' instruction booklet (Game Boy, US)][''The Humans'' instruction manual (Sega Genesis, US)][''Dinolypics'' game manual (Atari Lynx, US)][''The Humans'' instruction booklet (Super Nintendo Entertainment System, EU)][''Evolution: Dino Dudes'' game manual (Atari Jaguar, US)]
The player controls one human at a time, and may switch between any human at any time. In order to complete a level, it is often necessary to use certain tools or abilities, such as stacking to reach a high ledge. For instance, the spear, a tool obtained in the first level of the game, may be thrown across gaps to other humans, used to jump chasms, thrown to kill dinosaurs or other enemies, or brandished to hold off dinosaurs temporarily. Certain levels also feature
NPCs like the
pterodactylus that can be ridden in order to reach otherwise unreachable platforms, that cannot be controlled, but can be used to the player's advantage. Several forms of enemy appear and can range from dinosaurs that eat a human if he is unarmed and within its walking range to spear-wielding members of enemy tribes.
There can be up to eight controllable humans in a level, though some levels only allow as few as three. Though there is a preset number of humans allowed per level, there is no limit to how many humans are in the player's tribe. If a human dies, he is replaced by one from the tribe as long as there are humans there to replace him. During the course of the game, the player is given chances to rescue other humans and add them to their tribe. If there are fewer humans in the player's tribe than the minimum required number for any given level, the
game is over. Each level, however, has a password that can be used to jump to that particular level from the beginning of the game.
Development
''The Humans'' was the creation of former Imagitec Design
designer Rodney Humble during his time working at the company in Dewsbury who, inspired by Psygnosis ''Lemmings'' and its puzzle elements, created and drew his ideas on
storyboard
A storyboard is a graphic organizer that consists of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence. The storyboarding process, i ...
s before transferring his work to the Imagitec programmers, developing them further into a trilogy based upon the human evolution.
Coding on the project started in December 1991, with ''Suspicious Cargo'' programmer David Lincoln being responsible for the Amiga version, although design work originally started on the Atari Lynx under the working titles ''Dino Dudes'' and ''Dino World''.
Atari Corporation reportedly liked the game and commissioned Imagitec with two additional conversions for their
Atari Falcon and
Atari Jaguar platforms respectively.
''The Humans'' creation process was overseen by co-
producer
Producer or producers may refer to:
Occupations
*Producer (agriculture), a farm operator
*A stakeholder of economic production
*Film producer, supervises the making of films
**Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
s Martin Hooley and Simon Golding, the latter of which oversaw all versions of the game.
Golding stated that the production was inspired by ''Lemmings'' instead of being "a
rip-off
''Rip Off'' is a multidirectional shooter with black and white vector graphics written by Tim Skelly and released in arcades by Cinematronics in 1980. It was the first shooter with cooperative gameplay and an early game to exhibit flocking behav ...
" but focusing towards "bigger
graphics
Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...
", a
cartoon
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...
-esque feeling reminiscent of
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
s like ''
Tom and Jerry
''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series c ...
'', more varied levels, among other features.
Lincoln employed Cross Products SNASM
programming tool to write the code on an editor using a
PC before porting it to Amiga for testing.
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...
s Andrew Gilmour and Michael Hanrahan drew the
pixel art, while
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
s
Barry Leitch
Barry Leitch (born April 27, 1970 in Strathaven, Scotland) is a Scottish video game music composer, responsible for the music in many games spanning multiple consoles and personal computers. Most notable is his work from the '' Lotus Turbo Challen ...
and Ian Howe were responsible for the
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
.
Other members at Imagitec were also involved in the title's production across every subsequent version released.
Release
''The Humans'' was first launched in Europe for the Amiga in May 1992 by MicroProse offshoot Mirage Technologies, serving as their first title to be published, shortly after ''Lemmings'' was released hoping to capitalize the popularity of this style of game.
GameTek
GameTek was an American video game publisher based in North Miami Beach, Florida known for publishing video game adaptations of game shows in the late 1980s and early 1990s. GameTek was a trade name for IJE, the owner of electronic publishing rig ...
and Mirage later published the
PC version in June 1992 in North America and Europe.
Other known commercial ports of the game include:
Amiga CD32, Atari Jaguar, Atari Lynx, Atari Falcon,
Game Boy
The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...
,
Sega Genesis
The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...
and
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...
. The Genesis version differs slightly from the other versions of this game in that the levels are in a different order than in the Amiga and PC versions. In addition, the Genesis version requires the player to choose between hearing sound effects or a music track, unlike the PC and Amiga versions, which utilize both simultaneously. A
Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
port featuring three versions of the game is scheduled for a future release by
Piko Interactive
Piko Interactive LLC is an American video game publisher based in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in early 2013 by Eli Galindo, the company focuses on physical re-releases of games from older video game consoles and digitally released ports to newer ...
and QUByte Interactive. The Jaguar version was included as part of the ''
Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration'' compilation for
Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
,
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
,
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 ...
, and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
.
Cancelled ports
Ports of ''The Humans'' for both
Game Gear and
NEC PC-9801 were under development by Imagitec Design, although the latter never materialized.
The Game Gear version was reviewed by ''
Sega Pro'' magazine in their May 1993 issue, obtaining a 75 out of 100 score, but ultimately went unreleased for unknown reasons.
Reception
The Amiga and PC versions of ''The Humans'' received excellent reviews, while those of versions ported to other consoles were more lukewarm. Ashley Cotter-Cairn, of ''Amiga Mania'', gave the Amiga version an overall score of 93% and ranked it number 1 claiming "''The Humans'' has everything: great graphics, including a variety of backdrops, some neat sound...(she's) pleased to say that those long months at the keyboard were worth every second".
''
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 ...
'' called the PC version of ''The Humans'' "delightful". While stating that the
VGA graphics
Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a video display controller and accompanying de facto graphics standard, first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, which became ubiquitous in the PC industry within three years. The term can now ...
' limited color palette resembled those of a console game more than a computer's, it liked the soundtrack and documentation. The magazine concluded that while "not quite the calibre of ''Lemmings'' ... In all, much pleasure is to be had".
Reviewing the Genesis version, the four reviewers of ''
Electronic Gaming Monthly
''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews.
History
The m ...
'' praised the game's twist on the ''Lemmings'' formula and the high level of challenge in the later levels. However, all but one of the reviewers complained that the game's slow pace is aggravating, especially since a single mistake can force the player to restart an entire level.
''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' said of the Jaguar version that "the graphics are pretty good and the control is adequate. An OK game".
''
GamePro
Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...
'' was more critical, commenting that the backgrounds are more detailed and colorful than in the Genesis version but that the game is still graphically subpar given the Jaguar's capabilities. They also criticized the stiff controls and lack of multiplayer modes, but still rated it as one of the better Jaguar games to date due to the "brain-twisting" gameplay.
The Jaguar version has sold nearly 19,000 copies since its release as of 1 April 1995, though it is unknown how many were sold in total during its lifetime.
Legacy
Following the success of ''The Humans'', a sequel titled ''The Humans: Insult to Injury'' was launched in 1992 as both a stand-alone release or as an
expansion pack. In 1993, the two games were combined and released for both Amiga CD32 and PC under the name ''Humans 1 and 2''. In 1995, a third entry in the series titled ''Humans 3: Evolution - Lost in Time'' was released, keeping to the original game idea but differs from the original entry in storyline, gameplay style, and level continuity. Between 1994 and 2001, the trademarks for the Atari Jaguar version were abandoned and cancelled respectively. About a decade after GameTek declared bankruptcy,
Deep Silver
Deep Silver is an Austrian video game publisher and a division of Plaion. Eugenio Vitale serves as the director of games development for Deep Silver.
History
Deep Silver was announced in November 2002, with their first release to be '' Anarc ...
released a fourth entry for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
and
Nintendo DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
under the name ''The Humans: Meet the Ancestors!'', retaining the same general gameplay style but improved the graphics and added more interactive objects and enemies.
Notes
References
External links
''Dinolympics''at
AtariAge
AtariAge is a website focusing on classic Atari video games. The site features gaming news, historical archives, discussion forums, and an online store. It was founded in 1998.
Taking its name from the 1982–84 '' Atari Age'' magazine, the site ...
''Evolution: Dino Dudes''at
AtariAge
AtariAge is a website focusing on classic Atari video games. The site features gaming news, historical archives, discussion forums, and an online store. It was founded in 1998.
Taking its name from the 1982–84 '' Atari Age'' magazine, the site ...
''The Humans''at
GameFAQs
GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by Fandom, Inc. since October 2022. The site has a databa ...
''The Humans''at
Giant Bomb
''The Humans''at
MobyGames
MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes nearly 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. The site is supported by banner ads and a small ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Humans (video game), The
1992 video games
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Amiga 1200 games
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Atari Lynx games
Atari ST games
Cancelled Game Gear games
Amiga CD32 games
DOS games
Game Boy games
GameTek games
Imagitec Design games
Mirage Technologies (Multimedia) Ltd. games
Piko Interactive games
Prehistoric people in popular culture
Puzzle video games
Sega Genesis games
Super Nintendo Entertainment System games
Video game franchises
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Video games developed in the United Kingdom
Video games scored by Barry Leitch
Video games scored by Ian Howe
Video games set in prehistory
Windows games
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