Tail of the Sun - The Best Damn Caveman Simulator Ever!
Numerous game concepts have been beaten to death - namely, WWII shooters and GTA-inspired titles. However, here's an idea you don't see pop up often: a game based upon the life of a caveman. Yup, it's true - in 1996 Sony released Tail of the Sun, a caveman simulator on their ever-popular Playstation game console.
The game flopped both commercially and critically. Unlike many other titles that receive this dreaded fate, however, Tail of the Sun lacked a hardcore cult following as well.
Maybe when you view this Youtube video you'll understand why:
But hey, at least it's unique - right? If I ever found a copy if in the bargain bin somewhere I'd surely snap it up...
Labels: 1996, Playstation, PSX, Tail of the Sun
posted by Ross @ 3:30 PM
11 comments
11 Comments:
It's on the Japanese Playstation Network store if you're serious -- it's not a bad little zone-out game. :-)
Ok, it doesn't look brilliant, I give you that, but I feel it could be interesting. 'd love to read a bargain-bin review, mind you...
So all you basically do is pick up food? That video could have gone a little deeper.
Nevermind, still looks crap!
That feeling of interest you have gnome will vanish after you play this garbage.
Your link for GNADE GAMES should be updated to:
Graduate Games' Blog:
http://blog.graduategames.com
Thanks
Thank u, you know I was looking for this game, I couldn’t remember the game's name, I recall it from a UK magazine back in 95 CVG, anyhow I googled it as PSX and caveman and your blog pop-up with the name!
so thank u for making it easier now is the hunt for the game.
Tail of the Sun is a fun game. Certainly it isn't for everyone! It is very much a zone-out experience at first, but the further you go, the more ferocious the encounters. For its time, this game had a vast explorable world, with some good easter eggs and locations you couldn't get to unless you developed your caveman properly. It doesn't play out like so many other heavily linear chapter-by-chapter games, and that's the point!! I might as well be talking to a brick wall..It's like trying to explain to some FPS shooter fanboy that just because you don't like a game doesn't mean it's bad. It's just not your speed or style. And as for FUNNYMAN trying to compare Tail of the Sun to Vampire Rain.. lol.. well, obviously if you compare games made decades apart, there may be a bit of a disparity there! There was a lot of heart put into Tail of the Sun, not to mention a superb soundtrack. It's like trying to explain to someone from a younger generation how awesome Centipede or Adventure was on the Atari 2600 and hearing them balk at the graphics, or some fanboy raving about how some SNES game was in 3D while ignoring some of the greatest games ever made just because they were pixeled 2D titles.
Oh man! Tail of the Sun! I zoned out yesterday on a memory of this game from years ago and couldn't remember the name - but here it is! I loved this damn game. I remember it being pretty awful and unappealing, but I couldn't stop playing it. Next thing you know, a month later, I was still playing it and loved it. I remember how it would be getting dark, and the caveman would be ready to fall asleep - so I'd just start running full tilt up a nearby mountain so when he'd pass out, he'd just end up an unconscious, sleeping body sliding back down the mountain face. Always got a laugh out of my little kid self.
I actually really enjoyed this game, when I was young. I've been looking into getting another copy for a while, but haven't found a good price.
The review is partially fair - the object interaction is a little shaky - but there's actually quite a bit of depth to it. Not only do you need to keep the capabilities of your current caveman in mind, but the food you eat changes your characteristics and those of your tribe, so the food you pick up has both temporary and long-term effects. The world is massive, and there are several unique places that give additional benefits, such as a shamanistic tattoo that permanently increases an attribute, or a cache of one of the best food items.
Your tribe gradually grows as you play (if you're doing it right), with the rate of growth increasing with Fertility. When you die, you don't respawn - instead, you choose one of your tribemates and take control of him or her. Your technology level raises with your Intelligence, with fists as a starting weapon and deadly spears as the culmination (I think).
The enemy spawns are random, and all enemies can be killed for meat, which is one of the most valuable types of food; though some areas have higher spawn rates for different animals, it can largely be predicted. Sometimes, though, you'll be venturing out early on and find a hostile ape - not good for a hunter from a burgeoning tribe!
Hunting, eating, exploring, advancing technologically, growing your tribe - all of these lead to an ultimate goal of slaying Wooly Mammoths and using their tusks to build a tower to the Sun. When you're back at home, you can see your tower's current size, based on the number of tusks collected, which gives a good feeling of continuity to the game, which otherwise is quite episodic. You can sleep when not at home for extended journeys, in which case you'll find yourself waking up in (roughly) the same place you went to sleep.
Bottom line: if you find the game at a good price, pick it up. Despite this video review, it is a quite-worthwhile game.
Not many "open-world" games when it came out. Excellent game, lots of good memories playing it. It definetly takes a while to get into it so I can understand the negative review on the youtubes.
owned this game back in the day. It was very cool and I am glad i found the name, and will be looking for the rom.
thanks.
Post a Comment
<< Home