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Battlemorph

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Battlemorph
Cover art in all regions
Developer(s)Attention to Detail
Publisher(s)Atari Corporation
Producer(s)Sean Patten
Designer(s)Jim McPhail
Stuart Tilley
Programmer(s)Andrew Holtom
Fred Gill
Peter Long
Artist(s)Dave West
Ian Harling
Joanne Surman
Writer(s)Sadge
Composer(s)Will Davis
Platform(s)Atari Jaguar CD
Release
  • NA/EU: December 1995
Genre(s)Shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Battlemorph is a shooter video game developed by Attention to Detail and published by Atari Corporation exclusively for the Atari Jaguar CD in North America and Europe in December 1995. It is the sequel to Cybermorph (1993), a pack-in game for the Atari Jaguar.

Set 30 years after the events in Cybermorph, the player takes control of a morphing infiltration fighter craft named War Griffon in an extermination mission against the returning Pernitia Empire, who plans to take over the galaxy and eradicate humanity after being pushed back into their home planet by creating invasion fleets in order to do so, and liberate multiple galaxy clusters from their control. Originally announced in early 1994 as one of the first upcoming titles for the Jaguar CD, Battlemorph was conceived and pitched to Atari Corp. after the release of Cybermorph, with the team using content ideas that were not included in the original game. It was the last project developed by ATD for the Jaguar before Atari discontinued both platforms and merged with JT Storage in April 1996.

Battlemorph received mostly positive reviews when it was released, with critics praising the graphics, soundtrack, the ability to traverse across any terrain, and overall improvements made over Cybermorph, while some felt divided in regards to the controls and criticized the game's short draw distance. Online publications such as AllGame have referred it as one of the best games released for the Atari Jaguar CD add-on.

Gameplay

File:JAGCD Battlemorph.jpg
Gameplay screenshot.

Like its predecessor, Battlemorph is a semi-open three-dimensional shooter game that is primarily played from a third-person perspective. The player pilots the War Griffon, a new variation of the T-Griffon fighter craft from the original game, capable of traversing through underwater and tunnel areas besides the main planetary surface, in order to complete various types of mission objectives such as retrieval of data pods, activation of detonators in military outposts and elimination of enemy headquarters across eight galaxy clusters dominated by generals from the Pernitia Empire. Each cluster consists of six planets that can be played in any order, with a boss on the sixth planet before moving into the next cluster.[1] Three levels of difficulty are available to choose from before starting any file. If a Memory Track cartridge is present, progress will be automatically saved, otherwise players can play through the game without saving. By pressing Option on the main menu screen, players can access the options screen and change other settings.[1] The game also features support for the ProController.

Before the start of any area, the player can load the War Griffon with up to four special weapons to use against enemies and enemy buildings, though only two special weapons are available to choose from at the beginning of the game. Ammunition must be picked up when playing on the level in order to replenish weapons, as they are not refilled after finishing a level, and total ammunition capacity can be expanded by finding expansions hidden within their respective levels. New weapons can be obtained by finding four fragments to expand the ship's arsenal, and other upgrades for the ship are found through the levels.[1] A new addition to the sequel are capsule-shaped energy pods, allowing the player to recover a small amount of energy for the ship, and full recovery can be done by finding an energizing ring in the area.[1] As with Cybermorph, players can crash into mountains and buildings, however, their ship is not instantly destroyed when flying at high speed into the latter. Like the previous game, the player has a set number of lives at the start and if all of them are lost, the game is over, though extra lives can be found hidden in the levels.[1]

When flying through the tunnel sections, the perspective changes from third-person to first-person and the player can only rotate left and right, while blocked doors can be opened by pressing switches inside these sections.[1] Some bodies of water can also either benefit or harm the player, and more enemies and obstacles are introduced in later levels.[1] A returning element from the first game is the on-board artificial intelligence Skylar, now colored in blue and she is more helpful to the player this time, transmitting important information during gameplay such as nearby objectives.[1]

Plot

Battlemorph takes place 30 years after the events occurred in Cybermorph.[1] After their defeat by the Resistance, the Pernitia Empire was pushed back into their own galaxy cluster but at the cost of human colonies. Deciding not to risk another invasion, the Earth Defense Council built fleets of interstellar battle cruisers to patrol the colonies.[1] At first, there were no signs of irregular activities, but battle cruisers near the Perseus Star Cluster started disappearing, while other cruisers reported signs of Pernitian activity across eight galaxy clusters before their disappearance. Fearing for the worst, the Defense Council deploys their last battle cruiser, the Sutherland, into the Perseus Star Cluster for a reconnaissance and extermination mission.[1] Carrying the War Griffon infiltration fighter craft, an upgraded variation of the original Cybermorph TransmoGriffon (T-Griffon), the Sutherland manages to reach the Perseus Star Cluster, but runs out of plasma energy after using the ship's warp drive systems. The only way of reaching the Pernish galaxy cluster, homeworld of the Pernitia Empire, is through the recovery of more plasma energy from Pernitian generals across the eight planetary clusters. The player is assigned to pilot the War Griffon and retrieve the energy before the empire launches a full-scale invasion against humanity, as well as the galaxy.[1] After clearing out each galaxy cluster and recovering enough plasma energy, the Sutherland finally reaches the Pernish galaxy cluster and the player manages to completely defeat the Pernitia Empire after destruction of their home planet.

Development and release

One of the first titles announced for the Atari Jaguar CD, Battlemorph used techniques learned late in the development of Cybermorph to improve the experience.

A sequel to Cybermorph was pitched by Attention to Detail to Atari Corporation after the first game was released to the market in 1993, with ATD co-founder and programmer Fred Gill stating that the team wanted to make a continuation and implement ideas that were not able to include in the original game.[2][3] Battlemorph was first announced in early 1994 as one of the first upcoming games for the Atari Jaguar CD add-on along with the remake of Blue Lightning, another project in development by ATD and was showcased at SCES 1994,[4][5][6] and was originally slated for a December 1994 release.[7][8][9] The game was later showcased in a non-playable state at WCES 1995, where it was announced to be a pack-in title with the Jaguar CD,[10][11][12] and was also showcased at E3 1995 in an early playable state.[13] It was later slated for an August 1995 release and was also covered by the magazine press that were invited to Atari Corp.'s US and UK divisions.[14][15][16][17] The game was also showcased at the Fun 'n' Games Day press event hosted by Atari.[18]

The developers used techniques they learned late in the development of Cybermorph to make more efficient use of the Jaguar hardware, allowing them to achieve more impressive technical feats in Battlemorph.[3] Former Atari producer Leonard Tramiel demanded that the game use texture-mapped graphics,[3] but the final release features a combination of gouraud-shaded polygon models and environments with minimal texture mapping instead. The narration, menu and both mission briefing and debriefing voice work was done by comedian actor Rob Brydon,[19] and David Lowe's wife Victoria "Vicky" Lowe reprised her role as Skylar from the original game.[20] Internal paperwork from Atari Corp. showed that development on the game was completed on December 11, 1995.[21] The title was released by Atari in North America and Europe in December 1995,[22][23] becoming the last project developed by ATD for the Jaguar before Atari discontinued both platforms and merged with JT Storage in April 1996.[3][24][25] In 2019, independent publisher Songbird Productions acquired the rights to Battlemorph, and announced a limited re-run of the game alongside a soundtrack album, which were released in 2021.[26][27][28]

Reception

When previewed in their January 1996 issue, Dave Halverson of GameFan praised the improvements made over Cybermorph, calling Battlemorph "one of the Jag's brightest lights".[40]

A reviewer for Next Generation called Battlemorph "a truly innovative action game and a must-have for Jaguar owners." He commented mainly on the graphics, contending that while they have little detail and short draw distance, they carry a strong sense of style and suspense, particularly in the effective use of underwater sections. He further admitted that the full motion video cutscenes have some value. He acknowledged that the controls are imperfect but said they become easier with practice.[32]

Casey Loe of GameFan, while acknowledging that "it won't blow anyone away with its 3-D capabilities", praised the music, worlds, missions and weapons variety, stating that "this one will keep you busy for as long it takes for another good Jag CD title to hit".[41]

GamePro's brief review, however, argued that "Battlemorph provides below-average terrain-skimming shooting in a typical polygon environment and features really poor control. While the tunnel and underwater areas refresh this tedious game, the dismal one-color landscapes are the same as those in half of the Jaguar games out there."[42]

In a retrospective review, Allgame commented, "If you had to choose one game to demonstrate how great the Jaguar CD add-on could have been, Battlemorph would be a likely candidate." The review lauded the graphics (especially in the underwater sections), the music, and the way the game offers the player a variety of options for responding to attacks, achieving objectives, and exploring environments.[29]

References

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  3. ^ a b c d Battison, Jamie (September 8, 2016). "RVG Interviews – Fred Gill". Retro Video Gamer UK. Zaps Media. Archived from the original on 2018-06-30. Retrieved 2018-09-19.
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