Abandonware Anomalies | Hugo

Other Songs Used
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Osamu Sato - Funky Solution
??? - Hugo i Przyjaciele
Wszyscy mamy źle w głowach, że żyjemy
Hej, hej, la, la, la, la, hej, hej, hej, hej
Ever wanted to experience a washed up celebrity in video game form? Well Hugo is about as close as you'll ever get to experiencing that. What was once a huge innovative gameshow empire that became a household name in one half of the world, quickly faded into obscurity mainly due to corporate greed.
BTW it's pretty hard to hold a phone horizontally and underhand throw a legit legally obtained PS1.
Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
01:37 - Hugo: The Gameshow
04:45 - Hugo: The Game
25:00 - The Fate Of Hugo
Socials
Twitter - / thee_danhalen
Insta - / thee_danhalen

[@danhalencool]

As much as I'd love to provide sources to backup all the info I found, I unfortunately got an email from KZbin stating that one of the links contained spam or something. So to be completely safe and avoid any further issues I got rid of all the source links in the description. If you'd like to learn more, I got most of my info from the references tab from the Hugo (Game Show), Interactive Television Entertainment, Hugo (Video Game), and List Of Hugo Video Games Wikipedia articles. EDIT: I've now made a pastebin containing some of the sources I've used for this video pastebin.com/TxtGsFAW

[@Tornado_Mang]

Its one thing to mention youre polish, but the Kiepskich household background really solidified this. Thanks for the reference (insert Walduś laugh here)

[@Tornado_Mang]

Also I totally remember the Hugo gameshow being aired on Polsat back in the day, and when I visited Poland back in 2012/2013, I tried to call in to the show while it aired, but the number was unavailable... so it seemed that the number was out of order for some time and they were just airing old reruns but still asking people to call in. At this time, I couldn't really find out why they were doing this but it was whatever. Did manage to find the shitty kart game on GBA tho.

[@danhalencool]

@@Tornado_Mang I'm glad you noticed the background lol, honestly I couldn't think of anything better to use so I just decided to slap it on. Kiepskich fuckin slaps but sadly it's not the same without Boczek and Paździoch, RIP. Also surprised that they're were doing re-runs of Hugo for that long. I know it's not the most reliable source but according to Wikipedia the show stopped airing in Poland circa 2009.

[@meltdownremix1996]

Not only did he have an argentinian version of the show (which I watched religiously as a kid) but the same channel, Magic Kids, utilized the same phonecall controls system for a similar show called Kito Pizzas! It was more in line with platforming games (still railroaded as hell) instead of minigames) and fully 3D. Unlike Hugo though this never got a playable version outside of the show, and recordings of the show are incomplete and low quality. Still very interesting as a topic though, although you probably won't find anything about it that isn't in spanish.

[@Varghjerta]

Hugo is just one of those characters that feel like a strange feverdream because no one else remembers him until a video like yours pops up and verifies that it wasn't some hallucination of a summer spent in the Swedish countryside watching kid's cartoons in the morning... Never got to call in but I remember how infuriated I was at how badly everyone always played who did call in, not at all grasping the concept of delays between the phone and the action being performed. It'd be cool to see you tackle other European oddballs, at least the select few that may have gotten English versions

[@danhalencool]

I'd love to cover more European oddballs, it's just that I don't know very many of them. Apart from Hugo, the only other game I could think of would be Kao The Kangaroo. Also I've got plans to cover de Blob too. Almost forgot to mention Heart Of Darkness.

[@curiokryptic]

Huh, I didn't actually know that Hugo was a thing outside of Scandinavia (I'm Norwegian), let alone that it was originally a TV show! My main memories of Hugo consists of playing it on the computer at my after school program in the mid 2000s, as well as Agent Hugo and Roborumble on the PS2! Never knew about his origins Thanks for the history lesson! 👍

[@alexandreturcotte6411]

Hugo is the kind of character and who finds you rather than you finding him, at least for me. Like seriously, Hugo is never the kind of character I activly try to watch stuff off on a regular basis, but each time I see a video about him on a KZbin chanel, he makes me smile a bit... Seeing Hugo in pre rendered 3D stuff (The pc era) rather than the more "super scaler" style of background of the early Hugo days (The Amiga era) feels weird to me. Didn't knew about Agent Hugo and the mid 2000s revival attempt. Would be glad to hear more about Polish media.

[@danhalencool]

I remember as a kid I was actually blown away by the pre-rendered 3D graphics specifically that one level where Hugo's running on a rainbow through space. I always loved watching people play it, such a trippy and cool looking level. And some more info about the Polish version, it kept going until sometime around 2009. It went on for so long that they started featuring Agent Hugo minigames. I never stuck around for that long though and I remember a little after they started featuring minigames from Black Diamond Fever that the show was really hard to tune into, as in it became harder to catch an episode of it because it started airing at like really weird times or something.

[@CQCorruptionQuest]

Found out about hugo through thorhighheels but I didn't expect to learn all of this. Good video man

[@danhalencool]

Him describing Hugo as a "curse throisted upon unsuspecting European children" is a painfully accurate statement. It feels very strange as an American that a good portion of my childhood was spent watching this gross TV goblin. The only people I can share and relate my memories with are those who live on the other side of the world. Also thank you for introducing me to thorhighheels.

[@Z_E_B_O]

I assume the first german Hugo game was made by a different team than the english version, cause TV mode and Arcade are something completely different than gamemode and players. So, "Spieler" isn't only the singular, but also the plural, the only thing that changes is the definite article. Usually if "Spieler" is an option in a game you would be able to switch either between single player or multiplayer mode, or switch between different characters. And as you said there were many minigames in the TV-show, so I assume with "Spielmodus" you'd probably change between those, or maybe you could set the difficulty there. (I just noticed the icons next to Spielmodus and Spieler. I have no idea why they chose to do it this way, but yeah. I think Fernseh Modus wouldve been confusing cause many people probably didnt know there was a TV show?) Anyway, this reminded me, that where I live there used to be a shoe store with a ballpit inside (I believe it was a shoe store for kids lol), but also one of those arcade machines where you could play a Hugo game. I believe it was a game similar to 2:40. My memory of this is a bit foggy cause this was like 16-20 years ago, but we also used to have a CD of a Hugo album with music on it. Other than that, yeah I believe I've seen some german magazines here with Hugo on the front page, mostly PC-game magazines.

[@LoZander]

holy, I think i might have played the flying game as a kid. I'm a dane and I know I've played some Hugo stuff in my childhood, but the memories are very vague

[@jeffiot]

yoo i havent even watched this yet, but just finished your rayman vid and then i see youve made one about gosh dang hugo? What a treat. Also saw you mention heart of darkness in another comment, and i might be biased cause im gonna do a video on it at some point, but you def should. One small creator to another, keep it up!

[@danhalencool]

Same goes to you man. For a dude who only has 4k subs your content and production is super high quality, I love it!

[@sitcatz9249]

As a German native who played the PS1 version of Hugo as a child I can confirm a few things: 1. 7:28 You're right, that's just a crappy translation. The German PS1 version just called it TV-Version which makes a lot more sense 2. 10:06 Your memory doesn't decieve you: For some reason in the English version Hugo just says the most basic shit. The German version, however ... Let me just tell you that this is one of the few products in all of media where I find the German translation and voice acting worlds better than the English one. The German Hugo lines are just incredibly charming and witty and we still use them as inside jokes in my family. I'm sure they're on a similar level quality-wise in Polish and probably some other languages. On a side note: I adore this first and also the second Hugo game simply because I've played them so many times back when I was a child with my grandma who didn't play a single other videogame but somehow managed to clear levels like Forest multiple times. She's 97 by now and we still boot up our old PS1 from time to time to replay a few levels. It's her favorite video game.

[@danhalencool]

After rewatching a few clips of the show, I gotta say Hugo's lines in the polish version don't really hit as well as I remember but his voice actor CARRIED it as a host. His delivery, the funny little gremlin voice he gave to Hugo, and his ability to be so quick witted on the spot is probably the sole reason why Hugo lasted almost a decade in Poland. While I don't like this first game, admittedly I'd still love to try out Jungle Island and the TV Version of Black Diamond Fever since I grew up only watching those two versions.

[@MyNamesNotLars1]

Not the Hugo abandonware I was expecting. Great vid! Had no idea this existed but I'd seen the mascot before floating around.

[@danhalencool]

Yeah actually I did notice there's another game series that goes by the name Hugo. I remember doing research for this vid and stumbling upon a GOG link for a Hugo trilogy. Immediately almost went into a nervous breakdown because I thought the Hugo I was covering was no longer abandonware which would've meant that this entire video would've been scrapped in the midst of me writing the script. Turns out the GOG link was for a completely different Hugo series.

[@umanrax8361]

I remember playing one of the Hugo games in 3-D that came out in ps1 and it was strange, the game had a very bizarre aura, many years I thought that Hugo was just an obscure video game mascot or that maybe he came from a comic book like Asterix, I had no idea that it came from a television program, nice video dude.

[@danhalencool]

I'm the complete opposite, I used to think Hugo was just a gameshow and it wasn't until recently when I found out he had a huge lineup of games. Kinda sucks that they're all bad, I've heard most of the 3D ones are basically just Crash Bandicoot rip-offs.

[@benjaminmuratore9341]

I honestly thought that Hugo originated in the form of a cartoon or comic, I had no idea about the game show. Reminds me of some kids videos on KZbin actually, but less interactive. Also, whenever Hugo shouted "Yippee!" on the mountain level, am I the only one who felt reminded of the educational Bible games on the Cd-i?

[@MysteriousStranger50]

I was born in 1993. Who or what is Hugo? How can he be an apparently hyper popular figure that I don’t think I’ve ever heard mentioned until now lol. This is like when you see news on some streamer drama, stating how popular they are and you’re just oblivious to every name in the story

[@Litronom]

I've totally forgotten about all those minigames. Back then, it was always funny hearing callers trying to finish the games with delayed inputs

[@danhalencool]

It's way more hilarious in the Polish version. There was one host who was a younger fella that took the game way too seriously. He'd basically yell at kids for small mistakes or delayed reactions even though most of that was caused by input delay. Rewatching those older clips honestly made me feel a little sorry for the kids that played, I can imagine that most of them were probably hella stressed because of a hardcore backseat gaming host.

[@Litronom]

@@danhalencool Wow! Thanks for the insight about the Polish TV version. Must have been a difficult job for him, haha

[@sonicfan1693]

I guess judging from the menus layout that "Spielmodus" (Gamemode) and "Spieler" (Players) are toggles. I presume Gamemode would switch between TV and Arcade version while Players selects the amount of players. I am mostly coming to that conclusion due to the icons next to the menu options.

[@danhalencool]

Nah those icons are just there to vaguely show what the two modes mean. Spielmodus has a TV because it's the TV Version. Spieler has a little dude because it's singleplayer or something. I found that out pretty recently and the menu still confuses me ngl.

[@sonicfan1693]

Was worth a shot i guess.@@danhalencool

[@OneAngryDeacon]

Hey, interesting to know your cultural background is from Poland. I don't know if you've ever covered point and click's on your channel (I noticed you had a moment from Duckman in your titles haha) but a year or two ago I bought a game called Kajko i Kokosz from gog because I loved the art style. Sadly there's not translation at all and it's a property with other games and movies so I can' google it too well (especially because I don't speak a word of Polish). I am an explorer in the further regions of p&c experience, so would love to know more. Would happily buy you a copy if you're interested w/ no obligaton. I believe in the genre so I support it wherever I can. I thought maybe though it might be an interesting subject for a video on your channel. Just like to put ideas out there these days, as I say no obligation. There's also another game called The Prince and the Coward which does have translation patch thru ScummVM that, just mixing that in as well haha. Keep on fighting the good fight

[@danhalencool]

Honestly I'm not a huge fan of point ant clicks but I do plan on covering a few in the future like Duckman, Neverhood, and Darkseed. I might take a look at Kajko i Kokosz too but I actually can't seem to find the GOG link to it anywhere, only MyAbandonware. Also I've never heard a single thing about Kajko i Kokosz, upon doing a quick google search it looks like a rip off of Asterix & Obelix and as it turns out it kinda is lol. Started out as a comic book series that eventually got it's own TV series and a few video games.

[@OneAngryDeacon]

@@danhalencool I found an announcement listing but it looks like the links are dead so it's probably been delisted, also I don't think YT is happy for me to post a link outside of the site so I've had to remove the link. I did learn the specific game's title is "Kajko i Kokosz, Polanie oraz Zagadki Lwa Leona" It did look a bit Asterix & Obelix-y haha. I'm always evangelising for P&Cs but I know they're not everyone's cup of tea (why I literally had to stop myself doing so further even in this very comment haha)

[@SiveenO]

Just to clear it up rq: you can see a TV screen right of "Spielmodus". I assume you can swap between it and something else? (These translations are still whack though).

[@danhalencool]

Okay yeah I think those are just icons for the two gamemodes but for the longest time they confused the hell out of me. I thought those were things you could select but nope.

[@Evilriku13]

I assume the Spielmodus means it's autoselected with the TV or arcade version in the first place which you can switch up in between. Because I remember someone streaming said Hugo games not too long ago and they mention that that option does switch that up. It's a shame really that not all Hugo games from it's TV counterpart do exist on home CD in any shape or form. But because we are here, I say my favorites are around Hugo 4, Hugo 5 & Hugo Jungle Island. The latter had cool music even and they stepped up the animation quality.

[@lekntakfs1071]

I discovered as a kid with this game that bad games existed. For some reason I despised that guy a lot, maybe because of the spanish dub. I was surprised when I discovered later that it was from a game show and you had to use your phone to play it.