Five BAD Games from Ocean Software

[@ErinPlays]

Hey, thanks for watching my video 😊 If there's other game developers you'd like to see a video like this about, let me know!

[@joshuawoodbridge6267]

What about Bethesda's NES and Amiga games?

[@BlackPopeye44]

This should be easy for you since you know of 2 people that makes a living playing, yelling and cussing at terrible games

[@BB-te8tc]

Konami or Capcom. They're the crown jewels of the NES but their names were sometimes put on not-exactly-great games.

[@Cranilla13]

Erin you should have put "Darkman" instead of "The Shadow." "The Untouchables" is pretty rough too.

[@HiNRGboy]

@らてちゃん I LOVE Bandai!! Haha!! No love for Chubby Cherub?! 😂😂😂 TH*Q on the other hand, omfg!!!! That would be a good one Erin! Rocky & Bullwinkle, Tom & Jerry... Did they make Swamp Thing too??

[@tonydeluna8095]

Hell yes it’s Erin Plays! It’s great to see you back💛

[@photon_EARTH]

Sadly, The Shadow looks to be the only playable game. Ocean couldn’t allow that, so it stayed unreleased lol! Great video Erin

[@SerpentNight]

I've played it and its very, very average. Like the movie. But then they came out at a time when non-comic superhero media only got released if it was sufficiently self deprecating.

[@xraypunch5959]

The two Jurassic Park games they made for the SNES are legit good despite some flaws. It helps that the first one was actually supervised by Spielberg (seriously) and the second wasn't based on any movie sequel, it was made as it's own thing and wasn't a rush job

[@steveng010]

Ocean games were a big part of my childhood here in the UK. A lot of nostalgia for me

[@leefischer5814]

Yeah on the Micros I'm sure they're awesome, but as far as console ports are concerned they were pleasing graphically and conceptually, just not in the controls.

[@GustlikRGZ]

Ocean made some awesome ports for computer platforms, like ZX Spectrum and C64 - including Contra, Gradius and Green Beret. The NES, however, wasn't their thing.

[@jrothweldo7]

@@GustlikRGZ green beret was an awesome game used 2 play it on the c64 in my mates when we was kids good times

[@Tarim06]

I did used to work for Ocean in the 1990's and I was aware they had not only some great games, but a few little nuggets of gold like these in their back catalogue.

[@expotemkin]

Do you know why they didnt end up releasing The Shadow?

[@Tarim06]

@@expotemkin I think that was a year or so before my time. Im guessing that The Shadow is not exactly a well known character and there either not a successful push of that character all those years ago OR more likely the game was canned mid-development to concentrate on other "bigger" licences.. It was a bit more wild-west back in the day and things got started then were finished too quickly to really do them justice and just to get the games out. Regardless of QA or anything else. Who knows - The Shadow knows..

[@akronguy3616]

Did I hear the theme song from California Games mixed in there? This just unlocked a bunch of memories! How about a video showcasing games with the most underrated music? Or a challenge video where someone plays some music and you have to guess which games they’re from?

[@ErinPlays]

Yep! Alien Olympics barely had any music, so I felt some California Games would be a nice touch :) And doing a video about video game music could definitely be fun!

[@JuanWonOne]

So where I live we've got a radio station that on every Sunday from 10pm to 12am would play old radio shows. They'd play tales from the crypt style spooky show, hitchhikers guid to the galaxy, lone ranger, the shadow, and many more. Id stay up with my lights off and radio turned down, so I wouldnt get caught, and wait for those shows to come on as a kid. That poster you showed with the blue coal ad, made me think "use blue coal, you'll burn less and save more." Brought back so much nostalgia. Thank you for that 🙂

[@Sailor_Samara]

I had some of those Flintstone’s McDonald’s toys back in the day… I just remember putting the stickers on the buildings and being frustrated lol

[@allluckyseven]

9:18 - The castle looks like a cat screaming with its paws up in the air. Especially in 9:25.

[@ErinPlays]

Haha, I thought that too and almost included a line about it. Glad I’m not alone!

[@yusakug]

Platoon has to be the strangest movie license on the Nintendo.

[@simplesimonhadapie]

if you would like an explanation into how ocean worked these licences this is a great place kzbin.info/www/bejne/pWG3dmxobM9nmdU

[@Brossentia]

Thanks for checking out some Ocean games! I've grown to be a fairly big defender of the Ocean devs - management usually didn't get them enough development time to make something that felt polished, so if they feel rushed, they often were. Yet many times, you can see hints of brilliance in their games. I like the idea of RoboCop having momentum (what with being a heavy robot boy), but it didn't get the polish it deserved. Love the video!

[@Brossentia]

As for a developer to check out, give Capstone's DOS games a shot. I also think some have great ideas, but almost every single one was a flop.

[@ErinPlays]

Understandable. Yeah, there are totally some interesting ideas in their games that sadly weren’t fully executed. Like parts in Jurassic Park on SNES, for example. And I don’t have experience with DOS games but it’s definitely something I should start looking into! Thanks for watching!

[@man_man...]

Nobody cares about the developers' work problems 😡🤬

[@man_man...]

Who cares about the developers' work problems 😡🤬

[@BB-te8tc]

Many of their games are worth playing even if just for the soundtracks.

[@thepolacek]

I know it’s not Ocean, but I really enjoyed the first nes robocop game. As a kid, I hated the flintstones movie and everything related to it…. I still do.

[@EugeneAxe]

Erin, I agree that Friday the 13th's overhead map made a world of difference. Actually made the game somewhat playable. As for Platoon, well, you're certainly right. Definitely a hot mess I'll be avoiding despite it being a classic film.

[@bentacowski]

I think I speak for the whole community when I say we need more vids from you Erin! Much love and keep up the great work!

[@ErinPlays]

I'm trying! 😅And thanks so much :)

[@zeliardforty-two4692]

Will always remember the Atari ST version of Robocop. I had just watched the movie so I just had to try and beat it. If you wanted a stiff side scrolling beat-‘em-up it definitely serves! That music will always remain in my head

[@PaulEMoz]

Platoon is excellent on the Commodore 64! Some of the music is superb, and once you get past the jungle levels there are some incredibly tense and varied levels to tackle. Also, it was a lot different to most movie tie-ins, and the fact it was a sympathetic treatment of the movie rather than an inappropriate Commando-esque game raised it pretty high as far as film licenced games went.

[@Domarius64]

I did notice there was a "morale" bar, that alone looked like they were attempting to respect the movie.

[@TANKTREAD]

Love the music at the end from the NES game "RoboCop". A spin on Basil Poledouris' awesome score.

[@Ninten70]

Despite the glitches, The Shadow is an amazing yet obscure beat em up by ocean. Another good one from Ocean is Fighter's Destiny for N64.

[@mr.a8315]

Great to see you back, loved the vid. 😃 ♥

[@chocolocojames213]

Great intro music. I hope the new RoboCop will turn out well. Nice video Erin 😊😊😊

[@ErinPlays]

Thanks! 😊

[@daytimesky]

I played almost none of Ocean's games, but I did like their SNES Jurassic Park game. I thought that one, while flawed, had some neat ideas and excellent music.

[@Seankwondo87]

I love that game, just wish it had a save file or password system

[@kri249]

I use to own it. Definitely needed a save option. And a better ending.

[@jupreindeer]

I actually do regard that game as the pinnacle of Ocean's work. Almost seems like they outsourced for some kind of talent when they tackled the Jurassic franchise.

[@NYKgjl10]

Excellent video and I remember the horrors of RoboCop 2 for the NES very vividly. The intro rocks, but once level 1 commences, I asked my parents to go back to the video rental store and get another NES game which we did I think we got Roller games. Smart choice!!

[@ZEKESPILLEDINKMUSIC]

It's interesting that Waterworld isn't on this list. That is one of the cases where the music for the SNES version (released only in Europe) is better than the game. And the movie.

[@ErinPlays]

With Waterworld I've heard the music but never played it!

[@ZEKESPILLEDINKMUSIC]

@@ErinPlays SNES Drunk reviewed the game years ago and said that the gameplay was very bland. Use the boat to rescue civilians and defeat enemies, dive for treasure, defeat more enemies, and repeat.

[@joshzumstien6289]

Great stuff Erin! As a first time watcher I knew I'd like your channel as soon as I saw Platoon pop up, had no idea anyone else remembered that one! Lots of memories of my cousin and I playing it and being hopelessly lost in the jungle, not knowing where to go 😄. I look forward to watching more of your stuff!

[@ErinPlays]

Hey thank you and welcome aboard!

[@HorrorHound87]

One other game I remember from Ocean was "Darkman" based on the 1990 movie of the same that actually captured the vibe and feel of the movie but had the same horrible slippery on ice platform controls. Great video Erin ♀️🕹️📺😊

[@totemlordreviews7242]

Lmao! Poor Fred. I know he's always been tubby but making him constantly out of breath??? Ocean are a bunch of jerks!!! Great video!

[@nbmike65]

9:19 You see a sand castle, I see Pikachu with his hands in the air! 😂

[@TheInfiniteMiseryJumper]

Great video Erin 😇 As a Brit, I can highly recommend Kim Justice's videos on Ocean if you want a really good idea of their whole gaming philosophy 🎮

[@ErinPlays]

Thanks! And cool, I’ll have to check that out :)

[@goodall1bay]

Robocop 2 was the first NES game I completed. I remember mastering the ice walking. God was it hard

[@xenos_n.]

I think my favorite Ocean game was Micro Machines for the SNES.

[@Mr_x_19922]

Oh that game was awesome, Ibhad it for Playstation as a kid

[@danbauer3669]

I got that on NES, N64 and SGG. All these ones are Codemasters games though.

[@joaquinvelasquez6252]

Your frames look so cool! I could see then forming to your face making a superhero mask! 🦸‍♀️

[@ErinPlays]

haha, thanks!

[@richterbelmont2544]

5:07 Games were definitely designed around the whole game rental business model. Make the game difficult not only to increase overall replay value, but also to force you to rent the game more than once.

[@VanillaCuckoo]

Very nice, Erin, I could really feel the pain and disappointment in your voice! I would like to give an honorary mention to Highlander, Ocean's abysmal release for the ZX Spectrum that I had the severe misfortune of owning as a small child. Good grief, it was terrible. I feel I also have to mention Street Hawk, as an example of an Ocean game that wasn't too bad. It was actually my dad's favourite Spectrum game, the only one I didn't have to force him to play with me!

[@ChildrenShowArchive456]

6:45 One of my favorite Thomas narrators in a SNES game!? That’s so cool!

[@KingHenryVR4]

Watching your video makes me want to break out a SNES and play through the (OCEAN) games I have Lethal Weapon and Jurassic Park :)

[@capitanpepinillo]

Yay! Ocean! I always thought the developers of RoboCop 2 were the same of Darkman. Both games put the main character on slipery floors. You´ll end falling to the abyss most of the time. But I like the company. Brings a lot of memories. I had Platoon for PC and I forgot about it! Thanks for refreshing my memory.

[@ESLTeacherTom]

Platoon had potential! Good NES graphics!

[@outerspaceman7534]

I remember those Flintstones McDonald’s glass cups. I don’t know which of my relatives bought them. They had a cool texture to them.

[@drskelebone]

Thank you for pointing out the game looked like Final Fight. I immediately recognized it from somewhere, and having that oddity resolved so quickly is great! :D

[@JohnnyParrotJoe]

Hi Erin! Believe it or not, My aunt gave me the Platoon game as an eight years old birthday present, I think it was... 1988? (can't remember). The thing is... The first stage is extremely confusing and difficult. But I was able to understand it like two years later, and finished the game. There are 3 more stages and they are all different. Not the best game, but I love it. Maybe is the nostalgia thing.

[@ArttuTheCat]

I used to have PLATOON on my Commodore 64 as a tape version. Also, i played it on my Amiga 500 many years ago 😺👍🕹️. Greetings from Vantaa, Finland 🇫🇮.

[@daytonchris8351]

i remember the mcdonald's marketing for the flintstones. the commercials and the mugs. when i think of 90's promotion at mcdonald's batman and this movie are the 1st things i think about. lol

[@anthonywheeler2082]

I love the new intro Erin. Your channel is one step closer to being a vaporwave channel! And I remember the whole Rockdonalds Flintstones advertising blitzkreig. I and a bunch of others had the free Rockdonald's T-shirt. I also have The Flintstones glass stump cup. I have the Robin cup from Batman Forever, too. It's hard to tell on the commercial but those cups are beautiful works of art. So detailed, and heavy! I miss when restaurants gave their customers huge chunks of glass! They were more like sculptures than anything. Still haven't seen either Flintstones movie though.

[@ErinPlays]

I remember seeing the t-shirts everywhere! And I do want one of those glasses, lol.

[@Agent8450]

This is the first of your videos that I've seen. I wasn't familiar with any of the games reviewed but I feel like I learned a bit. Subscribed.

[@ErinPlays]

That's great to hear, thank you!

[@chrisd6287]

The Flintstones movie was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid. It fell into a category that I have always called my "rewind movies". Meaning, when I was a kid I would watch a fav movie and at the end rewind it, watch it again and so on. Obviously I'm heavily influenced by nostalgia here but it's a great movie and you should definitely check it out! Keep up the great work! Cheers!

[@lancelange9377]

The first Flintstones movie was actually really cool. I was very impressed how well they captured the feel of Bedrock in live action.

[@fredfuchs3573]

Trust me your not missing much on the Flintstones movie I'd rather play the game even though I haven't even seen a physical copy have a nice day erin

[@Themanchlid]

I miss the days of being young and playing these games. Platoon was awful. But yet fun. Great video👍

[@warpath6666]

Wow!!! Those were some real stinkers alright 😄 ... oh and that radio that was in that pic of a family from the 40's, I'm currently restoring a similar console Philco radio from 1937. No videos, but I just wanted to toss that in there 😊

[@scottydu81]

Seriously, look up some of those Shadow radio shows, theyre here on youtube. I love the Blue Coal ads lolol "That's right, Blue Coal is the most efficient form of energy because of Anthracite! You'll know you have the best coal when you buy Blue Coal!"

[@rustynail1194]

Wow, that takes me back. I'm 44 in a week or so. I had so many Ocean titles on tapes for my C64.

[@Lbf5677]

Lol the advertising campaign for the Flintstones film. I think even the b-52's dressed as them.

[@Metal_Horror]

The only Ocean game I know for sure I had was The Addams Family Values, an action-adventure Zelda-esque game for SNES. I really liked the game but never finished it; it's pretty difficult and I got stuck and couldn't figure out how to proceed. It has a sorta dark, sorta creepy atmosphere with great music. You play as Fester and your attack is a lightning bolt that comes out of his finger tip. He eats Granny's nasty cookies to restore health. Overall I recommend it if you're into the franchise or top-down action adventures. Love the creepy, quirky / humorous atmosphere.

[@3DJapan]

I saw the Flintstones movie at a theater in Lancaster, PA that was $1 for everything so you could get your ticket, drink, and popcorn for $3.

[@daviddavies3637]

Fortunately, gaming didn't start with the NES. And wasn't restricted to the US. Ocean initially hit the big time on British 8-bit machines, especially the Spectrum. I didn't own a Speccy (at least, not a working one) at the time but remember reading about Ocean's hit'n'miss TV and movie license tie-ins at the time. They did a game based on Knight Rider and another on a more obscure show called Street Hawk. IIRC, neither were well received. They did make some decent tie-ins, like the Batman Movie and The Untouchables, which I owned for the Atari ST.

[@TheSonicsean]

I actually really like the Shadow movie. I didn't even know they were making a game for it. Also the fact that enemies in Robocop fly backwards when you kill them is amazing. A video on terrible Acclaim games could be 3 hours long

[@ChicagoRetroGamer]

Haha, there were some bad NES games. I mean, there were absolutely brilliant and amazing ones, but there were at least a few handfuls of ones which were just like "what the heck did I just play" bad. Cheers and good video!

[@stewartmatthews1551]

This is good to see what is all out there game wise because knowing what game is good or bad

[@Timeskip410]

Maybe with platoon they were being smart and wanted to recreate the chaos and confusion of being in Vietnam.

[@Truegamer2000]

Can’t believe Waterworld on the Virtual Boy didn’t make the cut xD Great video

[@leroyvisiongames2294]

Also, another issue with RoboCop 2 is that the ground at the bottom of the screen is practically invisible if you’re playing on a CRT TV due to it being cut off by the overscan (I’ve heard that PAL CRT TVs don’t have the overscan cutoff issue, so maybe it was an oversight since the game was developed in Europe)

[@williamwarren1781]

They also had an office in Northern California. When I was school I was looking to become a video game programmer. I got to chaperone some of the employees one day

[@ErinPlays]

That’s cool

[@budleyharrison5543]

I still have some of those McDonald's Flintstones mugs from when I was a Kid.

[@SerpentNight]

There's also the 'Waterworld' game on Virtual Boy. Bring the aspirin.

[@kumquatqueen5975]

That one will always be a head-scratcher to me. Why Virtual Boy? Was Ocean afraid that other platforms weren't going to convey to excruciating pain of watching the movie?

[@WinAFreeAppleIPod]

the ending of the flintstones movie is pure hell, Kyle MacLachlan from twin peaks get encased in concrete and dies horribly. your critique of the game is basically the same complaint I have with every euro dev game, they have no clue what a video game is and it's all hard memorization garbage. euro devs should have been forced at gunpoint into playing mario so they knew what a video game was, instead of focusing on 78 layers of parallax scrolling

[@azifcaron4539]

Tell me why this is the first video of yours that youtube actually showed me on my notifications! I deserve more! haha Great video Erin! :)

[@theconsolekiller7113]

Intro screen for Robocop 2 was cool. Somehow they managed to fuck it up more than the first game, which I thought was a solid game.

[@miahthorpatrick1013]

Call me crazy but I actually loved that Robocop 2 game when I was a kid. I didn't have the bar set very high back then I suppose. 😕

[@aaron-n]

Lmao they did John Goodman dirty having him constantly being out of breath

[@fabioalvesshow]

I love this channel

[@DjMonak]

Ex child here! As a fan of Robocop, I wanted to buy the game. When I knew that a class mate of mine had it, I asked him to lend me the game. After a few minutes, I remember that I though how lucky I was to having saved money for another game!

[@jussikuusela7345]

There was Cobra on the C64... its only redeeming value I can think of is the ingame music. Ocean had some brilliant games back in the day, like Wizball, Head Over Heels, Arkanoid...

[@MM12684]

Sunday + Erin = 😎

[@richterbelmont2544]

I really enjoyed Ocean's Navy Seals on the GameBoy. Had no idea as a kid it was a movie tie in as I acquired the game through a 2nd-hand sale.

[@traviswall1982]

I had to go back to know if I heard the "California Games" soundtrack for NES playing during the alien game. Yup, same soundtrack.

[@vincentbeton]

It's pretty silly how Fred seems to out of Breath all the time, but then effortlessly pulls himself up all those Platforms regardless

[@chadgarrett6947]

I grew a huge pet peeve for video games as they got more advanced and that is when you land on the head of an enemy, games that make YOU get hurt, and them not take any damage is STUPID.

[@williamwright9079]

Thanks Erin. Long time no see! I hate those nasty games when you get hit, you go back to the start. Grrrr.

[@k001daddy]

I still have those Flintstones glass mugs!

[@chubbycatfish4573]

Those fire hydrants were like 3x the size they should be, too.

[@SpaceboyUniverse]

good to see you back

[@ThunderFist1978]

RocDonald’s! I had one of the Flintstones mugs as a high schooler!

[@djholro]

Looks like I'm the only one here, but I actually really liked Platoon (both the movie and game). The NES port was less than stellar, I believe it was originally released on the C64 which was what I played first and the vastly superior version. Given the 64's SID chip, the soundtrack was fantastic (most Ocean games had great music on that platform). The graphics were also much better and controls more smooth/fluid though still clunky by today's standards. You just need to look past the confusion of the jungle maze and explore, find some explosives then a bridge and blow it up. Then proceed to a village on the other side and find an entrance to the Viet Cong's underground tunnel system. That's just the first stage of the game. The second has you exploring the tunnels in a first-person shooter style, though this time you do have a mini map. Again, you need to find some items before escaping at the other end of the tunnel maze. At the surface you're ambushed at night and have to hold your position while fighting off the VC (i.e. a stationary first-person shooting gallery). The third stage is yet another maze but you have a compass to guide you. It goes back to third-person, reminiscent of the maze stages in Contra, where you have to clear out the path/hallway ahead before proceeding up and choosing either the left or right path. At the end is a "boss" dug into a mortar position/bunker. Beat it and that's the end of the game! It's actually really short once you figure it out, probably 30 minutes total. But the presentation seemed impressive at the time.

[@flowerpot5207]

I've never played it on the NES, but the C64 version was great. One of the best movie based games on the C64.

[@BM-wh5qk]

Jurassic Park deserved to be on this list for lack of saving ability alone.

[@joshuawoodbridge6267]

What about that Hook game Ocean made that looked good, but had almost no sound, and a really confusing story

[@dannymormone]

Another nice video Erin :) Oddly enough I kinda did enjoy Platoon but maybe because I played it on the C64, I presume it plays the same anyway but I think maybe it was the music on the C64 that made it better than it was!. Take care x

[@quentinparhiala9415]

I love your video Erin and thank you for uploading it

[@iinemesisii8964]

The Flintstones game- "Right away you know it's going to suck" hahahaha 👌🤣. I just love the way your voice sounded when you said that. It put a big smile on my face and brought so much joy to me especially following the is he supposed to be out of breath already comment. Love it, your hilarious.

[@ErinPlays]

Haha thank you!

[@iinemesisii8964]

@@ErinPlays Your very welcome. Never watched your channel until it popped up in my suggested videos. Subscribed and immediately watched a few of your vids and just love your personality. I hope you have success on KZbin if that's your passion. Mine is modding system's and case customization for E Bay and my North Carolina peeps. I wish you much success and look forward to future vids. ✌️

[@downforwardjab5503]

Your glasses are so rad!! Just noticed the cool geometrical shapes on them.

[@ErinPlays]

Thank you!

[@abehemothbeast866]

Thank you Erin, I remember this from when I was a kid, I live in England and I have to say you have and had the same kinda of collection as me, keep up the good work yeah :) thank you again for the nostagia :)

[@NFMorley]

As a kid I nearly bought Alien Olympics - it was between that or WarioLand as a present from my grandparents for my birthday, and after seeing the gameplay I'm so glad I chose WarioLand! It's an odd memory to have stuck around - I guess maybe because of my no doubt exasperated Grandpa trying to get his head around how my Gameboy worked!

[@frydemwingz]

I remember playing Platoon on NES decades ago when I was probably 15. I never played it when I was little, I didnt even know it existed. This was back when you could buy NES games for a dollar at Funcoland. I was so pumped to get home and play it, and like you said it's such a massive disappointment. Unless you study that game and exactly how to control it for some reason, it's unplayable. I thought there would be more to the game, like a squad based strategy part, seeing as there is a "morale" bar at the bottom, but its pointless since any person in their right mind will stop playing after 3 minutes max. Morale is a military units or personal will to keep fighting or continuing their mission. So this game basically reduces your morale completely shortly after hitting start.

[@LeightonW87]

Robocop 2 was a port of the C64 game, it's not great there either, glad you didn't add the game over screen, it gave me nightmares as a kid. I had the cartridge version for the C64 which got played quite a bit. I also never knew about the sewer area on level one, might have been NES only.

[@davidhill2020]

Somebody watched Platoon and said, "Sure, it was a great movie but couldn't it have been more fun?"

[@MKF30]

I remember playing Platoon as a kid. That game was annoying like Friday the 13th lol. The Robocop vs Terminator game was also good on SNES and the Flintstone merch at McDonald's was awesome! I had one of those glasses! On the Final Fight ripoff, to be fair Streets of Rage, Rival Turf and many others already did that lol

[@DavidBrianDobbsArt]

I still have the Fintstones McDonalds glass mugs. I use them all the time. They’re actually pretty nice. I also have the Batman Forever mugs. I never saw the Flintstones movie.

[@JoeChillton]

I remember parts of the Ocean RoboCop game and Ecco from my childhood.

[@aeixo2533]

6:40 A wild missingno appeared!

[@Gaming-Enthusiast]

Ocean made some awesome 8bit games back in the day . Green Beret and Daily Thompsons Decathlon to name a few 👍👍

[@darth_vyper]

I loved the Flintstones movie, had some of the Mikky D mugs

[@gumdeo]

RoboCop 2... where every level is an ice level.

[@landismithCOJ]

SNK would be a publisher to cover next.