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Jim Power: The Lost Dimension in 3-D

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Jim Power: The Lost Dimension in 3-D
North American cover art
Developer(s)Loriciel
Piko Interactive (NES)
Publisher(s)
Platform(s)SNES, MS-DOS, Windows, Mega Drive/Genesis, NES, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4
ReleaseSNES
  • NA: December 10, 1993
  • WW: 2021
MS-DOS
Windows
  • WW: September 30, 2015 (Steam)[1]
    Mega Drive/Genesis
    • WW: 2021
    NES
    • WW: 2021
    Switch, PS4
    • WW: June 2, 2022
Genre(s)Platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Jim Power: The Lost Dimension in 3-D is a platform game designed by French developer Loriciel and published by Electro Brain for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and MS-DOS in 1993. A Sega Genesis version was planned,[2][3] but was cancelled late in development. In 2021, Piko Interactive crowdfunded a release of the latter version alongside a Nintendo Entertainment System port.[4] A version for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 was released on June 2, 2022.[5]

Gameplay

The game has several contrasting modes of gameplay, including side-view platforming, top-view, and horizontal shoot 'em up. It follows Jim Power in Mutant Planet as a different title, but at the same time reinterpreting the original game by taking many basic elements and levels from it. The soundtrack was composed by Chris Hülsbeck of Turrican fame.

Jim Power: The Lost Dimension in 3-D is often considered by gaming fans to be one of the most difficult games ever made.[6][better source needed] Despite its name, it is an entirely 2D game, although the game uses many layers of parallax scrolling backgrounds moving in opposite directions to give a great sense of depth. Together with the 3D glasses that were packaged with the game, designed around the Pulfrich effect, this provided a unique "3D" experience for the time when polygonal 3D graphics were rudimentary and too expensive to implement. The 3D feeling could also be related to the overhead stages, showing rotating effects in the same vein as those depicted in similar games like Contra III: The Alien Wars.

Ports

A version of this game was also developed for the Mega Drive/Genesis under the name Jim Power: The Arcade Game. However, despite being in an almost complete state, this title was never published and remained unreleased until a ROM image was eventually leaked. This unpublished version features all levels and cannot be finished, although only a single music track (once again, arranged by Chris Hulsbeck) is present in the whole game and it uses placeholder sound effects from Mega Turrican. Jim Power: The Arcade Game is mostly the same game as Jim Power: The Lost Dimension in 3-D, albeit with some minor graphical differences derived from technical aspects. All the top-view stages were also replaced by additional shoot-'em-up levels, hence the rebranded title of this version depicting a further arcade experience rather than a "3D" one. In 2021, a fully finished version of the game was released by Piko Interactive. Retaining the same Jim Power: The Lost Dimension in 3-D title of its counterpart versions, it restores the ending, music tracks and sound effects which were missing in the known prototype version, together with some other minor game polishing.

A brand new NES was also developed from scratch by Piko Interactive to go along the long lost Mega Drive/Genesis version and modern re-releases of previous versions of the game.[7]

Music

The music in Jim Power: The Lost Dimension in 3-D was directly influenced by the music from the video game series Ys, as can be noted when comparing Jim Power's "Forgotten Path" and Ys III's "A Searing Struggle". In an interview, composer Chris Hulsbeck admits that the sound between these two songs is similar, but states that it was not done on purpose. "Inadvertently a melody from the Ys series must have slipped deep into my subconscious because one of the melodies of Jim Power turned out extremely similar".[8]

Reception

The game received average reviews. Nintendo Power scored it 3.125 out of 5, while the reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly scored it an average of 6 out of 10.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Jim Power -The Lost Dimension on Steam". store.steampowered.com.
  2. ^ "Special: SEGA - Die Release-Liste". Sega Magazin [de] (in German). No. 4. Computec. March 1994. p. 11.
  3. ^ "Fast Takes: Genesis - Jim Power: The Lost Dimension in 3-D". Sega Visions. No. 18. IDG. April–May 1994. p. 98.
  4. ^ Jarod (25 May 2022). "30 ans après sa sortie, Jim Power est de retour". Gamekult. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  5. ^ "SNES Platforming Shooter 'Jim Power: The Lost Dimension' Returns On Switch". May 26, 2022.
  6. ^ "Jim Power". digitpress.com. Retrieved 2006-05-01.
  7. ^ "Jim Power : The Lost Dimension (Homebrew) NES - Walkthrough". YouTube. Retrieved April 1, 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)
  8. ^ Sorlie, Audun (September 21, 2010). "Jim Power". Hardcore Gaming 101.
  9. ^ "Jim Power: Lost Dimension in 3D Reviews and Articles for Super Nintendo". GameRankings. Archived from the original on October 20, 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
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