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I'm sure other people on the forum have heard of this game, but I only recently discovered Out Of This World, for the SNES.

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O97AJN0BsHY&feature=related

I am absolutely certain that if this game had come out today, it would have been a finalist at numerous independent games festivals.  The purposeful lack of UI, the contextual controls, and the INCREDIBLE immersion that the game has that makes it feel like you're in a real environment or a movie - all of those signal indie game to me.  Puzzles, breaking rules (like having action occurring in the foreground, when NOTHING has happened in the foreground before that), communication using game mechanics instead of text/speech, and mystery are all incredible components of this title that have only become popular in recent years.

Also, it is largely the work of one man, Eric Chahi - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_World_(video_game)

As I mentioned, though, I had never heard of it until recently, which to me signals that it was not a commercial success... :-X

An indie game born in the wrong time.  Thoughts anyone?

never heard of it

first, the real name of this game is Another World ;)

second it's not for the snes, it was born on the Amiga!

the snes version is actually a censored one: no blood and no buttcracks on the naked female aliens you'll see later in the game, also it featured a different (and worse) music than the original game.

The amiga one anyway is not the best version, as Eric Chahi added another level to the game on the console and PC ones.
The best version is actually the one for SEGA CD, that features the whole first game with CD quality soundtrack and the sequel, called Heart of the Alien, even if that one was not made by Chahi.


He later did other games that shares a lot in common with Another World, those ones are Flashback (SNES, Megadrive, Sega CD and so on) and Heart of Darkness (PC and PSX), Flashback has also a sequel in 3d called Fade to Black (pc and psx)

You can read more about how Another World was created in the official site
http://www.anotherworld.fr/anotherworld_uk/another_world.htm

and you can also buy the super awesome windows remake featuring higher resolution and remade backgrounds


 :D

@Brice: Another World is actually one of the most famous games ever!

Also during those times was pretty common that games were made by a single person or two


OH AN BUY THE REMAKE! it's the coolest thing ever.

It's pretty much a cult classic today.

I loved it (and still do). It does kind of have that "indie" soul, or intent.
It's probably one of the more artistic endeavors out there.

I've heard it mentioned in a few interviews when people are asked about influence. It definitely has a cult following status.

If you like the game, I'd recommend Flashback if you haven't already seen it. It's kind of a semi-spiritual successor, but doesn't use the same vector art style as Another World. It's also a little more item-heavy, and has less of an environmental ambiance (IMO).

yeah what is this game? is this some new amazing discovery?

Oh quit being cheeky, guys. Someone is discovering the gems of gaming for the first time. I, for one, wish I could go back in time and have the experience of playing Another World for the first time in my life.

That reminds me I need get back to beating it  :-[

QTF

Brice, have a great time. I hope you play flashback soon if you haven't

and also the relatively lesser-known out of this world 2: heart of the alien. it was only for sega cd, but was also quite great.

Ow man I wish I could go back in 1990 in my bedroom, playing that for the first time on a dark night with lights out.I'll never forget my Amiga.

Don't take this the wrong way, but why call it Another World if you didnt grow up in Europe (apologies to those who did)?  It was called Out of this World when my uncle gave it to me for PC when I was a kid and Out of this World when it was released on SNES and Genesis.  It just seems weird to me to call it by that name when back then the WWW wasn't as mainstream and I'm assuming anyone that played it in the US back when it came out called it by the US name.  Why call it Another World now? To fit in or look knowledgable?  Sorry for being nitpicky but its a pet peeve I have, kinda like when people refer to Akuma as Gouki when they didnt play Street Fighter in Japan.  Flame on.  ;D

I remember playing Flashback as a kid on my SNES. Amazing game.

If you played it on SNES you missed out on having to use the code wheel.  Old school anti-piracy was awesome.

Is there any way to play Amiga games now? There are a lot of titles that I missed and I'd like to play them but can't (I don't own an Amiga physicaly nor any Amiga games as w speak). I also only played the SNES version of Another world. And I'm looking for a clean answer here btw. :)
Thanks! :)

i call it out of this world, or sometimes out of this world / another world. the reason to use another world though is that that's what the developer named it, i believe. so it's the 'real' name in that sense, if that's the name he called it by as he was developing it and if that's what he intended it to be called then it's only polite to use the name he wanted, no?

i mean, that's sort of why a lot of people say dragon quest rather than dragon warrior: it's not just that they think japan is superior or something, it's also cause that's its original name

I flip flop between using them both and refer to it as OotW/AW because I was introduced to both names at the same time and never knew which one was righter.

When I was a kid, my brother and I would make up nonsensical dialog that sounded vaguely like the grunts from the characters in the game.

There's an Amiga emulator, but last I checked (admittedly ~6 years ago) it was pretty crummy. Instead I recommend surfing ebay for a CD32. There are CD ISOs floating around that carry hundreds of old A500 games and have funky custom launchers. Very cool stuff. The downsides are:
* Legality
* Keyboard support - some games will require you to find a compatible keyboard
* Compatibility - some games just won't work on the CD32

Haha I did that with my brother too.  I liked the alien language, made it more foreign and atmospheric.

Thanks Farbs :)
I recall some quick article on a legal Amiga emulator in a Game Developer Mag. Maybe the last issue. I'll check it out as well as the info you provided me, see what I can find. Thanks again!

Flashback isn't by Eric Chahi, by the way. Still a great game, though. (Unlike Heart Of The Alien - ugh, seriously Paul?)

Wow this reached page 2 without anyone making a graphical comparison to Iji? I'm impressed... damn I ruined it. But seriously, Out of This World/Another World was a great game, with a definite graphical edge versus other games of the time using vectors. So good. I bought the XP remake when it came out and was quite happy to play it again :).

That said I don't know if it would do well in an IGF, considering how tricky the game was versus the length.

I think it'd win personally, it has one of the most memorable first 15 minutes which is important for competitions and just games in general.  I haven't played the game since it came out and I still remember the intro, first area, then the prison escape almost screen by screen.  There was a decent article on resonance in Game Developer recently and this game came to mind almost immediately as I read it.

And yea, there's no denying it's influence when you play Iji.  Definitely a Good Thing™.

yes seriously: it was a lot harder, but still just as great. go watch a playthrough of it on youtube or something, it has one of the best intros i've seen in a game

Oh, I love Another World so very much. I'm glad you're playing it, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone into game development who likes minimal or atmospheric games. It really broke new ground in terms of presentation when it came out. The amount of unique content and the way cinematic elements are tied into the gameplay are both really incredible. I'm also in love with the look of this game. The vector art was a really ballsy direction to go technically, and gives the game an incredible feel.

Regarding the title, personally I think of it as 'Another World' because the first version I played was the French version.

I feel like there's a certain shared spirit between the early days of commercial game development and small team development today. There's something very special about the sort of project that is produced by a small group or an individual. I think this style of development will always be appealing (just as larger, more resource intensive games will also always be appealing).

to a degree the indie game movement is a revival of the old way of making games: when people actually owned their own IP and worked in small teams. long-term, statistically it's the norm really, it's multi-million dollar games with 300 people working on them that are the aberration.

It was the thing I was most looking forward to trying when I got a Mega CD. I'd heard it was not too good, but I was pretty sure that my fondness for Another World would override that. It didn't: I'm definitely in the camp that says the magic was gone for the sequel.

Also, Chahi says he regrets suggesting the ending to HotA.

i agree that it's not as good as the original, but i kind of see it as a 'part 2' with its own individuality and charm, like zelda 2. but i'm one of those people who thinks zelda 2 is one of the best zelda games.

sure, WinUAE (http://www.winuae.net/) and a copy of the Kickstart :)

edit: and if you're on linux\mac here it is http://www.amigaemulator.org/download

I love Another World, although I haven't beat it. Something always distracts me.

Also I call it Another World 'cause that's what it was called here, I guess it was the spanish version. I also call Dragon Quest Dragon Quest because I spent the last eight years sure that was it's only name, although I played the english version, which is kinda weird.