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Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (NES)
Encyclopedia
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is an action game
released in 1988
for the Nintendo Entertainment System
. After the 1984 film release
, Atari Games
developed an arcade game
based on the movie, which debuted in 1985
. Nintendo of America
sought to capitalize on both the success of its Nintendo Entertainment System and the Indiana Jones
franchise by porting the game to its popular console. The resulting product differed from the arcade version in several aspects, but kept the same underlying premise and style.
By December 1988, there were two versions of the game available, distributed by Tengen
and Mindscape
, although the software itself was identical. After a lawsuit, Tengen's unlicensed version was pulled from the shelves and Mindscape's became the standard. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom gives the player control of Indiana Jones as he makes his way through the temple in a series of 12 levels or "waves." In the final wave, the player must defeat the villain of the film, Mola Ram, on a rope bridge that recreates the final scene in the movie. Reception of the game was generally negative.
of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was released in 1984 and starred Harrison Ford
as Indiana Jones
. A year later, in 1985, Atari Games
capitalized on the franchise by releasing the initial version of the game on arcade machine. This version was a platform
and fighting game
and featured theme music
and sound clips from the actual film. The game takes place over three zones that are based on the movie's plot, where the objective is to free the slave children and recover the Sankara stones. This version was also the first translated from any of the movies in the Indiana Jones series into an arcade game, although Raiders of the Lost Ark for the Atari 2600
and Indiana Jones and the Lost Kingdom for the Commodore 64
had come out in 1982
and 1984
respectively.
Nintendo of America
's Nintendo Entertainment System was the best selling console system and almost all video game developers and publishers wanted to contribute the video game library. The NES, at its peak, controlled 90% of the 8-bit
market in the United States. Companies such as Konami
, Capcom
and Acclaim Entertainment
derived many of their gaming ideas from two sources to better capitalize on the growing industry. The first strategy was to take games that were already popular on arcade, such as Contra, and port them to home console versions. Their second idea was to produce game versions of popular movies and television
.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom satisfied both of these categories. Aside from the original arcade version, the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC
, and ZX Spectrum
system had released ports of the arcade game in 1987. By December 1988, the Nintendo Entertainment System had already seen two separate editions of the Temple of Doom game. The first version, distributed by Tengen
, came in a black cartridge that was different from Nintendo's traditional grey colour format. By this point, however, Tengen had split from Nintendo and was producing unlicensed games that attempted to circumvent the need for a 10NES
lockout chip. Nintendo filed suit and Tengen lost, forcing it to remove its NES games from the market. The officially licensed version was released by Mindscape in the form of a standard Nintendo cartridge. Aside from the differences in cover art and cartridge form, however, the actual software of the two games is identical. After the NES version, the game was subsequently released for Atari ST
and MSX
in 1987, and Amiga
, DOS
, and Apple in 1989.
There are several differences between the arcade game and its console adaptation. In the original arcade version, the Sankara Stones were not all found in one location at the end of a wave. Instead, Jones had to travel through a temple
every two rounds. In addition, the entire style of play is different and bestows upon the player more weapons and items for Jones to collect from the slave children he frees. Jones was also unable to jump in previous incarnations of the game.
The plot of the NES version follows the storyline of the original movie. At the onset of the game, Jones has just reached the Pankot Palace featured in the movie and is preparing to free the slave children
, recover the missing Sankara Stones and defeat Mola Ram and his Thuggee
entourage. The game differs from the original arcade version in many respects, including the layout and the manner in which one progresses through the game, but the plot remains unchanged in both versions.
The player advances through 12 levels (called "waves"), the first nine of which require Jones to travel through the palace and recover the Sankara Stones. In these stages, the player may restart the game with all items intact in the last area reached. Afterwards, if the player dies, they must return to the Chamber of Kali
(Wave 9) and finish the game from that point. Each level also has a timer
that goes from 99 to zero. If time runs out, the player is confronted by Mola Ram and loses one life and all of their items. All levels also contain mine cart rooms, where Jones can ride the rails through the levels across hazards and past enemies.
Wave 9 requires the player to cross a river of lava
by stunning the monsters that live there. Once across, Jones must grab the Sankara Stones to progress to the Map Room where he can use the map pieces he has collected to figure out where the secret door exit is in Wave 10. Alternatively, there is a secret idol
in one of the waves that will reveal the hidden exit. To pass requires the use of both TNT and the Sankara Stones. Wave 11 leads to the exit and Wave 12 recreates the scene with the rope bridge
and the final battle with Mola Ram.
The game contains a variety of elements that both aid and hinder the player's progress through the waves. At his disposal, Jones has TNT, guns, swords, hats for extra lives, jewels for extra time and his classic whip
. Opposing him are bats, rats, snakes, spiders and an endless supply of Thugee servants. In addition, if Jones lands in any of the lava pits, crashes a mine cart or hits a boulder or spike trap, he loses one life.
's "Video Shorts" section as an upcoming release, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom met with generally negative reception. Aside from the difficulty level of the game, the official reviewer for the Indiana Jones fan community TheRaider.net noted that Jones' new jumping ability is glitchy, causing him to leap downwards no matter which direction he is facing, unless the player is holding down the button for the particular direction in which they want to jump. Also cited as flaws are poor controls, unappealing graphics, the amount of enemies, and the text-only ending screen. The reviewer admitted, however, that the game's "respectable attempt to preserve John Williams
' musical score
" was one of its only highlights. The original arcade version was the first Atari System 1 game to talk to the players using speech capability, a feature lacking in the console version due to the limitations of the hardware. The arcade game, like the console adaptation, obtained its theme music (as well as sound effects that were absent on the NES version) from the film itself.
Skyler Miller, a reviewer at Allgame
who compared the console adaptation to the original game, admitted that the graphics are "recognizable," but claims that the version is "missing the much of the original's detail and character." Miller's final judgment is to call it "a passable effort" and to compare unfavourably to the arcade version. Edward J. Semrad, a contemporary technical writer and computer specialist with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
included the game in his list of games that were "watered-down versions of what we see in the arcades" and praised the PC version for its superiority.
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
released in 1988
1988 in video gaming
-Events:*June — Nintendo releases the last issue of "Nintendo fun club news";*July — Nintendo releases the first issue of Nintendo Power magazine.-Notable releases:*January 8, Konami releases Super Contra....
for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
. After the 1984 film release
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a 1984 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second film in the Indiana Jones franchise and prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark . After arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone...
, Atari Games
Atari Games
Atari Games Corporation was an American producer of arcade games, and originally part of Atari, Inc..-History:When, in 1984, Warner Communications sold the Atari Consumer division of Atari Inc...
developed an arcade game
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (arcade game)
Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom is a 1985 action arcade game developed and published by Atari Games, based on the 1984 film of the same name, the second film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
based on the movie, which debuted in 1985
1985 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* Brøderbund releases Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, the first game of the prolific Carmen Sandiego series* Nintendo releases Super Mario Bros. on September 13, 1985, which eventually sells 40 million copies making it the best-selling video game of all time until 2008.*...
. Nintendo of America
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
sought to capitalize on both the success of its Nintendo Entertainment System and the Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
franchise by porting the game to its popular console. The resulting product differed from the arcade version in several aspects, but kept the same underlying premise and style.
By December 1988, there were two versions of the game available, distributed by Tengen
Tengen (company)
Tengen was a video game publisher and developer that was created by arcade game manufacturer Atari Games.-History:Atari had been split into two distinct companies. Atari Corporation was responsible for computer and console games and hardware and owned the rights to the Atari brand for these domains...
and Mindscape
Mindscape
Mindscape is an international software publishing company, previously part of The Learning Company. They are now affiliated with EA . As of 2004, the group has offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. It has an annual turnover of €38 million and employs 150 people. Mindscape...
, although the software itself was identical. After a lawsuit, Tengen's unlicensed version was pulled from the shelves and Mindscape's became the standard. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom gives the player control of Indiana Jones as he makes his way through the temple in a series of 12 levels or "waves." In the final wave, the player must defeat the villain of the film, Mola Ram, on a rope bridge that recreates the final scene in the movie. Reception of the game was generally negative.
Version history
The film versionIndiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a 1984 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second film in the Indiana Jones franchise and prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark . After arriving in India, Indiana Jones is asked by a desperate village to find a mystical stone...
of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was released in 1984 and starred Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
as Indiana Jones
Indiana Jones
Colonel Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., Ph.D. is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg created the character in homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials...
. A year later, in 1985, Atari Games
Atari Games
Atari Games Corporation was an American producer of arcade games, and originally part of Atari, Inc..-History:When, in 1984, Warner Communications sold the Atari Consumer division of Atari Inc...
capitalized on the franchise by releasing the initial version of the game on arcade machine. This version was a platform
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
and fighting game
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
and featured theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
and sound clips from the actual film. The game takes place over three zones that are based on the movie's plot, where the objective is to free the slave children and recover the Sankara stones. This version was also the first translated from any of the movies in the Indiana Jones series into an arcade game, although Raiders of the Lost Ark for the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
and Indiana Jones and the Lost Kingdom for the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
had come out in 1982
1982 in video gaming
-Events:* December 27 - Starcade, a video game television game show, debuts on TBS in the United States.-Notable releases:*October 13 - Mystique releases the Custer's Revenge adult video game for the Atari 2600 home console....
and 1984
1984 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* May 10, King's Quest , the first animated adventure game, the first in the King's Quest series, and the first to use the AGI engine.* June 4, Nintendo releases Donkey Kong 3...
respectively.
Nintendo of America
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
's Nintendo Entertainment System was the best selling console system and almost all video game developers and publishers wanted to contribute the video game library. The NES, at its peak, controlled 90% of the 8-bit
History of video game consoles (third generation)
In the history of computer and video games, the third generation began on July 15, 1983, with the Japanese release of both the Nintendo Family Computer and Sega SG-1000...
market in the United States. Companies such as Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
, Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
and Acclaim Entertainment
Acclaim Entertainment
Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game developer and publisher. It developed, published, marketed and distributed interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms, including Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Game Gear, Nintendo's NES, SNES, Nintendo...
derived many of their gaming ideas from two sources to better capitalize on the growing industry. The first strategy was to take games that were already popular on arcade, such as Contra, and port them to home console versions. Their second idea was to produce game versions of popular movies and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom satisfied both of these categories. Aside from the original arcade version, the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, and ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
system had released ports of the arcade game in 1987. By December 1988, the Nintendo Entertainment System had already seen two separate editions of the Temple of Doom game. The first version, distributed by Tengen
Tengen (company)
Tengen was a video game publisher and developer that was created by arcade game manufacturer Atari Games.-History:Atari had been split into two distinct companies. Atari Corporation was responsible for computer and console games and hardware and owned the rights to the Atari brand for these domains...
, came in a black cartridge that was different from Nintendo's traditional grey colour format. By this point, however, Tengen had split from Nintendo and was producing unlicensed games that attempted to circumvent the need for a 10NES
10NES
The 10NES system is a lock-out system designed for the American version of the Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. Various companies found ways to bypass the authorization chip.-Design:...
lockout chip. Nintendo filed suit and Tengen lost, forcing it to remove its NES games from the market. The officially licensed version was released by Mindscape in the form of a standard Nintendo cartridge. Aside from the differences in cover art and cartridge form, however, the actual software of the two games is identical. After the NES version, the game was subsequently released for Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
and MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
in 1987, and Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
, and Apple in 1989.
There are several differences between the arcade game and its console adaptation. In the original arcade version, the Sankara Stones were not all found in one location at the end of a wave. Instead, Jones had to travel through a temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
every two rounds. In addition, the entire style of play is different and bestows upon the player more weapons and items for Jones to collect from the slave children he frees. Jones was also unable to jump in previous incarnations of the game.
Plot and gameplay
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, recover the missing Sankara Stones and defeat Mola Ram and his Thuggee
Thuggee
Thuggee is the term for a particular kind of murder and robbery of travellers in South Asia and particularly in India.They are sometimes called Phansigar i.e...
entourage. The game differs from the original arcade version in many respects, including the layout and the manner in which one progresses through the game, but the plot remains unchanged in both versions.
The player advances through 12 levels (called "waves"), the first nine of which require Jones to travel through the palace and recover the Sankara Stones. In these stages, the player may restart the game with all items intact in the last area reached. Afterwards, if the player dies, they must return to the Chamber of Kali
Kali
' , also known as ' , is the Hindu goddess associated with power, shakti. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Kali means "the black one". Since Shiva is called Kāla - the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" . Hence, Kāli is...
(Wave 9) and finish the game from that point. Each level also has a timer
Timer
A timer is a specialized type of clock. A timer can be used to control the sequence of an event or process. Whereas a stopwatch counts upwards from zero for measuring elapsed time, a timer counts down from a specified time interval, like an hourglass.Timers can be mechanical, electromechanical,...
that goes from 99 to zero. If time runs out, the player is confronted by Mola Ram and loses one life and all of their items. All levels also contain mine cart rooms, where Jones can ride the rails through the levels across hazards and past enemies.
Wave 9 requires the player to cross a river of lava
Lava
Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...
by stunning the monsters that live there. Once across, Jones must grab the Sankara Stones to progress to the Map Room where he can use the map pieces he has collected to figure out where the secret door exit is in Wave 10. Alternatively, there is a secret idol
Cult image
In the practice of religion, a cult image is a human-made object that is venerated for the deity, spirit or daemon that it embodies or represents...
in one of the waves that will reveal the hidden exit. To pass requires the use of both TNT and the Sankara Stones. Wave 11 leads to the exit and Wave 12 recreates the scene with the rope bridge
Rope bridge
A rope bridge is a bridge constructed chiefly of rope. In its simplest form, it can be one or two ropes that bridge a river, enabling the traveller to be supported in their crossing and not be swept away. One rope above another, for feet and hands, may be referred to as a commando bridge.More...
and the final battle with Mola Ram.
The game contains a variety of elements that both aid and hinder the player's progress through the waves. At his disposal, Jones has TNT, guns, swords, hats for extra lives, jewels for extra time and his classic whip
Whip
A whip is a tool traditionally used by humans to exert control over animals or other people, through pain compliance or fear of pain, although in some activities whips can be used without use of pain, such as an additional pressure aid in dressage...
. Opposing him are bats, rats, snakes, spiders and an endless supply of Thugee servants. In addition, if Jones lands in any of the lava pits, crashes a mine cart or hits a boulder or spike trap, he loses one life.
Reception
Although hyped up in Nintendo PowerNintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
's "Video Shorts" section as an upcoming release, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom met with generally negative reception. Aside from the difficulty level of the game, the official reviewer for the Indiana Jones fan community TheRaider.net noted that Jones' new jumping ability is glitchy, causing him to leap downwards no matter which direction he is facing, unless the player is holding down the button for the particular direction in which they want to jump. Also cited as flaws are poor controls, unappealing graphics, the amount of enemies, and the text-only ending screen. The reviewer admitted, however, that the game's "respectable attempt to preserve John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
' musical score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
" was one of its only highlights. The original arcade version was the first Atari System 1 game to talk to the players using speech capability, a feature lacking in the console version due to the limitations of the hardware. The arcade game, like the console adaptation, obtained its theme music (as well as sound effects that were absent on the NES version) from the film itself.
Skyler Miller, a reviewer at Allgame
Allgame
Allgame is a commercial database of information about arcade games, video games and console manufacturers.Allgame is owned by All Media Guide, along with Allmusic and Allmovie....
who compared the console adaptation to the original game, admitted that the graphics are "recognizable," but claims that the version is "missing the much of the original's detail and character." Miller's final judgment is to call it "a passable effort" and to compare unfavourably to the arcade version. Edward J. Semrad, a contemporary technical writer and computer specialist with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. It is the primary newspaper in Milwaukee, the largest newspaper in Wisconsin and is distributed widely throughout the state...
included the game in his list of games that were "watered-down versions of what we see in the arcades" and praised the PC version for its superiority.