Old Games: Encyclopedia Bombastica: Bimini Run

@gladspooky said:

"This game came out, let's call it October 10th, 1990, according to Giant Bomb dot com."

I bet that info was ripped from a different website.

Interestingly enough, Mobygames - which seems to be the source of most data on Giant Bomb, doesn't have a full release date for this.

It is pronounced bim-uh-nii.

this game is like doom if doom was bimini run

LOVED THIS GAME! Never beat it when I was younger. Got to the crazy ass later stages with all the mythological stuff.

This looked like a solid mission-based boating game. And then it got weird.

the true wind waker precursor ><

I was really hoping that Jeff learned to pronounce Bimini since he last spoke of it in 2008...

The best mission based boating game BAR NONE!

Kenjii come in, next time have a extra 5 gal tank stashed somewhere.

Weird little game, almost threatens to have something to it besides strangling the radio operator. Nice to see a heroine/damsal in distress that didn't have blond hair.

I actually had this as a kid...one of the first games I ever played...could be what lead to my fear of sport boats...

This game seems A) awesome and B) ripe for a remake similar to the Hydro Thunder: Hurricane thing with pretty graphics, some new mechanics, and dynamic water.

Once again, cool feature.

I should hook my genesis up again, I just got the power cables back....

Oh god when this got to the Bimini Zone it was just too awesome!

Forget Far Cry 3.

@fisk0 said:

@Laivasse said:

This game would have blown my mind had I played it at the time. Thanks for upping this on a weekend, @Jeff.

I'm surprised you show such affection for this game though. Wasn't it you who expressed dislike for this early kind of 'fake-3d', used by games like Road Rash? Or was it Ryan?

In this it's a "fake-3D" representation of a 3D area with a real sense of scale though, wasn't Road Rash one of those games where you don't even get a sense of moving along the road, but rather that the road is the thing that is moving?

I get the same sense of motion from Road Rash (on the MegaDrive) as I do from this game, it's just that the sensation of 'approaching landscape' in RR is more pronounced because the camera only points in one direction and moves at a higher speed. When you come off your bike in RR, if you try running around the track in 360 degrees of motion then it reveals how the track is an actual traversable 3D space, like in this game (besides the fixed camera direction).

I've been to Bimini before. Nobody was named Kenji there :(

I wanted to see Dr. Orca, I was hoping he was a orca whale with a doctors robe.

I get a feeling Jeff is putting some distortion or overdrive over his voice input ;).

I gotta admit, Jeff is not selling me on the Genesis yet. It still looks just as tinny and grainy and 8-bitty and shrill as I remember it from when I was a kid.

I always thought it was pronounced "Bim-in-ee"

holy shit 2 within a day of each other?! = awesome

Two in one weekend? Thank you Jeff! I personally love these!

Really liking Jeff's game selection for this. Mostly stuff I've vaguely heard of, but none of the big name games that everyone normally does retro looks at. And lots of games that are weirdly ahead of their time or had interesting features.

Mermaid = Triple H

@Pop said:

I wanted to see Dr. Orca, I was hoping he was a orca whale with a doctors robe.

After that mermaid part, I wouldn't be surprised. Maybe he wears a monocle and has mechanical hands like Dr. No.

But this is a pretty sweet looking game.

Im surprised that this did not turn into a multimedia franchise juggernaut in the early 90s.

Why has Jef gone brunette super sayan is all I want to know.

Damn you Doctor Orca!

90 mph? 80 knots? That's a fast boat =)

"KENJI, COME IN!"

"WHAAAAAAAT?"

If all Giantbomb was was Jeff playing old games and doing Jar-time, Brad playing old Mass Effects (and like games and going through that experience months later as the initial fever on the game breaks), Ryan collecting old Laser Discs and Famicom tapes, and Vinny doing flight club with Drew and Dave, i'd be okay with that.... Oh, and I guess keep doing those bombcasts every week.

I love you guys, and I could watch Jeff play old games all day long. Get Gamecop (Giancarlo) to play old ass NES games on a projection TV and stream it again like in the old Gamespot days.

I am really liking this feature, Jeff. Keep it up!

Man I'm really sad that I missed this game when I was a kid. This looks awesome!

Okay, honestly? I'm really impressed by the scale and concept of this game, as well as a lot of the execution. That water animation? Really freaking smooth for a fake 3D 16-bit thing! I'm frankly shocked I haven't seen this game before, it looks so cool. Thank you, Jeff and Giant Bomb! A feature like this is exactly what a website about video games really needs!
 
Edit: Wait, what... Mermaids... I don't...

I have it on good authority that Bimini Run is the best mission-based boating game.

Meh, I find it hard to care about pre-16-bit stuff. Come on, judge me!

Wow another one already? Great!

@BBQBram said:

Meh, I find it hard to care about pre-16-bit stuff. Come on, judge me!

So then you're totally into this... 16-bit game? Not even sure what you're saying here.

I always wanted this game as a kid, and you have now proven how right I was to do so. Great videos, these.

I love that he pronounced the character's last name as "O'Hara" so he seems like a Japanese Irishman

I love these videos, lol, they're great. Keep it up Jeff.

Looking at this title screen am I meant to believe that those non-bazooka shots where fired from a six shot revolver?

Whoa, the Bimini Zone is FUCKED.

"this game just got weird" Man I totally agree haha

If someone were to take this game and give it a super 80s, Double Dragon Neon-style revamp and release that for $15, I would play it.

ALL games.

This game seems pretty awesome and ambitious for its time.

Considering you just trucked past like a hundred small Cthulu monsters through the Bimini Zone, I'd say that the B.A.M. machine maybe isn't what you should be worrying about right now.

Also, how does Dr. Orca get to and from his lab? Is there an evil mermaid guiding his boat?

This game seems dooooooope!

I love the physics of the mermaid. The implication is that she is travelling in excess of 90mph. The wild speedometer fluctuations are worth keeping an eye on.