Elevator Action Returns (Saturn) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of Ving's 1997 arcade shooter/platformer for the Sega Saturn, Elevator Action Returns.

Played through on the normal difficulty setting with Edie and the level of violence set to "hard."

Elevator Action Returns on the Saturn is a Japanese-exclusive port of Taito's 1994 arcade game of the same name, and it is the direct sequel to the original Elevator Action, released in 1983.

The basic idea behind the gameplay remains the same as in the original: you have to go into all of the red doors in a stage, and that involves a great deal of shooting at terrorists and riding in elevators.

The sequel refines that idea, though, updating an early 80s arcade staple into a flashy, stylish 90s action game that's as endlessly playable as its predecessor.

You choose from three characters, each with their own individual strengths and weaknesses, and blast your way through several scenarios of increasingly ludicrous, high-stakes situations. Things might begin in a mundane high rise full of thugs, but it's immediately clear that the game is intent on doing everything it can to keep the action tense when halfway through the first stage, a helicopter comes through and levels the building. The second scenario has you gunning through an airport terminal, and the last even has you going through an industrial site as a rocket is being launched.

It represents the distilled essence of the 80s Hollywood one-man-army movie brilliantly in video game form.

You can shoot out lights for cover, blast drums of chemicals to set the bad guys on fire, or you can merely gun down everyone in sight, painting the walls a vivid shade of red in the process. It's extraordinarily violent, and I love the gruesome nature of some of these takedowns.

Especially the ones when someone tries to grab you and you respond by elbowing them, knocking them down an elevator shaft to their gooey end.

The controls are excellent, and the game looks amazing. The arcade game was a stunner thanks to its detailed backdrops and super-smooth animation, and it looks just as good on the Saturn - the picture quality here is actually better than it was on the versions included in the Taito compilations for the PS2/Xbox.

The gane also reminds me a lot of Taito's excellent Dead Connection arcade game (   • Dead Connection (Arcade) Playthrough ...   ). The general flow and the attention to detail is cut from a quite a similar cloth.

It's not very difficult or long, but Elevator Action Returns is a game that overflows with style, and it's one that I can easily play over and over without ever getting bored.

Of course, I'd probably say that about any game that gives me the choice to use a "dessert eagle" as a weapon.

If you like this port, you also ought to check out Ving's Saturn conversion of Bubble Symphony. It's damned near arcade perfect, just like Elevator Action Returns. You can find my video of that one here:    • Bubble Symphony (Saturn) Playthrough ...  

And here my playlist for Sega Saturn games:    • Sega Saturn Playthroughs  
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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