The Lawnmower Man
by The Sales Curve · published by THQ, Coconuts Japan, Time Warner Interactive · The Lawnmower Man series
1993 · SNES, SFAM, Genesis/MegaDrive
The Lawnmower Man is the game based on the 1992 movie of the same name (itself loosely based on a Stephen King short story) starring pre-Bond fame Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Lawrence Angelo, a scientist working for Virtual Space Industries in "Project 5", a secret research that attempts to increase the intelligence of primates using psychotropic drugs and VR training. The twists of the game are true-3D level connectors, based on the CG sequences of the movie, usually all involving avoiding obstacles (and the occasional shooting) at high speed in the VR world. There are four different (Virtual World, Cyber War, Cyber Run and Cyber Tube), each taking a slightly different approach (Virtual World is seen in first person, the objective being dodging obstacles such as trees and archs and reach the exit, Cyber War similar to Virtual World but with some shooting stops, Cyber Run is seen in third person and requires occasional shooting of obstacles, while Cyber Tube is a fast travel with plenty of enemies in a VR tunnel).
Story
Dr. Lawrence Angelo is a scientist working for Virtual Space Industries (VSI) in "Project 5", a secret research facility that attempts to increase the intelligence of primates using psychotropic drugs and virtual reality (VR) training. Dr. Angelo is reluctant to use the research for military purposes, and after one of the chimps escapes and shoots a guard, Dr. Angelo is given a forced vacation. While taking notes on the need for experiment with a human subject, he discovers Jobe Smith (Jeff Fahey), a man with an intellectual disability who makes his living by doing odd jobs such as mowing the grass (hence the title of the movie). Angelo takes in Jobe, subjecting him to VR treatment. The first experiments quickly increase Jobe's intelligence, but after an accident, Dr. Angelo stops the experiments. The Shop, a secret agency overseeing Project 5, reinserts the drugs responsible for Jobe's violent behavior into the program and speeds up the treatment. As Jobe develops telekinetic powers, he starts to take revenge on those who abused him before he began the treatments, and plots to take over all of the computers in the world. The SNES version continues the storyline after the point where it ends in the film. Jobe transfers his mind into VSI's computers, and from there is able to corrupt and destroy information systems all over the world, a course of action which is implied to bring about Dystopia. With society in complete meltdown, Dr. Angelo discovers that Jobe has been acting under the control of a person known as Zorn the Doomplayer, who is the head of The Shop, and poised to take over what remains of the world. With Jobe apparently gone missing, Angelo sets off to put an end to The Shop once and for all.
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