"Hey, kiddies! It's BIPBOP time!" [Subtitles by danielsangeo] Hey! Welcome to the Game Dungeon.
Today, we're covering "BipBop II". This is a "Breakout" clone. Now, I know what you're thinking:
"A 'Breakout' game? Really, Ross? "You're just wasting my time now." Well, before you give up, know
this game has a story to it, and I think something terrible may
have happened. So, let's find out. "BipBop II"! [echoing]
"BipBop II"! Now, you may wonder, why are we
starting on "II" and not "1"? Well... it'll be best if I just show you. This video isn't going to be a
playthrough, exactly, but I'm going to show you what I think are
all the highlights so you won't miss anything. All right. Let's get going. "Chlwah! I'm the most
ultimate Ghost-Ball Beast!" I don't think anyone's
going to argue with that. So, I guess this is our backstory...
very straight and to the point. Now, surprisingly, the "Breakout" genre
actually had competition for storyline since the game "Arkanoid" was
kind of the gold standard, and it had an intro talking about blowing
up a mothership, being trapped in space... so I think "BipBop" is already
falling behind a little bit, but we'll see what happens. And, here's the game. Now the first thing I notice-- Oh, we're done. Okay! We beat it! That's the end
of the episode. See you next time. [music] No, not really. Okay, level 2. What I was going to say is, the first thing
I notice is this game is chunky-sized. This looks like the thickest ball and
paddle I've seen in a "Breakout" game. And this background is
looking kind of tacky, like this looks like it's a promotional
game made for a local car dealership. Level 3! Man, the author likes his
animated backgrounds, huh? It messes with my head a little bit
while I'm playing, though it's not too bad. Now's a good time to mention
another mechanic in this game. The ball always bounces off your
paddle in one of two ways so it's very predictable. Unfortunately, this means you can get
caught in endless loops in some areas. Well, to break it up, at any time,
you can fire a giant bullet out of paddle to change the course of the ball, and, yes,
it's as chunky everything else in this game. Let's keep going. Level 4. Yeah, these backgrounds
are getting to me. Hey, there's a question mark in
the center. What is it? What could it be? Well, we're going to find out. AaaaAAAAH?! Yep. All the question mark means is you
have to hit the block more than five times. Wonderful. Moving on. "S&M". Classy. The wobbly text
combined with "BipBop" in the background with the moving lights really shows
off the sophistication of this game. So yeah, just in case you forgot, the name
of this game is "BipBop II" by S&M Software. "S&M Software makes you COOL!" Oh, jeez, this background. But, hey, we have an ankh in the
center. What does that do? You know what it does. Yeah! Extra life! All right, I'll spare you from
the rest of this level. OH MY GOD! Okay, if anyone is prone to epilepsy,
you might want to minimize this video. "BipBop", "S&M"--just in case you forgot
what game and company this is since a minute ago. "S&M Software RULES THE UNIVERSE!" Look, this is rough to
watch but I guarantee you this is harder for me than it is for you. I have to concentrate on this
ball and stare intensely at it while these lights keep trying
to savage my brain. Let's pray the next level is better. Okay, this IS easier on the
eyes. But what's that face? Well, when you hit it, that
makes the brick counter go up. Yikes. In fact, this is the first sign I'm getting
that something is off about this game. If I saw that on the wall in "Doom" or
"Heretic", I wouldn't think twice about it, but in this colorful "Breakout"
game, it seems kind of... sinister? "Now you'll see your DESTINY!" Moving on! All right, nothing special here. The background looks like
TV static shown in slow motion. Y'know, I think I know what's
going on here. This came out in the early days
of VGA graphics and I bet the creator couldn't
wait to go hog wild with all the effects he could
cram into the game. It doesn't matter if it distracts the
player or maybe looks ugly, we can make all these colors fade in
and out so, by God, that's what we're gonna do! This sort of thing happens
throughout gaming history. Now that we can make games look
almost any way we want, we're starting to see it die down, but I swear, when game designers
get a new toy to work with, it becomes their answer to everything. Next level. Okay. Yeah. It's not my imagination. There's something dark inside this game.
A teddy bear with glowing red eyes. Well, my logo has a cow with glowing eyes
so I don't really have room to talk, but doesn't the tone feel different
now than when we first started? See, this is what distinguishes smaller
games from big mainstream ones for me. Stuff like this typically
doesn't happen in an AAA title. Everything has to be approved by committees
and publishers, whereas "BipBop II"-- now that we've seen
a possessed teddy bear, who KNOWS where this
game is going to take us. And don't worry, this won't be the last
possessed teddy bear we talk about on this show. Let's see what's next. Well, besides more crimes against my
eyes going on in the background, this level is pretty typical. Next? "You're pretty funny looking." Ah, a new mechanic. When you hit
the exclamation block, it changes the gate. Even though this is a simple concept, this drastically adds how long
it takes to beat this level. Dammit! "Feel the force, loser." RAAAH! WELCOME TO THE NEXT LEVEL! This is a special kind of hell because,
in addition to this background, it's easy to keep hitting that
face and make the game take longer. In theory, you could play this level
FOREVER! Sorry for making you see this. >> "Angered by your impressive
progress, the Ruler of the Universe, "who also, incidentally, was the creator of
BipBop 2, begins to strike you repeatedly. "Thinking fast, you press a key
and abort the pummeling." >> Yeah, "thinking fast".
By the time I read that, he's probably smacked me at
least ten times. Let's get out of here. Oh! Welcome to the next level! You're dead.
Gotta love those kinds of games, huh? This actually reminds me
of a level from "Arkanoid". Okay, nothing else to
really say here. Next level. Okay, we've just crossed some sort of line. I'm getting assaulted by the background
again, the ball speed is noticeably faster, and, of course, we have a closeup of
a screaming woman with blood on her. Isn't this exactly what you
expect from a "Breakout" game? Like, out of all the images we
could have to go with this game, this is what we landed on. Like I said earlier, there's something
evil about this game. Let's keep going! "I will CRUSH your every
hope and desire, sir." "Bip". Dammit! I'm not used
to this new speed yet. RAAAH! "Bop". Okay, take a wild guess. Do you
know what the next level is going to be? Well, here it is, the last
level to this game: "II"! Here, I'll cut to the chase. This is the
ending we've all been waiting for. >> "As you complete the 20th level, "the evil spell cast by the
Ruler of the Universe is broken. "Nations rejoice! You gaze out
across the dusky expanses where, "due to your courage and quick
reflexes, life and hope spring anew. "Thanks to your efforts, the
galaxy is free once again. "No more will the powers of darkness
reign over millions of innocent lives! "Tales of your fortitude will
live on for a thousand generations. "But... what's this in your back pocket? "It appears to be a disk..." >> "'IT IS, YOU FOOL! YOU CANNOT
DEFEAT *ME* QUITE SO EASILY! "'MY DOG, DUCHESS, HAS CREATED A
NEW AND MORE VENEMOUS CHALLENGE! "'BEHOLD THE GLORIOUS POWER OF... BIPBOP 3!'" >> "Suddenly, the disk vanishes
from your grasp. "'Coward!' you yell. 'At least
give humanity a fighting chance!'" >> "'The quest is yours for the taking!
You can have all the glory, excitement, "'and danger of BIPBOP 3 very easily, "'and for just a small amount of
your feeble Earthly currency.'" >> "'I accept your challenge,
scurvy dog. This game is not over yet!'" >> Then we find out that was a
man, not a woman screaming from an "experimental film". Yeah. "Experimental". Where I
come from, they call those "snuff films". I'm pretty sure that's why they
zoomed in on the photo so you can't get a clear enough
shot to prove the identity of the person if the police started asking questions. Well, I admit. I'm intrigued at this point. I mean, this ending far exceeded
my expectations. It leaves me eager to
find out what's next. I honestly have no idea what to expect. This game is filled with goofy moments
masking a face of evil underneath it. Like, I entirely expect the sequel
to have a funny dance routine with the Ball Beast or
more dogs or something, followed by a choppy black and white video
of somebody being stabbed in a parking lot. All bets are off with this game. So now's the time to tell you
that "BipBop II" is actually shareware. It was free for everyone to play with the idea that you would
hopefully buy the full thing, which included "BipBop 1" and "3". Check out the registration page. $20 for the
full version, but that was back in 1993. What does it cost now? Is it abandonware?
Well, here is where things get interesting. I did a search for
"BipBop 3" and it's NOWHERE. I searched high and low and I only found
one site that even acknowledged its existence and I lost the link to that. No screenshots of it exist
anywhere. You can't download it! It's like some sort of urban legend. Oh, there's plenty of
documentation on "BipBop II" but NOTHING on "3". I've never heard
of something like this happening before where the full-version of a
shareware game-- in other words, a game with a
free demo--completely disappears? We live in an age where
obsessive archiving people would never let a video game
disappear like this but this sequel to a FREE GAME has vanished
from existence. WHAT HAPPENED?! Is "BipBop 3" like that puzzle box from
"Hellraiser" where, if you play it, you get sucked into another dimension and
that's it? No one is left to tell the tale? So, I decided to go straight to the source. I searched the Internet and hunted down
the creator himself: Stuart Riffle. He's gone on to have a successful
programming career since this was made-- worked on many games at Electronic Arts. Huh. Anyway, I found his contact info. He works
at an independent company now: One Bit Labs and hey, they're hiring. So, I emailed Stuart Riffle
and... he replied! He was surprised I asked about it but didn't
actually have it backed up anywhere. He also said something about
"the harvest" being "complete"; I didn't really understand that part. Anyway, what he DID have were
the original floppy disk versions of the game still lying around. He wasn't
even sure if they worked, but he agreed to send me a copy.
He didn't even charge me the $20. All he wanted was a vial of my
blood and the exact time of my birth. He paid for shipping and everything.
Can't argue with that. At this point, I feel like I'm
more interested in seeing this game than anyone else in the world,
but this is still such a dicey operation because I hate floppy disks. I hated them back then and I
hate them now. You know why? Oh, sure. They're slow and don't
hold much data, but they're UNRELIABLE. Floppy disks went bad
ALL THE TIME back then. Now, compound that with a
20-year old game and this is bad
news. Floppy disks store data with
magnetized particles inside a film so it's entirely possible the disk could've lost
some of its charge during this time. And computer data isn't
like an audio cassette [distorted]
where things just a little distorted [distorted]
if there's a problem, no, it's pretty much all or nothing
with computer data, so this is a long shot. Finally, I don't even HAVE a
floppy drive anymore. I got rid of mine almost 15 years ago,
but my old man does! So, I had the disk shipped to
him and he tried to read it. So, the big question:
Was the data recoverable? >> Yep. >> It sure was. So, get ready. I'm going to show
you the remaining "BipBop" games, and you're about to witness a game
the Internet has never seen before and, as far as I know, NO ONE
has ever seen it in at least 20 years. This is some deep vault stuff here. So, let's go back to the beginning
with the original "BipBop" and find out what's in store. Here we go! Okay... Now, I hate seeing any game die out, but I have to admit, if we had
lost this particular one, I'm not sure the world would be
that much poorer for it. Beside the glorious CGA graphics
here, I really don't like these controls. The paddle is always moving;
you can only change the direction. I think you have to hit it dead
center in the triangle in order to get it to bounce at
an angle that benefits you. Also, I don't like how the game
seems to read my mind, because, every time I was ready
to give up on this, it would bounce towards the next level. And, hey, am I really going to
quit if I just made it to the next level? Also, this game has infinite continues
so it kind of wants you to keep playing. Anyway, this is a very basic game.
There's not much to show here, so I'm going to-- "Death awaits! Beware!" All right, this is the only message
this game has given me so far. This isn't diminishing my theory
that something happened to everyone that played this
game before me. If I knew what was good for me,
I would stop here, but again, this game keeps driving me
forward every time I'm ready to quit. Really, while it is a little frustrating, there's nothing seemingly
special about this game. The later levels spell out "Bip"
"Bop" "1" and... that's about it. And here is the end. I win. Yeah, I wasn't expecting
much more than this but this game is giving me a weird vibe. Have you ever seen that movie,
"The Box", about a box where, if you press a button, someone
you don't know dies? Well, that's sort of the feeling
I'm getting from this right now. Uh... Let's move on to "BipBop 3"! Oh yeah! This is what we've been
waiting for. Let's do this. "Greetings, sir. Prepare to be
Bipped and Bopped." Well, I'm as ready as I think
anyone can be. Well, this looks pretty easy. And it is! I admit, I thought this
would start off harder since the trend back around this time was,
when you made an expansion to a game, it would be hard as nails
because the company figured, well, you played the first game;
if you're buying this, you must be an expert, so here you go, expert. Looks like that's not the case here. I notice my paddle has a new look,
but it behaves exactly the same as the old one. Yeah, I don't know. So far, this is feeling a
little lazy with reusing the same assets. For a sequel, we should be
having dancing mushrooms or an army of possessed teddy
bears by now, but we'll see. Next? Yep, you get the idea. Next? Oh, here we go! >> "Meanwhile, there is quite a stir "at the hidden headquarters of
the Ruler of the Entire Universe, "deep inside the S&M dimension." >> "'Master Duchess! Master Duchess!'" Wuff! >> "'Yes, little Foxy?
What troubles you so?'" >> "'It's that oaf who defeated BipBop II! "'He's now in the second quadrant
of the BipBop 3 arena!'" Arf! >> "'Damn those meddling humans,
this could ruin EVERYTHING! "'Try to do a little damage control,
and keep me posted.'" >> Well, this one is interesting, although I can't say the PC speaker
sound adds to the charm any. Let's keep going. "Mooooo..." Oh God! The backgrounds are back! I'll spare you! You go on
without me! SAVE YOURSELF! Here's another one of those
purgatory levels. Again, you could theoretically
play this level forever because you can keep undoing your progress.
You're getting the abridged version. "Ham and swiss on RYE! (figure it out)" Yeah, not much to this level. Or the one after this. I don't know. I might feel kind of
robbed if I had paid $20 for this. That would come out to a dollar per level. Uh oh! >> "'The human intruder persists!'" Ruff! >> "'Drastic action must be taken.
Alert the Ruler of the Entire Universe.'" >> "'I AM HERE. "'WHAT SEEMS TO BE THE PROBLEM?'" Okay, aside from more background torture, this level is kind of neat since the blocks
maintain equilibrium with each other. You have to take out
one side completely first. So, kind of neat, but it still
is background torture. Okay, this level is the closest
thing this game has to resembling a normal "Breakout" game
and others have done it better. Next? "Down with the DSP." Ah. The infinity symbol. I think they saved this
for the wrong level. They should've used this on one
of those levels with the faces where you can keep counting up forever. Knowing this game, this is
probably just an omen. This is... normal. This is... mostly normal. "'YOU FOOLS! HOW COULD YOU LET
THAT MORON PROGRESS SO FAR?!'" >> "'He came in unnoticed!'" >> "'I SHOULD NEVER HAVE TRUSTED
A DOG! ESPECIALLY A TALKING ONE! "'GUARD! WHAT ARE TODAY'S SURVEY RESULTS?'" >> "'Well, sir, while our propaganda
campaign is having a slight effect "'in the beta sectors, 73% of the known universe
still characterizes your butt as 'tiny'.'" >> "'MAINTAIN THE BRAINWASHING, AND SUMMON MY
MILITARY COMMANDERS TO THE CONFERENCE ROOM. "'WE MUST SEE IF THIS INVASION
CAN BE STOPPED!'" Oh God! No! DON'T HIT THE FACES! Oh, man. This level is
going to take me a while. You get to skip it. Oh, this one sucks. Every time you hit the wall, the
block counter goes up. I have to wait until I can
position it in a back-and-forth loop. I'm losing some lives on this
one since the only way to win is to edge the ball so it hits
the very corner of the paddle. Yep. "Lick, lick, lick. Love me." This one is insane. The ball teleports every
time it hits the wall but it locks up your controls
every time it does, so it's like playing with really
bad stuttering lag. You might think the concept's
easy but I lost four lives on this level. The controls freezing up
constantly messes with my head. "C'mon, fop. I'll teach you about pain..." This is hell. This level is just hell. It has background assault, the
face, and the ball speed is increased. Y'know, I think "Arkanoid" is a pretty
hard game--I can't beat it on three lives-- but it's not torturous. S&M Games really lives up to its name. This game is sadomasochistic. Actually, no. It's just sadistic. The
player is the one receiving all the pain. And I'm not sadomasochistic, but
I feel like I have a duty to finish this game. No one's seen this before! I owe
it to humanity! Anyway, I make it on one life left. And the last level... is
actually pretty simple. I'm almost expecting this to be a trap with
invisible blocks or reversing my controls, but I think the sheer tension is enough. I have ONE LIFE LEFT!
But I can do this! Let's bust these blocks
and save the universe! "'FOXY! WHERE IN THE NAME OF S&M
IS THAT INFERNAL INTRUDER?!'" >> "'Right behind you, sir.'" >> "'Nooo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o! "'Auuuuuggghhh!'" >> "'Yes! It is I once again,
and THIS time, I will not be denied! "'Now, I am the Ruler of the
Entire Universe, and PEACE will
be restored!' "'And by the way... your butt is TINY!'" >> "So, as this chapter of
mankind's greatest struggle "draws to an agreeable close,
reflect on what you have accomplished, "and know that you hold
destiny in your hands. "It's time to live happily ever after..." >> "The end." So that is the "BipBop" trilogy. Not the greatest games in the world, but hey, I'd say it has the best writing
out of any "Breakout" game I've seen. I think it even topped
"Arkanoid" in terms of story. The game didn't get as dark as I
thought it was going to either. Maybe killing that person in "BipBop II"
calmed Stuart Riffle's bloodlust. Okay, awards time! The first award, of course--
Rescued from Extinction. I feel confident that if I
hadn't stepped in, these games would've disappeared forever. And now, I'm releasing them.
Stuart Riffle gave permission so "BipBop 1" and "3" are
officially freeware now. You can download them from my
site in the description below and distribute copies anywhere you want. I feel like a game archaeologist. Second award-- Dog Monarchy. I've only seen that in a couple other
games. It kind of stood out for me. And the final award--
Does This Game Kill People? I'd say the evidence is spotty either way. Maybe it's like "The Ring" where
you have to show a copy of the game to somebody else
before you're okay. In any event, I'm not going to feel
completely safe until this video goes up. I feel like maybe I've seen
things I shouldn't have. Now, I'm not saying
Stuart Riffle is a warlock, but if I disappear after this episode
and don't release another one, then yeah, I'm saying he's a warlock. Okay, that wraps it up. Stay tuned for the next episode! ...maybe. [music] "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah--"
This guy's videos are so entertaining and intelligent, and he obviously puts a lot of work into them. He and the Lazy Game Reviews channel are probably my two favourite Youtube discoveries in the last year, and make such a refreshing antidote to the angry and cynical guys.
I'm surprised how no one has mentioned that Ross actually went to the trouble of literally saving 2 games from being lost forever.
That's my favorite thing about the entire video.
Archival of any and all gaming history is extremely important, imo. To put forth the effort and time to save a title, even one as small and forgettable as a Bip Bop game, is extremely respectable in my eyes.
When he talks about developers having a new graphical toy to use and abuse in video games my mind instantly recalled when 'bloom' was first introduced, so much bloom everywhere.
Today's fashion equivalent in video games is 'chromatic aberration', check it out:
http://i.imgur.com/esVGiLJ.jpg
Not only do I love this series, but I love the game selection. Sometimes I forget how deep the library of PC games goes.
There's something so legitimately unsettling about weird shit in old videogames, especially one as obscure and lost-to-the-times as this. This entire video I was bracing in my chair for a jumpscare or for the game to contain crime scene photos or something similarly horrific. But nope! Just a regular old game with a silly story. I'm almost disappointed.
Wow, some of those levels are just way out of place and honestly pretty disturbing.
And are those voiceovers at the end actually from the game?
What I want to know is did the dev actually require a sample of his blood and his exact birth date, or was he just playing that up for laughs? Because with certain people, you never know.
Bi Bim Bop?