Ross's Game Dungeon: Construction Bob Escapes From Hell

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In case the younger people were wondering. There were a shitton of these types of games back in the early 90s. See, BBSes had what was known as an U/D ratio. If you wanted to download something, you first had to upload something.

So we all used to collect these shitty shareware games so we had something new to upload to a BBS... so we could then download pirated software and porn.

👍︎︎ 33 👤︎︎ u/mrkite77 📅︎︎ Oct 18 2015 🗫︎ replies

There were so many DOS shareware games made in the 90s, it was like the first wave of indie devs. So many of them are lost and forgotten now, so I'm glad someone is taking a look at all the obscure ones.

👍︎︎ 18 👤︎︎ u/bitbot 📅︎︎ Oct 18 2015 🗫︎ replies

Am I the only one that loves the new intro cards?

👍︎︎ 6 👤︎︎ u/Mundius 📅︎︎ Oct 18 2015 🗫︎ replies
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[Subtitles by danielsangeo] Hey! Welcome to Bob's Game Du-- I mean Ross's Game Dungeon. Today we're covering "Construction Bob Escapes from Hell". I really feel like this title is not going to mislead us. Now, this is an arcade-ish platformer but-- WHOA! Hang on a minute. This game is sequel. The original game is "Construction Bob and the Bouncing Factory". And, you know what? I think we should take a quick look at that, too. So, here is Construction Bob and the Bouncing Factory. This is a pretty simple game. You control these guys holding the trampoline, then Bob here jumps down and starts grabbing parts to assemble items. You assemble your required quota then move on to the next level. This kind of reminds me of the game "Bouncing Babies", although even that is based on the Nintendo Game & Watch game "Fire". Maybe THAT's based on something else. I don't know. I don't want to go down this rabbit hole any further. So, this is a simple concept, but there's something that sets Construction Bob apart from those other games. Yeah. That. Bob is not an immortal. In fact, I'd say he's putting an awful lot on the line with this job. Sometimes, if you miss him from real high, he'll even crack the pavement. Now, I found this game almost impossible at first, but after a while, I got the hang of it. The trick is, you want to try and keep Bob as close as you can to the center of the trampoline. The more you get off center, the more Bob goes flying from side to side. Once that happens, good luck trying to get him back. Yeah... It may not be obvious but the controls here are punitive. Your guys slide around like they're wearing socks on a wooden floor, Bob has a low frame rate, his sprite does this flickering thing which drives me crazy, the whole game freezes temporarily every time you grab an item you need, and Bob's animation is a little unpredictable, like he's trying to feint left while I'm trying to save his life. Dammit, Bob. The controls ARE responsive, though, which is almost a shame, otherwise, this could be a perfect storm of nightmare controls that game designers could study for years to come. So close, Bob. Anyway, that's all there is to this game. I beat level 10; it tells me to register the shareware copy. This job is hell, Bob. You can go to hell, too. And the creator was thinking the same thing. "Construction Bob Escapes from Hell". [echoing] "Construction Bob Escapes from Hell". So, the sequel starts and we get a cutscene. "Hello boys and girls, welcome to the Construction Bob show! "I am your host Construction Bob. "Today we are coming to you live from the bottomless pit near Bounceville. "I will attempt to leap into this hole, "see what's there and bounce back out to solve this mistery!" Mistery... "Nobody ever got back from this hole so this is kind of dangerous! "Remember kids, don't try this at home "even if you have a bottomless pit in your backyard. "Oh boy! I can't see the bottom of this, anyway here we go!" And Bob just jumps in, so I guess Bob has developed a resistance to gravity since the last game. "After a long fall..." "Well well well, if it isn't mister Construction Bob! "Welcome to my domain!" "Who in the name of hell are you? And where am I?" Can you guess, folks? "You are in hell, and I am your host, Satan! You will stay here forever!" "No way man! I've got another show next week "I have to jump out of an airplane without a parachute!" "You can't escape, no-one can escape from hell! "By the way, can I have your authograph?" "No way man! You let me out, you get your authograph, "otherwise you can forget about it Bill!" "Ok, you win Construction Bob, I'll let you out... NOT! "You will stay here forever plus one week!" Muahahahahaha! So, that's our intro. I have to say, while I think it looks pretty damned ugly, you can tell there's some heart put into it. And with that, we start the game. It starts off pretty simple: the goal is to grab these keys and get to the exit. There are three stages: mine carts, more mine carts, and the bridge crossing. At the end, if you get all the keys, then you are awarded with an animation that looks like it belongs in a bowling alley, and... you get to do it all over again! More mine carts, more MORE mine carts, and the Bridge of Tears. It just keeps going on like this, getting progressively harder each time. While I don't like this, I can't say it doesn't fit the theme. After all, Sisyphus pushes up a boulder for all eternity, Tityus gets his liver devoured by vultures every day, and Construction Bob gets to... bounce around dodging things. Welcome to Hell. Thankfully, the controls here are a lot better than the previous game. It's mostly just arcade skills at work. I do all right, except the mine cart ride I screw up at least once almost every level. Oops. Now, despite this game coming out later, I think it's actually uglier than the original. This muted orange with gray everywhere just doesn't look good. Also, I think the music I would call "not great". In fact, I think the best track is the one where you don't get the keys and lose the level. [simple music] The music in the sound setup program is actually better than most of the game itself. [percussion music] So what we have here is an ugly game that doesn't sound very good, and repeats itself over and over, becoming harder each time. Y'know, I knew this game was going to take place in Hell, I didn't know this game WAS hell. Now, on the later levels, you get demons firing arrows at you, and hands trying to feel you up, but that's it! No other variation aside from difficulty. These three levels over and over again. Imagine if your favorite game was like that. It wouldn't be your favorite game anymore, would it? Well, I beat it anyway, and... Yeah, you probably figured it out. I've been playing the shareware copy of this game. At the end, the game asks me, "Will you let Bob rot in hell, at the mercy of Satan?" And, ever since I first played this, my answer to that question has always been, "Yes." Bob really doesn't make a compelling argument to keep playing, especially for 18 bucks! Jesus... Now, originally, I was just going to end this episode here, but then I thought, "This is for the Game Dungeon, maybe I should take this further." Well, guess what? The creator, Christian Boutin, is STILL SELLING THIS GAME! A lot of titles I cover on here are abandonware, but not this one. It is up for sale on his site and has been for almost two decades. It is so rare to see this sort of thing. We've had a price drop, too. Now it's just $5 Canadian and includes ALL his games, not just Bob. I'm only interested in Bob here, but look at the titles of these others: Xyfud Plasfoc's Earth Invasion, The Walls of Bratock, Flame Storm : The Bratockian Saga Part II, Champions of Zulula (Regular and Elite Edition). Y'know, in another episode, I complained about two completely different games both having the same name. Boy, we would NOT have that problem if Christian here had been in charge of naming them. This would be "Trials of the Azorkkin" and this would be "Hornbob Fury". So, anyway, this pack is cheap now, and I've known about this for years, but every time I thought, "Nope. Not worth it. Bob dug his own grave on this one." But, you guys have sent in so many donations and given so much support that I'm thinking, "Okay, I'm going to have to fight my instincts to be a complete cheap-ass and take the plunge." I normally never buy a game unless I think it might be good, and... I don't think this game is going to be good. I'm buying this one as a service to all of us who want to see what's behind the curtain of hell. Plus, this one is another one of those games where the ending has never been documented. Go ahead. Try and find a screenshot of the ending prior to this video. It's not there. Nobody's bought this game. It looks like it falls on my shoulders again if we want to see the end to this. So, we're going to make some more Internet history and unearth another gaming sarcophagus. So, buckle up. Let's find out what really happened to Construction Bob. Oh, and hey, let's get this out of the way quick: This is Construction Bob, not Bob the Builder. Construction Bob predates Bob the Builder. I don't know if they're related but I could see it. It would be the classic story where Construction Bob worked hard so that the future generation didn't have to face the same working conditions he did. And I've never seen the show but I'm guessing it worked. Whatever Bob the Builder's been through, Construction Bob had it worse. [screaming] Okay, backing up again. Besides promising a full fifty levels, the Bouncing Factory also comes with "additionnal" options which are cheats for more lives and a level warp. Well, that's a welcome addition. It's almost like the creator was counting on people like me. I will say though, these extra levels are a robbery. First, they add the addition of "meanies" and all they are are blocks that don't match what you're building. You hit one and you explode for no reason. Now, you might think it's odd that I'm criticizing that, but that's because there are so many legitimate ways Bob could die doing this job without having to make up artificial ones. And you are going to hit these things no matter what. You have to spend all your concentration just catching Bob and getting him lined up. This is just a cheap gimmick to burn through more lives. But the slap to the face is these levels are just pure repeats of previous ones. I couldn't believe it; I checked every level. There are twenty unique images and THIRTY repeats. The tombstone level occurs FIVE TIMES! Now, I'm really hesitant to call a game designer lazy because I appreciate how much work goes into making a game but Jesus Christ... uh... Christian, you were taking money for this. You could've taken the extra couple hours to come up with some more images. Here, I just made one right now. Not that that would've saved this game, but it wouldn't make it the insult it is here. I bet if I ever talk to Christian about this, he would tell us he was the real "meanie" all along. So, let's see the end. "Congratulation! "You have successfully completed the levels. "With that you have helped the bouncing factory grow bigger and better. "Remaining Bobs added to your score..." "Congratulations, your shift is over! "Bob survived his job in the Boucing Factory without so much as a headache!" Wow... That might be the most cynical ending I've ever seen. Congratulations. You almost died on 50 levels so now your shift is over. You can go home and come back tomorrow so you can do it all over again. I'm sorry, everyone. I didn't know. So, really, Bob was just moving from one hell to another, it seems like. Well, let's see what finally happened. Thankfully, this game comes with some cheats, too. I played a few of the later levels just to get an idea of what they were like. Let me in there! NO! LET ME IN THERE! DAMMIT! This game gets damned hard. In fact, the difficulty gets so high, some of you masochists out there may actually want to pick up a copy, if you think you're man enough to survive Hell. It really throws everything it has at you. I couldn't even pass the bridge on this later level. Y'know, when I go, I hope it's like this--a giant monster hand grabbing me and pulling me down while I scream out, scared and confused. So, thank heaven this game has a cheat to let us see the ending. Here it is. Another game ending the Internet has never seen before. "You cannot escape bouncing man! I guard the exit! "You make one more step and I flame you!" "You don't scare me butthead! "I have the magic rubies! I will freeze you with them!" "You have not gathered enough rubies to harm me! "I am not scared of you bouncing man!" "Oh yeah? Well eat this rat-face!" Uh, yeah, that's a lot of rubies. I never knew that was Satan's weakness, but if it is, looks like Bob has that covered. And our daring escape. Huh. Hey, did you see that? I think we missed something. Let's watch that again in slow motion. Yeah, there it is. So that's the tale of Construction Bob and what a mess he is. Look at this freeze frame of him. I realize these are primitive graphics but he looks scarred from this. His eyes look like they got melted off earlier. I can see why this was the last game. Awards time! First award-- Best deaths for a kids' show character. I really think this is the strongest part of the whole game. Putting what's obviously a kids' show character in extreme situations with no protection is a sure formula for success. If there's anything to take away from this game, this is it. Second award-- Not abandonware. I'm still kind of amazed by this. Christian was selling these games on floppy and BBS back in the day, then on his website. Ever since its creation, there has been no point in history where you cannot easily buy these games from the creator. He kept the torch going this entire time. That is so rare. And the final award-- Should be. Out of all the games to be preserved this whole time, I'm not sure I'd put Construction Bob at the top of the list. All right, I should wrap this up by saying if you want to go to Hell, the popular entrance is in the Karakum Desert, it's been open for about 40 years, but you might also have luck in Guatemala City. That's it! Stay tuned for the next episode where we'll go to Hell properly. Sinners. [music] [siren] [splat] [siren] [siren]
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Channel: Accursed Farms
Views: 355,452
Rating: 4.9607201 out of 5
Keywords: Video Game (Industry), Abandonware (Website Category), DOSBox (Software), Hell
Id: iLUkA0QVK98
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 15min 40sec (940 seconds)
Published: Sat Oct 17 2015
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