BUG | SEGA (AWAY TEAM) | 1995

Bug! was one of the very first 32-Bit games and Saturn titles. It was developed by the SEGA Away Team stationed at SEGA of America and was intended to literally bring a new dimension to the traditional platform genre. A player could go "into" the screen by means of Z-Axis access in addition to the usual scrolling of left and right.

Bug! was released in March 1995 and received a very mixed response. Its attempt to innovate was only partly successful and it's traditional platform gameplay although solid did little to advance the genre.

A sequel, Bug Too! was released over a year later which improved on the original in several areas but failed to appeal to a wider audience.

Whilst being one of the earliest and innovative platformers of the 32-Bit era, it quickly became forgotten. Not even a sequel managed to capture more interest. It seems Bug! is destined to stay locked away in this time of progress and there are no complaints about that it seems.

Bug! was ported to almost a year later PC as part of the SEGA PC range of titles. Both the PC and Saturn versions can be found very cheaply.

Bug European Case
	Case Quote With a unique game engine and amazing polygon graphics, Bug combines classic platform action with all new innovative gameplay. His mission? To save his insect buddies from the clutches of evil Queen Cadavra. Features super-fluid animation and spectacular 3D action, in over 18 packed levels! Click on the images for larger versions.

STORY

Bug is a razor witted mighty-mite and an actor trying to make it big in Hollywood. He has just signed his first big role in a movie where he must rescue some of his beloved insect friends from a showbiz-bug eating black widow spider, Queen Cadavra.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay of Bug! actually takes place on the set of the film. As a platform game there is of plenty of walking around and jumping.

The game makes use of your ability to see things in the distance to overcome some simple puzzles and problems. It can require you spotting it first with the solution at hand appearing in the foreground or the distant background. Catching a glimpse of an enemy or item on the horizon can allow you to get to a lone platform. This is the extra depth that Bug! brings and there are few games that can be compared to it.

Video is shamelessly embedded from Youtube. All credit to the video owner. No infringement intended.

A level or scene as they are called in Bug! can be huge and there are plenty of secrets to be found. Each scene is packed full of enemies and other dangers such as spikes and rolling boulders. The other main danger is falling out of the terrain completely. This is more easily done than realised.

A scene ends when Bug reaches the Bug Stop. These will be a bench labelled 'Bug Stop' conveniently enough.

The gameplay overall can become frustrating and then irritating after a time. For the most part it's very repetitive as most platformers are, however, the implementation of the graphics can make it very easy to miss a platform and plummet to your doom.

Bug himself adds a twist of humour as he proceeds with comments and one-liners and it's easy to see how this was included afterward to mitigate the gameplay.

The default controls are:

The D-Pad moves Bug around the screen. LEFT and RIGHT move across the terrain while UP and DOWN move in and out. Hold down a direction to push an object.

Button A is Spit (additional ability).

Button B is Zap (additional ability).

Button C Jump and/or bounce.

LEFT-TRIGGER and RIGHT-TRIGGER are duck.

Buttons X, Y and Z have no use.

Pressing START then A+B+C returns to the title screen.

Your vital information is displayed on the screen at all times. This is:

Hit Points - Bug's lifeline is Bug Juice. When hit the can loses juice. Bug is damaged by other insects and hazards in the scenes such as spikes and boulders.

Lives - Lives remaining. These are lost when Bug runs out of juice or falls out of the terrain. Extra lives can be collected in the form of a Power-Up.

Blue Crystals - These provide you with money (points) at the end of each scene. They are worth $100 each. They also are your ticket to the Dragonfly Ring Chase. Collecting 100 within a round gives you a dragonfly icon. Gain one of these in all 3 scenes to access the Dragonfly Ring Chase Bonus Round.

Purple Crystals - Act the same as blue but are worth 5 each.

Extra abilities (Stunt Bug and Zap Cap) will have a timer appear onscreen whilst it is active.

Enemies can attack from many directions. Some can be avoided but others will need to be killed. They are defeated by jumping onto them. Some enemies need more than 1 hit to defeat them. As you land a hit you will earn points which doubles if you hit them again without touching the floor. There will be some creatures (like lizards) which cannot be killed.

There will be many objects which behave the same though they will take on different forms between the terrains. For example, springboards maybe a mushroom in the forest terrain and a bone in the desert terrain.

Mushrooms/Bones/Leaves - These make Bug somersault high into the air. Useful for reaching higher areas and getting over large gaps.

Leaves - Similar to Mushrooms working on a springboard system to control height.

Bubbles - Contain Bug in a pocket of air to carry him to another place.

Levers and Gates - These open up other areas which usually contain Power-Ups. Simply walk over the levers to flip to open the gate.

Check Points - These are places to restart from. Simply walk past them to activate.

Power-Ups are also in abundance to assist you. These are:

Bug Juice - Restores your hit points to full.

Hearts - Restores 1 hit point.

1-UP - Gives Bug an extra life.

Coin - These grant to access to the mini-bonus rounds where you can win Power-Ups. More detail below.

Clapper Board - Earns you an extra continue credit.

Spit Wad - These provide you with ammo for your spit attack. Press Button B to fire. These appear in different colours for different amounts of shots.

Green - 1 Shot
Red - Double Shot
Blue - Rapid Fire
Purple - Bouncing ricochet fire.

You keep this ability until Bug looses a life.

Zap Cap - Activates your zap ability. Press Button A for a short range blast of electricity a bit like a whip. Lasts for a short period time. Usually hanging around this are plenty of green bee's.

Stunt Bug - This makes you invincible for a short period of time.

Surprise - These can be both good and bad. They will turn into a Power-Up or deposit an enemy.

THE LEVELS

There are a total of 6 areas or terrain's in the game each distinctly different and consisting of 3 scenes. At the end of each scene you are rewarded cash for blue crystals and at the end of scene 3 will be a boss encounter.

Bosses are generally large creatures that need plenty of hits to defeat them and when defeated a cut scene will advance you to the next area,

Insectia - Pleasant looking grassy zone with waterfalls.
Reptillia - Desert country. Arid and bone dry.
Splot - A lush water reef.
Quaria - Underwater.
The Bur-r-bs - Glittering ice level.
Arachnia - Hell basically teeming with fires and lava.

You begin the game with 3 lives. When these lives are gone you can continue if you have any credits. Your progress is saved at the end of each area. A game is automatically resumed if a save file is present when beginning play and you are prompted to select a start area but not a starting scene.

Bug Screenshots (Saturn)
Insectica




Reptillia




Splot




Quaria




The Burrbs




Arachnia

Bonus Stages

Should you find a large coin on any of the scenes then you can access the Bonus Stage by taking it to Daddy-0 longlegs who will be in the scene somewhere possibly more than once. Upon finding him you will be sucked into a bonus stage. These are task orientated and there are several different ones but they each require you to collect as many Oscars as possible.



Bonus Stage Entrance

A Bonus Stage

The main bonus stage is the Dragonfly Ring Chase played at the end of each area. Bug rides on the back of a dragonfly in the sky where you must fly through flaming rings collecting balls with blue stars inside. These are worth points at the end. Should you reach the end of the course a clapper board can be grabbed.

Dragonfly Ring Chase

UP and DOWN on the D-Pad for this section are reversed therefore UP makes your dragonfly dive and DOWN makes your dragonfly ascend. LEFT and RIGHT are for steering and not reversed.

The rules are rather harsh. Should you miss or touch a ring you drop out the sky.

Any bubbles/stars collected are added to your movie gross. They are worth $100 each.

Game Options

Unfortunately, there are no options to tweak the actual gameplay. Available options are:

Music and SFX - Toggle these on or off.

Controls - Change button configuration.

CHEATS AND TIPS

Scene (Level) Skip

At the title screen press START so Start Game and Options appear. Then press B,A, B,Y, DOWN, RIGHT, A, LEFT-TRIGGER, DOWN. You will hear a "yipe". Start the game and press UP+LEFT-TRIGGER to advance a scene and DOWN+LEFT-TRIGGER to go back.

Any scene you skip will update any save file. There are a limited number of times you can resume determined by the figure far right on the saved games list.

PC VERSION

The PC version plays by default at a resolution of 320x240 with the option of a high resolution mode. It is a Windows 95 game and to play at a decent speed good Pentium PC was needed.

A playable demo can still be downloaded from various websites but the game itself can be found for less than £35 on Ebay usually.

BUG TOO!

The sequel to entitled Bug Too was released in 1996 on the Saturn and later ported to the PC.

The gameplay is pretty much unaltered but there are 3 playable characters to choose from and a 2-Player mode. Graphics are improved with smoother scrolling and more background animations.

Bug Too! (Saturn)

The Saturn version is somewhat rare and fetches prices between £20 and £40 on Ebay.

EMULATOR COMPATIBILITY

It is possible to play this game using the SSF Emulator. There are some graphical glitches however.

MISC INFO

There is a cameo by Sonic on one of the Bonus Stages where Bug must win a race against the speedy blue.
The SEGA Away Team were originally called Tiger Team and were assembled in 1993. This was a 'rapid deployment' team tasked launching the Saturn in the US (and we all know what happened there). They are often confused with the development of the console itself. Their logo (displayed at the top of the page) is a nod to Star Trek where Away Teams would beam to a new location.