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Super 3D Noah's Ark (also known as Super Noah's Ark 3D) is a Christian-themed first-person shooter video game developed and published in 1994 for the SNES and MS-DOS by Wisdom Tree. It ran on the Wolfenstein 3D engine, and as such shares much of the same gameplay mechanics as Wolfenstein, albeit reworked to reflect a non-violent biblical theme. As the name implies, it is very loosely based on the biblical story of Noah's ark during a world-engulfing flood in the Genesis.
Gameplay[]
As with Wolfenstein 3D, the player takes control of Noah in first-person, wandering around the Ark with a slingshot taking place of a gun in Wolf 3D in order to shoot sleep-enducing food at the angry animals to put them to sleep. In the final world levels, Noah fights a boss in the world.
Despite being mechanically similar to Wolfenstein, the game was altered to suit younger audiences. While the Super NES version was largely a reskin of the original game, the DOS and later Windows releases added features such as textured floors, higher-resolution textures and a Bible quiz minigame.
Items[]
- Fruits - Used to give Noah points and give Noah a hundred percent after clearing. They don't give Noah ammo or heal Noah.
- Food - There are several types: small boxes, large boxes, and knapsacks. Small boxes have five. Large boxes have twenty-five. Knapsacks have ten and will allow Noah to carry more than a hundred. Bread crumbs are also healing foods, but give Noah a small amount.
- Pellets - Used to give Noah ammo. Noah has a slingshot. If Noah runs out of pellets, he uses his hand to feed the animals grain, which can cause a little damage. The Super Feeder 5000 is the Pellet Launcher in the whole game, which can take down animals faster.
- Large Food - There are two: watermelon and cantaloupe. Cantaloupe launchers have rapid fire, but watermelons don't.
- Keys - Used to help Noah open locks. If Noah loses all of his health and restarts the level, he doesn't need the key.
- Bandages - There are two: small and large. Small bandages give Noah a medium amount of health, but larger bandages give Noah a larger amount of health.
- Globes - Used to give Noah a 1-up. Noah cannot hold more than nine.
- Doors - Doors are the common items in the game. Some Doors contain bonus rooms, exits, and locks.
Enemies[]
- Goats - Goats are simple enemies. They bleat as Noah hears them. They kick Noah and don't drop items when they sleep.
- Sheep - A Sheep is similar to a goat. It makes a bleating noise, but spits at Noah.
- Ostriches - Ostriches make chirping noises and are very fast. They spit to give Noah a great deal of damage, reducing eight percent.
- Antelopes - Antelopes use hooves to make noises and are also tougher than Ostriches as they spit to give Noah greater deals of damage. Antelopes take twelve pellets to fall asleep.
- Oxen - The Ox is considered to be the toughest animal in the game. An Ox is strong, but slow.
- Obstacles - There are three blockers: pillars, cages, and cages. They cannot be moved or pushed. Other obstacles such as rubbish and puddles don't block Noah's path.
Bosses[]
- Camels - Camels are the easiest bosses in the game and make a moaning noise. They spit at Noah.
- Giraffes - Giraffes act like the camel and make whistling noises, but they are a little tougher than the Camel.
- Monkey - Monkeys will squeal by throwing painful coconuts at Noah.
- Kangaroos - Kangaroos make springing noises and are tougher than Monkeys, but a bit aggressive.
- Elephants - The Elephant will bellow and throw coconuts from its trunk at Noah and can charge him.
- Bear - The Bear is the toughest boss in the game. It roars and has two phases: hiding and normal. The Bear will cause heavy damage to Noah with its claws. When the Bear falls asleep, the game ends.
Trivia[]
- Contrary to the popular rumour, there is no evidence that id Software handed over the Wolfenstein 3D source code to Wisdom Tree as revenge for Nintendo's censorship policies; Wisdom Tree was simply a Wolfenstein engine licensee.
- The game originally started life as a tie-in to the 1987 British horror film Hellraiser. Preliminary work was done for the NES, with a custom co-processor chip intended to augment the console's capabilities. The developers eventually transferred development to the SNES as the bespoke co-processor would have made the game prohibitively expensive, and at the time when the likes of Doom have been released on next-generation systems, it simply wasn't worth developing for an already antiquated console. In addition, the idea of a horror game did not sit well with Color Dreams who was then operating under the Wisdom Tree label, as it clashed with their family-friendly image.
External links[]
- Super 3D Noah's Ark at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Super 3D Noah's Ark at GameFAQs