Video games based on movie licenses are very, very rarely good. Or even average. There could be any number of reasons for this but I think most often they are made with a limited budget simply to capitalize on the interest generated by the movie. This isn’t necessarily the programmers’ fault. There’s only so much you can do with a short timeline and limited budget. Unfortunately, Cliffhanger does not seem to be an exception to this rule.
Cliffhanger is based on the Sylvester Stallone movie of the same name and was released in 1993 for seemingly every system available at the time (NES, SNES, Genesis, Sega CD, Amiga, Game Gear, Game Boy and maybe more than I am missing). There seemed to be two basic versions, an 8-bit version and a 16-bit version from which they all descend. The Genesis version was one of the better versions but that really isn’t saying much.
Cliffhanger, while loosely based on the plot of the movie, played like a side-scrolling beat-em-up, a genre common at the time. Essentially, it was just a very poor imitation of games like Double Dragon. Even saying that is probably an insult to Double Dragon. The problems were many but it basically comes down to the fact that this was a game that lacked originality, was very repetitive, and had below average graphics. The 8-bit versions were even worse. Apparently, EGM awarded this game the worst movie to game translation of 1994. That’s pretty bad considering that this is a genre of games that has pretty low expectations to start with.
So why would you want to play this? I can’t really think of many reasons. Maybe you are obsessed with side-scrolling beat-em-ups and just have to play them all. Maybe nostalgia for this game because you had the game or were fond of the movie as a kid (I’ve always kind of had a soft spot for the NES version of Total Recall for this reason). Maybe you just have some kind of obsessive compulsive disorder that requires that you play it. Maybe you just want to see how bad it really is. I can’t think of many good reason.
If you do want to give it a try, then stick to the 16-bit versions like the Genesis version. The Sega CD version in particular has some extra snow boarding levels that some claim are actually fun. In any case, you’ll have to track down an original or be content with emulation. Licensed games rarely get re-releases of any sort because of, well, licensing reasons. It’s not as if this one would be on anyone’s ‘best of’ list or remembered with fondness enough to justify a re-release anyway.
Screen shots above are from the Sega Genesis version of the game.
