If I had to choose three video games from the mid-1990s that best defined the genre of generic action game based on a licensed film property, I would have a hard time finding a triplet of games more deserving of the title than Cliffhanger, Judge Dredd, and Demolition Man. Sylvester Stallone is the common thread across all three games, providing the perfect excuse for Hardcore Gaming 101 to focus on three very blah gaming experiences.
The 16-bit versions of Cliffhanger take the form of a rather subpar beat-em-up. Stallone plays the role of Gabe Walker, who must stop a group of thieves, led by Qualan (John Lithgow, pre-3rd Rock from the Sun) from stealing some cash that was lost amidst a snowy mountain range. Gabe's moves are staggeringly limited - a punch, a kick, and a jump kick - with a few weapons like knives and guns to fend off foes. The action is stiff, slow, and irritatingly difficult. Thankfully, every few screens you'll run into a campfire, which acts as both a checkpoint and a place to refill your life bar. There are a few ill-conceived platforming sections, which may bring back terrible memories of the cave from the NES version of Double Dragon, and even worse sections where you need to scale up mountain walls by avoiding enemy fire. Since the entire game takes place on the mountains, there's not much in the way of scenery or enemy variation, so everything looks pretty boring. There's very little to recommend about Cliffhanger - even the most average of beat-em-ups are usually saved by two player co-op, which this doesn't even have, making the game nigh worthless.
Of the three Stallone games featured here I had the most hope for Demolition Man which, as a movie, had a fun premise that could have made for a dynamite video game. Instead we wound up with, well, this:
Movie tie-in games still have problems today in the modern gaming era, but at least they've improved somewhat from the old Cliffhanger and Demolition Man days. We've come a long way, yes, but we also still have a long way to go.
