Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (NES)

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

Platform: NES Year: 1988 Developer: Tengen Buy: Amazon

For other games in the series, see Indiana Jones.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is an action game based on the arcade which in turn is based on the movie. You play as Indiana Jones and must stop Mola Ram. In this game, you play two different sections: One where you're running around saving kids (who will give you items) and you are supposed to find the one who has either the red or blue key which can be used to unlock the door to the next level located in the other section of the game; the mine cart levels. Sometimes, the kids in this area will also have the key to the next level, as well as provide Indy with weapons.

The game takes place from a top-down birds-eye view. There are 12 waves in all. Wave 9 is a notorious level where you have to build a bridge of dragon heads to progress in the game. However, there are six paths the player can build the bridge, but only one of the paths is correct. The level only provides you with limited resources, so if you use them all up, you have to start again. If that's not bad enough, Wave 10 makes Wave 9 look like barrels of fun. In Wave 10, the player uses the map pieces they collected throughout the game to locate a hidden spot where they must use a bomb to access the bridge to the final stage. If Indy neglected to pick up all the map pieces throughout the game, there will be holes in the map, and they will not be able to locate the hidden spot. In addition, the game's levels all wrap-around and loop, so even with the complete map, it's hard to tell where Indy is. If that's not bad enough, there are six different areas in Wave 10, and the player is only allowed to take one look at the map. To make matters worse, if the player loses all their lives on Wave 10, they start back at Wave 9.

The game received mostly negative reviews from players and critics alike; the jumping controls are awful, as Indy always gravitates toward the bottom of the screen because of the pseudo-isometric perspective, the levels are difficult to navigate, the enemies respawn too quickly, and some of the levels simply just aren't fun to play (such as Waves 9 and 10). In addition, the color palette used in the game is uninspired, such as putrid purples for the mountains and ghastly green rocks. Some of the sound effects can be annoying; in particular, the bat, which has a high-pitched ear-piercing sound that constantly repeats as long as they are on screen.

Two releases of the game exist; an unlicensed version by Tengen, as well as a licensed version by Mindscape. However, both releases are the same and play identical to each other.

Screenshots

The title screen. The alternate ending when you whip Willie.

This page needs more screenshots.

Music

Indiana Jones of the Temple of Doom contains only three songs, which are all based on the film score by John Williams. These songs were all used in the arcade version. While there does exist a fourth song in the game's code (an arrangement of Slalom on Mt. Humol), the song goes unused in this version. While the song played in the arcade version during the battle with Mola Ram, the NES version just rehashes the standard stage theme (Slave Children's Crusade).

The arcade version credits Dennis Harper and Hal Canon for music and sound, though Dennis says he arranged the music while Hal worked on the sound effects. The NES version's music is based on the arcade arrangements, and arranged for the NES by Atari's lead audio creator, Brad Fuller, who is probably best known for his NES soundtrack for Tetris: Tengen (NES). To create music for the NES Brad wrote the music in Music-V Language in RPM.

Recording

#	Title	Composer	Arranger	Length	Listen	Download
01	Indiana Jones Theme (Level Screen)	John Williams	Brad Fuller	0:55		Download
02	Slave Children's Crusade (Mountain Level Theme)	John Williams	Brad Fuller	2:41		Download
03	The Mine Car Chase (Mine Car Level Theme)	John Williams	Brad Fuller	1:39		Download
04	Slalom on Mt. Humol (Unused)	John Williams	Brad Fuller	1:05		Download

Credits

• Ripper: kingshriek
• Recorder: Doommaster1994
• Game Credits:
  • Not Credited Composer: John Williams
  • Not Credited Arranger: Brad Fuller
  • Unknown Programmer: Unknown

(Source: Verification from Brad Fuller; game lacks credits.)

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom appears to be the only game on the NES developed by Tengen that does not have credits. However, we have verified Brad's involvement via a phone call. In addition, the game shares sound effects with Tetris: Tengen (NES), a game which credits Fuller for audio.

It is currently unclear who programmed the NES version of RPM; Its original arcade counterpart's creator, Breighton Dawe, said that he had nothing to do with the conversion, and Brad Fuller also wasn't sure who did the conversion. It may have possibly been Lisa Ching, as she converted the arcade RPM driver to the Genesis, as well as being the programmer for the NES version of Xybots.

Game Rip

Formats	Download	Size
	Download	9 KB

Ripping NES music is a very arduous process that is beyond the scope of this site.

Releases

USA Title: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Platform: NES Released: 1988-??-?? Publisher: Tengen     USA Title: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Platform: NES Released: 1988-12-?? Publisher: Mindscape