Super Noah's Ark 3D (SNES)
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Super Noah's Ark 3D is a Christian-themed game that is very reminiscent to Wolfenstein 3D (SNES) but based on the narrative about Noah's Ark. In game, you must feed animals in the Ark (which really looks like a 28-floors maze) using different catapults and Y-shaped slingshots acting as your weapons, and the animals act like angry Nazis in Wolfenstein 3D.
This game is in fact a hacked version of Wolfenstein 3D (SNES) lacking a commercial success that came prior to its later DOS version, Super Noah's Ark 3D (DOS), which in turn had Wolfenstein 3D (DOS) as a base. The game lacks texturing on floor/ceiling and there are no trivia questions implemented yet. Also, you cannot care for one of six episodes to choose and instead have to linearly play the game (remembering passwords to write down as you complete a level). In addition, you get massive slow-downs when the game draws too many objects or textures on the screen. But unlike the DOS game counterpart your keys and weapons are preserved if you play on easy skill level and the weapons do not cover entire display (as will be in the DOS one).
For many years, there was a rumor spread that due to the censorship forced by Nintendo for the SNES version of Wolfenstein 3D, id Software gave Wisdom Tree the source code to their development tools for the game to spite Nintendo. However, former developers at Color Dreams have proven the rumor false; the company originally had wanted to develop a game based on Clive Barker's Hellraiser. The game was to use extra hardware and push the SNES to its limit. However, when the company found out the cartridges would be massively expensive to produce, they cancelled the project, and decided to make a new game based on Noah's Ark. As a result, they legally licensed the source code for the SNES Wolfenstein 3D from id Software.
The game received mostly negative reviews from critics due to the story and gameplay, as well as the frequent slowdown.
Screenshots
Music
Super Noah's Ark 3D was composed by Color Dreams employee Vance Kozik, who worked on the programming and sound to many Color Dreams and Wisdom Tree titles. Most of the music has a "loung-y" feel to it, which doesn't quite match up with the gameplay, but the music is still nice to listen to on its own. The DOS version of the game also uses the same soundtrack, though some would say the SNES version is the better fidelity version due to its use of sampled instruments as opposed to the FM sound.
Seeing that the game uses the SNES Wolfenstein 3D's assets, it's no surprise that it also uses the same sound driver and samples. The driver was programmed by Rebecca Heineman.
Recording
| # | Title | Composer | Length | Listen | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Menu | Vance Kozik | 1:42 | Download | |
| 02 | Introduction | Vance Kozik | 1:27 | Download | |
| 03 | Level Completed | Vance Kozik | 1:34 | Download | |
| 04 | Level 1-2 | Vance Kozik | 1:00 | Download | |
| 05 | Boss Stages | Vance Kozik | 1:42 | Download | |
| 06 | Level 2-1 | Vance Kozik | 1:18 | Download | |
| 07 | Level 3-1 | Vance Kozik | 2:01 | Download | |
| 08 | Level 4-1 | Vance Kozik | 1:42 | Download | |
| 09 | Level 5-1 | Vance Kozik | 2:00 | Download | |
| 10 | Level 5-5 | Vance Kozik | 0:56 | Download | |
| 11 | Level 6-1 | Vance Kozik | 1:25 | Download |
Credits
- Ripper: snsf.caitsith2.net
- Recorder: Cancer
- Game Credits:
- Not Credited Composer: Vance Kozik
- Not Credited Sound Driver: John Carmack
- Not Credited Sound Driver: Rebecca Heineman
(Source: Interview with Vance Kozik; game lacks credits.)
Like most Color Dreams games, this game lacks credits. However, in an interview with Vance Kozik conducted by NES World, Kozik said the following:
According to the game's source code, the game's sound driver was programmed by Rebecca Heineman and John Carmack, though it seems Rebecca programmed most of the sound driver. The instruments are taken from an Ensoniq SQ-1 keyboard.
Game Rip
The game does not utilize the S-SMP chip in the standard way, the music cannot be dumped into SPC files and had to be ripped to the SNSF format.
The titles of the music is based on when you hear them in the game, and the track order is based on the order you'll hear the background music.
The game's source code was also released, containing the MIDI files and sound driver code.[1]
Releases
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Links
- mobygames.com/game/snes/super-noahs-ark-3-d - MobyGames.
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_3D_Noah%27s_Ark - Wikipedia.
