The Lawnmower Man

The Lawnmower Man is the game based on the 1992 movie of the same name (itself loosely based on a short story by Stephen King). In it, Pierce Brosnan plays Dr. Lawrence Angelo, a scientist working for Virtual Space Industries on "Project 5," a secret research project that attempts to increase the intelligence of primates with the help of psychotropic drugs and VR training. After one of the chimps escapes and shoots a security guard in the process, he is ordered to take a forced leave of absence. While taking notes on the need for experiments with human subjects, he becomes aware of Jobe Smith (Jeff Fahey), a simpleton who makes his living doing odd jobs like mowing lawns (hence the title role). The first experiments quickly increase Jobe's intelligence. After an accident, Angelo stops the experiments, but The Shop, a secret agency that oversees Project 5, reinserts the drugs responsible for the violent behavior into the program and speeds up the treatment. When Jobe begins to develop telekinetic powers, he takes revenge on those who abused him before the treatment and plans to take over all the computers in the world. While the CD version of the game (PC, Mega CD) is an interactive movie, both cartridge versions are platform games in which the player takes control of Dr. Angelo or Carla Parkette (the mother of Jobe's best friend) in typical side-scrolling shooter action. The player can collect better weapons or data discs that allow him to transform into the Virtual Suit, which offers protection from a first hit. The player visits several locations from the movie, such as the gas pump and the VSI headquarters. The game's twists and turns are True 3D level connections based on the movie's CG sequences, usually involving dodging (and occasionally shooting) obstacles at high speeds in the VR world. There are four different ones (Virtual World, Cyber War, Cyber Run and Cyber Tube), each with a slightly different approach (Virtual World is played in the first-person perspective, with the objective being to avoid obstacles such as trees and arches and reach the exit, Cyber War is similar to Virtual World but with some shooting breaks, Cyber Run is played in the third person and requires occasional shooting at obstacles, while Cyber Tube is a fast journey with many enemies in a VR tunnel).