The Lawnmower Man
The Lawnmower Man is a game based on the 1992 film of the same name (which in turn is loosely based on a short story by Stephen King). In it, Pierce Brosnan, who was not yet known as Bond at the time, 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 using psychotropic drugs and VR training. The twists and turns of the game are real 3D level connections based on the CG sequences from the film, and usually involve dodging obstacles (and occasional shooting) at high speed 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 from a first-person perspective, with the goal of dodging obstacles such as trees and arches and reaching the exit; Cyber War is similar to Virtual World but includes some shooting stops; Cyber Run is played from a third-person perspective and requires occasional shooting at obstacles, while Cyber Tube is a fast-paced journey with many enemies in a VR tunnel).
Story
Dr. Lawrence Angelo is a scientist at Virtual Space Industries (VSI) working on “Project 5,” a secret research facility that seeks to enhance primate intelligence through the use of psychotropic drugs and virtual reality (VR) training. Dr. Angelo is reluctant to use the research findings for military purposes, and after one of the chimpanzees escapes and shoots a security guard, Dr. Angelo is sent on forced leave. While taking notes on the necessity of experiments with a human subject, he discovers Jobe Smith (Jeff Fahey), a man with an intellectual disability who earns a living doing odd jobs like mowing lawns (hence the film’s title). Angelo takes Jobe in and subjects him to VR treatment. The initial experiments rapidly boost Jobe’s intelligence, but after an accident, Dr. Angelo halts the trials. “The Shop,” a secret agency overseeing Project 5, reintroduces the drugs responsible for Jobe’s violent behavior into the program and accelerates the treatment. When Jobe develops telekinetic powers, he begins to take revenge on those who abused him before the treatments began and plans to take control of all the world’s computers. The SNES version continues the story where the movie ends. Jobe transfers his consciousness into VSI’s computers and, from there, is able to corrupt and destroy information systems around the world—a course of action that apparently brings about a dystopia. As society completely collapses, Dr. Angelo discovers that Jobe was acting under the control of a person named Zorn the Doomplayer, who is the leader of “The Shop” and is out to take over what remains of the world. With Jobe seemingly gone, Angelo sets out to put an end to “The Shop” once and for all.