{{Short description|1998 video game}} {{Infobox video game | image = Wild 9 Coverart.png | caption = North American box art | developer = Shiny Entertainment | publisher = Interplay Productions | designer = Tom Tanaka<br>Kevin Munroe<br>David Perry | composer = Tommy Tallarico<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tallarico |first1=Tommy |title=VIDEO GAMES |url=https://www.tallarico.com/videogames |website=tallarico.com |access-date=20 March 2024 |archive-date=20 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240320085043/https://www.tallarico.com/videogames |url-status=live }}</ref><br>Sascha Dikiciyan<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dikiciyan |first1=Sascha |title=Past work — Sascha Dikiciyan aka Sonic Mayhem |url=https://www.sonicmayhem.com/history |website=sonicmayhem.com |access-date=20 March 2024}}</ref> | released = {{vgrelease|NA|September 30, 1998|EU|September 1998}} | modes = Single-player | genre = Platform game | platforms = PlayStation }}
'''''Wild 9''''' is a 2.5D platform video game for the PlayStation. The game was designed by David Perry, developed by Shiny Entertainment, and published by Interplay Productions, all of whom were involved in ''Earthworm Jim'' series of video games. The game was released in North America and Europe in September 1998.
==Gameplay== The game is a run and gun platformer sidescrolling video game.<ref name="autogenerated1998">{{cite web |author=IGN staff |date=September 30, 1998 |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/1998/10/01/wild-9-ships-today |title=Wild 9 Ships Today |website=IGN |publisher=Ziff Davis |accessdate=November 6, 2012 |archive-date=December 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131222121708/http://www.ign.com/articles/1998/10/01/wild-9-ships-today |url-status=live }}</ref> While the game has 3D, polygonal graphics, gameplay only takes place on a 2D plane,<ref name="autogenerated1998"/> although occasionally, the game does allow for the player to move the character into the foreground or background.<ref name="allgame1">{{cite web |first=J.C. |last=Barnes |url=http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=12757 |title=Wild 9 - Overview |website=AllGame |publisher=All Media Network |accessdate=November 6, 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141114204650/http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=12757|archivedate=November 14, 2014}}</ref> The player controls the movements of the main character, Wex Major, manipulating him around obstacles through to the end of the level. Wex's main weapon is called the "Rig", which is an electrical beam coming from Wex's back, used to defeat enemies.<ref name="gamasutra1">{{cite web |first=Didier |last=Malenfant |date=January 7, 2000 |url=https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3417/postmortem_shiny_entertainments_.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227075527/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3417/postmortem_shiny_entertainments_.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 27, 2008 |title=Features - Postmortem: Shiny Entertainment's Wild 9 |website=Game Developer |publisher=UBM plc |accessdate=November 6, 2012}}</ref> The "Rig" latches on to enemies, allowing the player to whip around or thrash enemies.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} Common scenarios involve bashing them into the floor or walls, or carrying enemies and moving them into other parts of the environments, like pits or spikes.<ref name="allgame1"/>
==Story== The game stars Wex Major, a young male who gets lost in an unfamiliar galaxy.<ref name=avault1>{{cite web |first=Jason |last=Purdy |date=December 28, 1998 |url=http://www.avault.com/reviews/psx/wild-9-psx-review/ |title=Wild 9 PSX review [Incomplete] |website=The Adrenaline Vault |accessdate=November 6, 2012 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090908200421/http://www.avault.com/reviews/psx/wild-9-psx-review/ |archivedate=September 8, 2009}}</ref> He eventually meets up with eight other off-beat, strange adventurers, and becomes the leader of the group, which they dub the "Wild 9".<ref name="allgame1"/> The "Nine" consists of "Nitro", who has serious allergy problems and explodes once coming across said allergens; "Pokkit", who has a special jacket with an infinite amount of pockets full of an infinite number of things; "Pilfer", a lizard with thousands of separate personalities; "Volstagg", a strong person with gorilla and gazelle DNA; "Crystal", who is solar-powered and has a body made of crystal with living hair; "Boomer McTwist", who has powers from wearing the kilt of her Scottish superhero father, "MacSheen", who is adept with tools but is rather hormonal; "Henry", a sentient being made entirely out of water; and "B'Angus" (B is silent), who looks similar to a chihuahua and lives inside the Rig item, providing advice for Wex.<ref name=avault1/>
The evil Karn, a being who is 376 years old, desires to use the "Rig" item as a method of enslaving and controlling the inhabitants of the universe. Karn kidnaps the rest of the "Wild 9" crew, leaving it up to Wex to rescue them and ultimately defeat Karn.<ref name=allgame1/>
==Development==
===Origins=== The game shared many key parties involved in ''Earthworm Jim'' series of video games. Developer Shiny Entertainment, publisher Interplay Entertainment, and key staff members, such as designers David Perry and Tom Tanaka all worked on the ''Earthworm Jim'' series and ''Wild 9''.<ref name="gamasutra1"/> Development for the game started in 1996, shortly after the release of Shiny's ''Earthworm Jim 2'', and spanned three years.<ref name="autogenerated1998"/> Initial ideas for the game included having a female character who possessed a special glove that could instantly vaporize enemies.<ref name="gamasutra1"/> From there, the idea progressed to an item that could do hand-like motions, only with 1,000 times the strength of a typical human, before it finally evolved into the game's final premise of a male character, Wex, who controlled the "Rig".<ref name="gamasutra1"/> The game initially started up development for the Sega Saturn and the PlayStation, however, the Saturn version was cancelled early in development.<ref>{{cite web |first=Didier |last=Malenfant |date=January 7, 2000 |url=https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131824/postmortem_shiny_entertainments_.php?page=2 |title=Features - Postmortem: Shiny Entertainment's Wild 9 (Page 2) |website=Game Developer |publisher=UBM plc |access-date=November 6, 2012 |archive-date=November 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104151021/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131824/postmortem_shiny_entertainments_.php?page=2 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Perry's disillusionment with Sega of America's Saturn strategy was cited as the reason for the cancellation.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/Official_Sega_Saturn_Magazine_019 |title=Canned! |magazine=Sega Saturn Magazine |publisher=EMAP |issue=19 |date=May 1997 |page=[https://archive.org/details/Official_Sega_Saturn_Magazine_019/page/n6 7]}}</ref> Shortly after, Perry posted online that development on the Saturn version would resume if and when he was satisfied that Sega of America were making the Saturn a commercially viable platform.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/Official_Sega_Saturn_Magazine_022 |title=Shiny Clarification |magazine=Sega Saturn Magazine |publisher=EMAP |issue=22 |date=August 1997 |page=[https://archive.org/details/Official_Sega_Saturn_Magazine_022/page/n10 11]}}</ref> Kevin Munroe, designer and lead animator on the project, stated that the development team aimed for the feel of the game to be as "...if George Lucas co-wrote ''Star Wars'' with Lewis Carroll. And imagine if George Lucas then codirected it with Tex Avery."<ref name="gamasutra1"/>
The animations were rendered manually, instead of by the increasingly prevalent motion capture technique.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Is There Life After Jim? |magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly |publisher=Ziff Davis |issue=88 |date=November 1996 |pages=152, 154}}</ref> By the end of 1997, Shiny were looking into incorporating the tessellation graphics technology created for ''Messiah'' into ''Wild 9''.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Scary Larry |url=https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_111_Volume_09_Number_12_1997-12_IDG_Publishing_US |title=Rising Shiny |magazine=GamePro |publisher=IDG |issue=111 |date=December 1997 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_111_Volume_09_Number_12_1997-12_IDG_Publishing_US/page/n69/mode/2up 68]–[https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_111_Volume_09_Number_12_1997-12_IDG_Publishing_US/page/n71/mode/2up 70] |accessdate=November 25, 2021}}</ref>
===Release=== Interplay gave the game a four million dollar budget for marketing the game, relatively large for a video game in the late 1990s.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web |author=IGN staff |date=September 14, 1998 |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/1998/09/15/shinys-9-gets-wild-backing |title=Shiny's 9 Gets Wild Backing |website=IGN |accessdate=November 6, 2012 |archive-date=December 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131222161010/http://www.ign.com/articles/1998/09/15/shinys-9-gets-wild-backing |url-status=live }}</ref> This included commercials played on major cable networks, such as ABC and Comedy Central, and a spot on the demo discs packed in every new PlayStation console sold at the time.<ref name="autogenerated2"/>
==Reception== {{Video game reviews | GR = 76%<ref name="GR">{{cite web |url=https://www.gamerankings.com/ps/199298-wild-9/index.html |title=Wild 9 |website=GameRankings |publisher=CBS Interactive |accessdate=October 7, 2020 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501045415/https://www.gamerankings.com/ps/199298-wild-9/index.html |archivedate=May 1, 2019}}</ref> | CNG = 4/10<ref>{{cite web |first=Jason |last=D'Aprile |date=November 13, 1998 |url=http://www.gamecenter.com/Consoles/Sony/Wild9/ |title=Wild 9 |website=Gamecenter |publisher=CNET |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816211013/http://www.gamecenter.com/Consoles/Sony/Wild9/ |archivedate=August 16, 2000 |accessdate=November 25, 2021}}</ref> | Edge = 6/10<ref name="Edge review">{{cite magazine |author=Edge staff |url=https://retrocdn.net/images/4/48/Edge_UK_063.pdf |title=Wild 9 |magazine=Edge |publisher=Future Publishing |issue=63 |date=October 1998 |page=92 |accessdate=November 25, 2021 |archive-date=March 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326141814/https://retrocdn.net/images/4/48/Edge_UK_063.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> | EGM = 7.75/10<ref name="EGM review">{{cite magazine |first1=Dan |last1=Hsu |first2=Jay |last2=Silvey |first3=Shawn |last3=Smith |first4=John |last4=Davison |title=Wild 9 |magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly |publisher=Ziff Davis |issue=113 |date=December 1998 |page=265}}</ref> | Fam = 28/40<ref name="Fam">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=19033&redirect=no |title=ワイルドロイド9 |language=ja |magazine=Famitsu |publisher=Enterbrain |accessdate=October 7, 2020}}</ref> | GI = 6.25/10<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.gameinformer.com/cgi-bin/review.cgi?sys=psx&path=dec98&doc=wild9 |title=Wild 9 |magazine=Game Informer |publisher=FuncoLand |issue=68 |date=December 1998 |access-date=October 7, 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990930181133/http://www.gameinformer.com/cgi-bin/review.cgi?sys=psx&path=dec98&doc=wild9 |archive-date=September 30, 1999}}</ref> | GameRev = B+<ref name="GameRev review">{{cite web |author=Dr. Moo |date=October 1998 |url=https://www.gamerevolution.com/review/34086-wild-9-review |title=Wild 9 Review |website=GameRevolution |publisher=CraveOnline |accessdate=October 7, 2020 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150806022553/http://www.gamerevolution.com/review/wild-9 |archivedate=August 6, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> | GSpot = 5.1/10<ref name="GSpot review">{{cite web |first=Joe |last=Fielder |date=October 9, 1998 |url=https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/wild-9-review/1900-2546110/ |title=Wild 9 Review |website=GameSpot |publisher=Red Ventures |accessdate=December 12, 2016}}</ref> | IGN = 8.5/10<ref name="IGN review">{{cite web |first=Douglass C. |last=Perry |date=October 1, 1998 |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/1998/10/02/wild-9 |title=Wild 9 |website=IGN |publisher=Ziff Davis |accessdate=November 6, 2012}}</ref> | NGen = 3/5<ref name="NGen review">{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_49 |title=Wild 9 |magazine=Next Generation |publisher=Imagine Media |issue=49 |date=January 1999 |page=[https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_49/page/n107/mode/2up 106] |accessdate=October 7, 2020}}</ref> | OPM = 3.5/5<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Wild 9 |magazine=Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine |publisher=Ziff Davis |volume=2 |issue=3 |date=December 1998}}</ref> }}
The game received favorable reviews according to the review aggregation website GameRankings.<ref name="GR"/>
''IGN'' praised the game, comparing it favorably to ''Earthworm Jim'' and praising the game for making it fun to torture enemies in many ways, without feeling guilty due to enemies appearing neither human nor realistic.<ref name="IGN review"/> ''GameRevolution'' praised it for being "off-beat" and "imaginative" in a similar manner to ''Earthworm Jim'', but said that, despite its innovative "torture" moves with the "Rig" weapon, the gameplay still ultimately boiled down to basic platforming and item collection.<ref name="GameRev review"/> ''GamePro'' said that the game was "funny, wickedly subtle, and almost as amusing to play as it is to watch. It resurrects the old side-scrolling platform game, adding some ''Jim''-esque humor and head-scratching puzzles. This game definitely has nine lives."<ref>{{cite magazine |author=Scary Larry |url=https://retrocdn.net/images/8/8f/GamePro_US_122.pdf |title=Wild 9 [author mislabeled as "Air Hendrix"] |magazine=GamePro |publisher=IDG |issue=122 |date=November 1998 |page=170 |accessdate=November 25, 2021 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041201074959/http://www.gamepro.com/sony/psx/games/reviews/288.shtml |archivedate=December 1, 2004 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|''GamePro'' gave the game two 4.5/5 scores for graphics and control, and two 5/5 scores for sound and fun factor.}}
''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' highlighted the game's 2.5D graphics and innovative gameplay, but criticized its challenging and unforgiving difficulty.<ref name="EGM review"/> Similarly, ''Edge'' remarked that the game's checkpoints were wrongly positioned and that the scenery can obstruct the player's view of the gameplay.<ref name="Edge review"/> ''GameSpot'' was far less enthusiastic with the game, stating "The whole play mechanic of using the rig to move objects and enemies about may seem pretty interesting at first, but soon gets rather tiring...''Wild 9'' is one of those games that purports to have a unique concept behind it, yet falls flat in its implementation."<ref name="GSpot review"/> ''Next Generation'' shared similar sentiments, saying, "As unique and fun as this is [...] the game's rocky development history shows in its occasionally sloppy control, clichéd platform structure (kill enemies, solve puzzles, fight boss, repeat), general lack of variety, and fairly short playing time."<ref name="NGen review"/> In Japan, where the game was ported and published by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan under the name {{nihongo|'''''Wildroid 9'''''|ワイルドロイド9|Wairudoroido 9}} on February 10, 2000, ''Famitsu'' gave it a score of 28 out of 40.<ref name="Fam"/>
''Wild 9'' was a finalist at the AIAS' 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards for "Outstanding Achievement in Sound and Music", which ultimately went to ''Road Rash 3D''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.interactive.org/iaa/finalists_craft.html |title=Second Interactive Achievement Awards: Craft Award |website=Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences |accessdate=November 25, 2021 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/19991011023932/http://www.interactive.org/iaa/finalists_craft.html |archivedate=October 11, 1999}}</ref>
{{clear}}
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{moby game|id=/playstation/wild-9}}
{{Earthworm Jim}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1998 video games Category:Cancelled Sega Saturn games Category:Interplay Entertainment games Category:Platformers Category:PlayStation (console) games Category:PlayStation (console)-only games Category:Shiny Entertainment games Category:Side-scrolling video games Category:Single-player video games Category:Sony Interactive Entertainment games Category:Video games designed by David Perry Category:Video games developed in the United States Category:Video games scored by Sascha Dikiciyan Category:Video games scored by Tommy Tallarico Category:Video games with 2.5D graphics