9: The Last Resort
Encyclopedia
9: The Last Resort is a 1996 adventure
computer game developed by Tribeca Interactive
. The game was produced by Robert De Niro
and Jane Rosenthal
, and sported an all-star cast of voice-artists including Cher
, James Belushi
, Christopher Reeve
, Tress MacNeille
, Ellen Degeneres
and two members of Aerosmith
. It also includes the visual style and artwork of Mark Ryden
.
The game came soon after the release of Myst
, which revolutionized the graphic adventure genre. Like Myst, 9 is a graphically-rich 3D prerendered world, taking advantage of high-quality QuickTime
video, and solely available on CD-ROM
. It was written for the Windows
platform, unlike most games of the time which ran on DOS
and the Mac OS platform.
9 features a large cast of characters, and is rich in character interaction. The game world is populated by bizarre environments, objects and creatures. The game world is designed to represent the limits of man's imagination. There is a strong music
al theme running through the entire game, as evidenced by a majority of the puzzles, including the main recurring puzzle. There is also a strong element of humour
in the game.
The gameplay, coupled with the extremely high hardware requirements and the high cost of the game led to very few sales, and the game was remaindered.
The title is always written as '9', the numeral, not the word (except in some of the game's files).
The name "9" refers to the nine muse
s which inhabit the resort (from Greek mythology
). The muses are represented by various characters in the game.
The name "The Last Resort" is the title of the building in which the game is set. It is a luxury hotel which belonged to a man called Thurston Last, but is also a pun
on the term "last resort
". The title paves the way for endless numbers of pun
s on the name "Last", which are made throughout the game.
), which is inhabited by 9 muse
s. As the player enters the hotel, it becomes clear that it is no longer a hospitable place. Its wacky inhabitants live in fear of a pair of squatters known as the Toxic Twins (Steven Tyler
and Joe Perry
). Only the aeroplane-man Salty (James Belushi
) is brave enough to wander around and talk to the player. The player's goal is to reconstruct "The Muse Machine" and banish the Toxic Twins.
. 9 included the following items:
In addition, the quick-start guide is packaged as the "Guest Services" guide.
gave it a 7.3 "Good" rating while other reviewers berated it.
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
computer game developed by Tribeca Interactive
Tribeca Interactive
Tribeca Interactive was a computer game production company owned by actor Robert De Niro. It produced an expensive, technically advanced product called 9...
. The game was produced by Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
and Jane Rosenthal
Jane Rosenthal
Jane Rosenthal is an American film producer.Rosenthal was born in Denver, Colorado and raised in Providence, Rhode Island; she attended both Brown and New York University...
, and sported an all-star cast of voice-artists including Cher
Cher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, James Belushi
James Belushi
James Adam "Jim" Belushi is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is the younger brother of comic actor John Belushi.-Early life:Belushi was born in Chicago...
, Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve
Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author and activist...
, Tress MacNeille
Tress MacNeille
Tress MacNeille is an American voice actress best known for providing various voices on the animated series The Simpsons, Futurama, Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, Disney's House of Mouse, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Rugrats, All Grown Up!, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, and Dave the...
, Ellen Degeneres
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres is an American stand-up comedienne, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was also a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season....
and two members of Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
. It also includes the visual style and artwork of Mark Ryden
Mark Ryden
-Early life:Ryden is the son of Barbara and Keith Ryden, born in Medford, Oregon but raised in Southern California. He has two sisters and two brothers, one a fellow artist named Keyth Ryden....
.
The game came soon after the release of Myst
Myst
Myst is a graphic adventure video game designed and directed by the brothers Robyn and Rand Miller. It was developed by Cyan , a Spokane, Washington––based studio, and published and distributed by Brøderbund. The Millers began working on Myst in and released it for the Mac OS computer on September...
, which revolutionized the graphic adventure genre. Like Myst, 9 is a graphically-rich 3D prerendered world, taking advantage of high-quality QuickTime
QuickTime
QuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
video, and solely available on CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
. It was written for the Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
platform, unlike most games of the time which ran on DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
and the Mac OS platform.
9 features a large cast of characters, and is rich in character interaction. The game world is populated by bizarre environments, objects and creatures. The game world is designed to represent the limits of man's imagination. There is a strong music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
al theme running through the entire game, as evidenced by a majority of the puzzles, including the main recurring puzzle. There is also a strong element of humour
Humour
Humour or humor is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement...
in the game.
The gameplay, coupled with the extremely high hardware requirements and the high cost of the game led to very few sales, and the game was remaindered.
Title
Formally, the title of the game is just "9", as shown on the box cover. However, the title "The Last Resort" is also displayed on the packaging in different locations, leading most people to refer to the game as "9: The Last Resort". Although the game never uses the two names together, it also does not consistently use one of them. For example, the game's executable is called "Nine", but the game's data folders are prefixed with "LR".The title is always written as '9', the numeral, not the word (except in some of the game's files).
The name "9" refers to the nine muse
Muse
The Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...
s which inhabit the resort (from Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
). The muses are represented by various characters in the game.
The name "The Last Resort" is the title of the building in which the game is set. It is a luxury hotel which belonged to a man called Thurston Last, but is also a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
on the term "last resort
Last Resort
-Music:*"Last Resort" , a song by Papa Roach from their 2000 album Infest*"Last Resort", a song by Katatonia on the album Discouraged Ones*The Last Resort , a 2006 album by the Danish electronic musician Trentemøller...
". The title paves the way for endless numbers of pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
s on the name "Last", which are made throughout the game.
Story
The premise of the game is that the player has just inherited a hotel, The Last Resort, belonging to his/her deceased uncle, Thurston Last (Christopher ReeveChristopher Reeve
Christopher D'Olier Reeve was an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author and activist...
), which is inhabited by 9 muse
Muse
The Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...
s. As the player enters the hotel, it becomes clear that it is no longer a hospitable place. Its wacky inhabitants live in fear of a pair of squatters known as the Toxic Twins (Steven Tyler
Steven Tyler
Steven Tyler is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the frontman and lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, and occasional piano and percussion. He is known as the "Demon of Screamin'", due to his high screams...
and Joe Perry
Joe Perry (musician)
Anthony Joseph "Joe" Perry is the lead guitarist, backing and occasional lead vocalist, and contributing songwriter for the rock band Aerosmith. He is influenced by many rock artists especially The Rolling Stones and The Beatles...
). Only the aeroplane-man Salty (James Belushi
James Belushi
James Adam "Jim" Belushi is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is the younger brother of comic actor John Belushi.-Early life:Belushi was born in Chicago...
) is brave enough to wander around and talk to the player. The player's goal is to reconstruct "The Muse Machine" and banish the Toxic Twins.
Gameplay
9 features a large number of puzzles, of varying difficulty. It is considered to be a very difficult game overall. Most of the puzzles relate to the musical theme, provided mainly by Aerosmith. Many of the puzzles are based in a specific musical instrument, such as the drums, guitar, and organ; however, no musical knowledge of these instruments is required to enjoy this game. The gameplay centers on an organ upon which the player can play musical codes. On each "floor" of the resort, the player finds a code sheet containing instructions for playing a short musical piece on the organ. However, each sheet extends the code making it more difficult to interpret. This culminates in the final puzzle in which the player must be thoroughly familiar with the code. This concept has been regarded by players as either a blessing or a curse.Packaging
The value of the game was increased due to the inclusion of "feelies" in the packaging - physical items included to increase the realism of the game, and also for copy protectionCopy protection
Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy obstruction, copy prevention and copy restriction, refer to techniques used for preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media, usually for copyright reasons.- Terminology :Media corporations have always used the term...
. 9 included the following items:
- The Last Resort hotel brochure
- Postcard with a picture of the resort, in its finer days
- Sealed envelope containing the Last Will and TestamentWill (law)A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
of Thurston Last (including a copy protectionCopy protectionCopy protection, also known as content protection, copy obstruction, copy prevention and copy restriction, refer to techniques used for preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media, usually for copyright reasons.- Terminology :Media corporations have always used the term...
code required to begin the game, although not all versions were sealed or included a protection code)
In addition, the quick-start guide is packaged as the "Guest Services" guide.
Reception
As mentioned earlier, the game was not commercially successful. It also received mixed reviews for example, GameSpotGameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
gave it a 7.3 "Good" rating while other reviewers berated it.