The Big Game Idea: Level 7 Beginning - A 1UP classic from Oct 31, 2006

Below is a series that I originally ran on 1UP in 2006. In it I proposed an original video game based on the Incredible Hulk. I called it "The Big Game Idea." Over a few weeks I described the graphics, game play, visuals, and plot from beginning to end, including bonus features. I made a few minor edits, but it is more or less exactly the same as it was almost 20 years ago. I hope you enjoy it.

Now, let us return to the game idea. We left off with the Maestro destroying the Avengers. What has become of Bruce Banner and the Hulk?

The Hulk slowly turns back into Bruce. He holds the soul of Betty close. "Now take me back." He asks Hela. In a flash of light Banner is standing in front of Gamma Base. He looks around. "Nightmare where are you?"

"What do you want?" A ghostly face appears in the distance.

"If you steal any more souls I will find your island again and destroy it and you."

"Yes, of course, you have my word. No more souls. Any other requests...? I am a busy demon, I have dreams to corrupt." Nightmare snickers.

"Yagan, can you show yourself?" He asks and Yagan appears. "You must also let Yagan and his people go."

"But those are mine, they are the true..." Nightmare bites his lip as Banner makes a fist. "Done... Sweet dreams Dr. Banner." His face vanishes in the desert breeze.

"Where is her body?" Bruce asks Yagan.

"This way." Yagan leads him toward a bunker. Bruce puts in a code. The door opens and they walk inside.

"Argh, let her go!" Banner holds his head and collapses.

"Doctor Banner!" Yagan goes over to Banner as the world becomes dark.

We enter the mind of Banner. It looks like a wasteland save for a small house. In the distance we can see projected images of Banner and his various friends and enemies, Rick Jones, Marlo Chandler, the Leader, Rhino and the Gargoyle. There are crystal monoliths with various versions of the Hulk trapped inside each one. There are also some thick doors made of gold scattered around. Betty is being held by a 9-foot tall, yellow-skinned, reptilian version of the Hulk known as the Devil Hulk. His arms are shackled but he still has a grip on Betty. He is dragging her kicking and screaming into the small house. Bruce tries to pull her from his grasp but he is knocked to the ground. Suddenly out of nowhere the Hulk tackles the monster. They both crash through the front door of the house. When they stand they are inside of the bunker where Betty Ross Banner is kept. The Devil Hulk goes over to the chamber where Betty is and smashes it. The shackles break off of his wrists.

"Look my darling Bruce, I am free!" Says the Devil Hulk. This sends the Hulk into a frenzy.

Level 7 Beginning
Location: Banner's Mind.
Objective: Defeat the Devil Hulk.
Learn: Final combo chain attacks.
Unlock: Devil Hulk for game + mode.
Level Design: Banner's mind is splintered into various different stages. Every time the Hulk takes the upper hand in the fight against the Devil Hulk, the environment changes. When the Hulk first battles the Devil Hulk he is inside the tiny room where Betty is kept. Eventually the walls of the bunker fly off and we see that we are still trapped inside of Banner's mind. The ground changes and becomes more rocky in one instance, it resembles the badlands where the Mephisto level took place. In another instance it is the Hulk and Devil Hulk fighting on top of an aircraft carrier. It begins raining and army soldiers run through the background in another stage. Any crystal that gets broken during the course of the battle releases a version of the Hulk that fights against him and then runs off. The mini-game portion has a pair of giant claws trying to "trap" the Hulk behind one of the golden doors. The player has to rapidly press buttons to avoid being captured.

Halfway through the level a gigantic, alien-looking "Guilt Hulk" rises from the ground and tries to grab the Hulk. This battle is similar to the Absorbing Man level. The Guilt Hulk becomes smaller and smaller the more the Hulk battles him. At the climax of the battle we see the Hulk and Devil Hulk fighting near the original gamma bomb. We can actually see Bruce Banner running with Rick Jones away from the bomb. Just as the player is about to finish off the Devil Hulk the bomb goes off and we are blinded by the light.

The Devil Hulk is taller than the Hulk by a couple of feet. He starts off stronger than the Hulk and knows many of the same fighting moves. The Devil Hulk lacks a healing factor and ability to increase his strength with rage. The Devil Hulk can use the environment, like a series of traps, against the Hulk. There are a number of illusions that the Devil Hulk hides behind, the Hulk has to destroy the environment to locate these hiding spots. Unfortunately these can also be traps to release the Guilt Hulk.

The Devil Hulk, Guilt Hulk and various Hulk incarnations have popped up over the past decade. I thought it would be great to introduce the players to these fragments of Banner's mind as a level. Up until now most people thought that Banner only had the gray and savage personas. Now they see that there are many more monsters lurking under his skin, it's hard to imagine that he can become more dangerous than the Maestro but it is possible. That's why Banner works so hard to keep his personality disorder in check. To never let the "devil" out, as it were.

The way the level evolves was inspired by one of the final battles in God of War. In one sequence Kratos enters the temple where he murdered his wife and child. During that level the walls fly off into space and we see that we are in some sort of magical plane. The level gets progressively harder the longer we stay there. I wanted to give this level the same, dreamlike, feeling as the walls continually melt away and the Devil Hulk vanishes and reappears. If the player is on game + mode and is wailing on the Devil Hulk with ease then the level will "skip" portions of the evolution so that we end up on the gamma bomb scene before the player can finish the level. In this way there are no premature deaths of the main opponent.

Hulk versus Devil Hulk, this was actually explored in the Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction in 2005. I thought that I could build up a better conflict for the monster in my version of a Hulk game, do you think this works? Tell me in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!