Alien vs Predator (1994). Play online

Summary

Alien vs Predator started life as an ambitious Lynx handheld project before being reshaped into a first‑person shooter for the Atari Jaguar. When Atari pulled the plug on the handheld version, Rebellion Developments inherited the rough prototype, expanded the cartridge to overcome early memory limits, and debuted the new‑fangled title at multiple 1994 trade shows.

The Jaguar version pushed the console’s hardware: pixel art and airbrushed textures were combined, the Blitter and GPU tackled rendering separately, and all visuals were squashed with the proprietary JagPEG compressor. James Grunke’s audio team not only crafted the synth‑heavy score but also voiced both the Marine and the Predator, lending the game an oddly personal flair.

Critics hailed AVP for its atmospheric levels, character choice, and imposing enemy designs, awarding it Game Informer’s Jaguar Game of the Year and other 1994 honors. Complaints lingered around a sluggish frame‑rate, clunky controls, and repetitive corridors, yet retrospective rankings often list it among the Jaguar’s very best. By early 1995 the title sold roughly 50,000 copies in North America, with worldwide numbers later climbing toward 85,000, cementing its cult‑classic reputation.

Storyline

Alien vs Predator on the Atari Jaguar drops players into a simulated Golgotha training base overrun by two alien species. The game offers three scenarios: control an Alien, a Predator, or private Lance J. Lewis of the Colonial Marines. As the Alien, the goal is to rescue the captive queen aboard the Predator ship, using claws, a retractable jaw, and a tail while turning Marines into cocoons and spawning up to three embryo‑filled eggs that act as extra lives. When the Alien dies, a hatched egg respawns the player.
Playing as the Predator, the objective is to kill the Alien queen and claim her skull. Points let the Predator equip a health restorer, audio oscilloscope, wrist blade, invisibility camouflage, infrared filters, and weapons such as a combistick, smart disc, or shoulder‑mounted plasma cannon. The Predator hunts both Aliens and the Marine while managing limited resources, and its arsenal expands as points accumulate.
As Lance J. Lewis, the Marine must survive, locate security cards, acquire weapons, and trigger the base’s self‑destruct before escaping in a pod. He navigates elevators, air ducts, and terminals while avoiding acidic blood, acid pools, and Facehuggers that emerge from Alien eggs.