Glover

When I was 9 years old I saw the box art for Glover on the N64 at my local Hollywood Video. Honestly, who wouldn't have their attention grabbed by a anthropomorphic Hamburger Helper-ish glove? Despite the appeal to me at the time, I never owned a copy myself. However, one of my childhood friends did. Although it was no Mario 64, which it was inevitably compared to, it was a good way to waste an afternoon during a sweltering South Carolina summer. While it hasn't aged well (I would argue no early 3D game has), nostalgic adults have created a bit of a cult following for the game. In this post, I will be covering the game itself, the development team, general reception, and the sequel rumor mill. 

Before jumping into the development, here are the basics. Glover is a one player puzzle based platformer released on the Nintendo 64, Windows, and eventually the PlayStaion. Glover was published by Hasbro Interactive Ltd. and Nintendo on the N64. The publisher for PS version was Atari, a subsidiary of Hasbro Interactive at the time. It was developed by Blitz Games, which was a division of Blitz Games Studios. It was released for N64 and Windows in North America on Halloween 1998 and about a month later in Europe. The PS release on the other hand is a bit of a mystery. Two reviews I found for the PS version, published by GameSpot and IGN were written in April 2000 and January 2000 respectively. This was a year to a year and a half after the N64 release. This will be covered more in depth later.

Development

Speaking of development, the UK based development team for this game was shockingly small, even for the time. According to one article I found in Total 64, this game was in development for 2 1/2 years, which suggests development began in late 1995 or early 1996. While I couldn't find much on many of the teams members, what I did find were people who are well known and prolific in the gaming industry prior to and post Glover. Here are some notable people from the dev team, in no particular order:  Ricahrd Albon: He worked as the art director and concept artist for Glover. Additionally, he helped with level and character design. While he has worked on plenty of games since, the most notable are BioShock and BioShock 2. He helped created the art as well as having worked quality assurance for both games. David Manuel and David Flynn: Both were 3D animators and modelers for Glover. After leaving Blitz Games, Manuel worked as senior project manager for THQ and Flynn worked on the Burnout series. Allister Brimble: This man has had quite a career. He has done audio work on many, many games over the years. Some noteworthy titles include The Lion King, Mortal Kombat 2, the Rollercoaster Tycoon series, Driver 2 and Driv3r, and several Need for Speed games. Richard Joseph: He was a composer and sound specialist on a ton of games over the years, mainly Commodore 64 and Amiga titles. He unfortunately passed away in 2007. Simon Cole: The voice of Glover. He has since moved on to design and QA for the LEGO series.

Rob Lord: A native of Coventry, England, he has had a pretty varied career. Besides composing for Glover, he has made music with various bands as well as touring alongside Michael Jackson for a stint. Additionally, he has done work for Adult Swim on Cartoon Network and other video games, most notably the Discworld series. If you are interested in hearing his other compositions, I recommend checking out his website.

Paul Weir: Composed musical scores along side Rob Lord for Glover. Like Simon Cole, he has worked heavily on the LEGO series. He also lectures in musical composition for New Media and runs a sound design company called Earcom.

Thomas Dusenberry: He was part of the management team for Glover. Early on he worked for Milton Bradley and the Parker Bros. During this time he founded the software publisher Hasbro Interactive Ltd. Thomas has served on the boards of the Interactive Digital Software Association and the ESRB. He is also frequent speaker at gaming conferences such as CES and E3. Currently he is listed as CEO of Chasma Interactive Publishing, although I can't find much on this company as their website no longer exists. It seems as though they were bought by Kayak Interactive in 2005 and may have been folded into that company. Barry Jafrato: Before working on the management team for Glover, he worked at Hasbro. He was the International Managing Director for Hasbro Interactive from the beginning. He then became Managing Director of International Publishing for Acclaim International. In May of 2005 he joined Codemasters as Senior VP of Brand; a position he holds to this day. 

Tony Parks: This man needs his own article as he has had a varied and prolific career in the gaming industry from its very inception. Simply put, he has been in the industry for 35-40 years. He began by programming some of the first microcomputers and was one of the first successful black Americans in the industry. He worked for Hasbro Interactive until they were acquired by Infogrames, at which time he left to establish Call-It Entertainment. The Oliver Twins (Philip and Andrew): Speaking of people who need their own article. Both rose to fame in the 1980s when they helped develop the Dizzy and Simulator series. They mainly worked with Amstrad and Spectrum games with 26 #1 best sellers, 34 original games, and 5 million sales. According to different sources, this accounted for 7-15% of all UK game sales at the time. In 1990 they established Blitz Game Studios and created the company's 3D engine, which was used to make Glover. They are credited as Managing and Technical Directors for the game. After the collapse of Blitz Game Studios in September of 2013, they were in massive amounts of debt. Even so, they continued to work in the gaming industry. It seems to have paid off, as both are doing well today. Andrew is now responsible for the tech side of Radiant Worlds and has received an honorary doctorate from Coventry University. After a stint at Rebellion, the brothers left to form their own gaming consulting firm called Game Dragons in 2019. In an interview they did with Games Industry they talked about their past successes and failures. During the interview they mentioned bringing the Dizzy series back sometime in the near future. 

Ads and Previews

Now that I've covered the development team, let's take a gander at the marketing for Glover.

While looking for advertisements on Glover, I found a commercial, a magazine ad, and a preview in Total 64. Once again, I could not find anything for the PS version, which leads me to believe that the PS version was an after thought. More on this later.

Let's start with the commercial I found on YouTube. It's your typical 90s fare: plenty of puns, references to other games (and how much they suck in comparison), and some 'extreme' gameplay. If you want a nostalgic blast from the past, I recommend taking a look at it.   

The following is the ad taken out in various magazines. Take note of the terrible Beatles pun.

Credit to Autisticgame89 for the scan

Lastly, I found a four page preview in Total 64 magazine. Right out the gate they compare it to all the Mario 64 clones by stating: "By and large, we are witnessing a deluge of Mario copycats..." and "...we were a little sceptical about what looked like yet another 3D platformer." However, they do offer it some praise. The author noted how fantastic the graphics were (a lot) and likened the gameplay to a mix of Mario 64 and Marble Madness. Which, for those who have never played Glover, is a pretty accurate description. Also, this author really amused me with this dated line: "...despite the fact that gloves are well known for being inanimate and quite rightly so, as you would never be able to trust yourself or your gloves again lest they do someone harm (if only they had thought of that during the O.J. Simpson trial...)" As for the gameplay itself,Total 64 states that "the levels are constructed in such a fashion that Glover has to first find the ball, and then having located it, use it to help him get to the end of the level whilst also preventing it from being destroyed." Overall, it was a positive preview. If you would like to read the full article, it can be found in the sources below. 

Reviews and Reactions

So what were reviewer reactions for Glover, on the N64, at the time? I found plenty and generally their opinions overlap. I'll be dividing the summary of reviews into the following sections: graphics, sound, gameplay, and overall scores. Graphics: Opinions on the art and graphics were mixed. Hyper 64 and Computer and Video Games Magazine likened the graphics to Mario 64, noting the vibrant palette.The very first sentence of the N64 Gamer review states "as soon as Glover begins you can't help being reminded of Mario" due to the similar graphics and cinematics. They do note that the graphics may disappoint gamers looking for a less cartoonish affair. GameSpot, meanwhile, takes some of the blame off the developers: "The graphics are appealing (but a bit dull like many other N64 titles)." While the graphics are nothing to write home about, the majority of reviewers thought the art style made up for it. Sound: Nintendo Official Magazine mentioned Rob Lord's music as such: "You'll be twistin' n' groovin to the music, and the little effects are just right." Nintendo Power's opinion was that the music wasn't "all the cotton candy that you would expect." and believed it to be "another triumph for the development team." Several reviewers called the music eerie as well, which having listened to it again, is a little bit of a strange combination with the adorable graphics. It is a combo that seems to have worked though. While the music didn't wow any of the reviewers, it seemed to be well liked overall. Gameplay: While everyone agreed that the game's controls and gameplay were challenging, there were separate opinions on what this meant for the enjoyability of the game. Computer and Video Games Magazine found the gameplay to be fun "in short bursts", but overall found it "too repetitive and too frustrating to be really special." The reviewer specified that the they found the game to be difficult due to how far back a player is set when they inevitably fail. Unlike CVG, Hyper 64 is of the belief that the controls felt natural, especially for the "ball" sections which they call "lifelike". At the same time they note there is a steep learning curve and that players may struggle with the controls in the beginning. In agreement with CVG, they concede failing "gets annoying fast". N64 Gamer also felt the controls could be mastered, but that it takes a good bit of practice and skill. Nintendo Power is oddly the only publication that makes no note of the notoriously frustrating controls. Instead they say "the play control seems natural and smooth." GameSpot is the one dissenting opinion on the controls and their ability to be mastered by the average player. They firmly state: "The only reason Glover falls flat on its face (or palm) is that the play mechanics will quickly frustrate even the most avid lover of puzzle games."

Conclusions: CVG Magazine concluded that the game has an original idea that worked in the game's favor. Hyper 64 found it refreshing to see a game from Hasbro that wasn't a board game port. They sum their review up by saying it was an "intriguing and addictive game that comes recommended, but be prepared for a challenge." N64 Gamer said "the only real problem with Glover is the difficulty level." Ultimately they gave the game a solid 8/10. Nintendo Official Magazine's overall score was 85%, stating that "learning his moves takes time, but you'll find there's more to it than you first thought." Nintendo Power conceded that the story "may be corny, and even a bit contrived" but found the gameplay to be addictive. Overall, the scores given to the game were in the 70-80% range. Granted...that is only for the N64 version. The PlayStation port, on the other hand, was not as well received.

I only found two reviews online for the PlayStation port, one on GameSpot and the other on IGN. Note that these reviews were not written by the same people who wrote the N64 reviews. Together, these two reviews paint a damning picture of the PlayStation port. Let's go over the more favorable review by GameSpot first. On the quality of the port, the reviewer states the following: "On the PlayStation platform, though, the concept is only marginally realized, due to the title's mediocre presentation. Perhaps the port from the N64 was too much for the little guy to bear." And yes. This is the favorable review. The reviewer elaborates by saying the game's presentation damaged their view of Glover. They state that while the environments are passable, "the character models are severely blurry and underdetailed, making the whole thing seem less than polished."According to this reviewer, it made the game seem bland and that the PS version "lost its soul." Interestingly, they mention that a sequel was still in development as of the publication of the article in April 2000.

Now to IGN's review. This reviewer absolutely did not care for the game, let alone the port. While it seems a bit harsh (I argue that they were having a bit of a bad day), it is interesting to read a more critical review for Glover, as many of the points are valid. Firstly, the graphics. They mention poor framerate, lackluster visuals, and environments that "aren't ambitious in design." Then they move on to criticizing the gameplay for lack of innovation. The sound was the one area that they didn't hate: "the overall sound scheme in Glover isn't particularly bad, but certainly far from good." They didn't love it either it seems. Ultimately, they gave the game a 2.6/10 and called it "a game anyone could do without." Ouch. With the professional reviews out of the way, let's take a look at how this game is received and remembered today.

Modern Reviews In my search for more recent reviews of this game, I stumbled upon a couple of comment sections and a Reddit thread titled "Does anybody like Glover?" It turns out...the answer is complicated. Most noted that they have nostalgia for the game, but conceded that it hasn't aged well. If the game was difficult in the 1990s, its dated controls have made things much more frustrating for the modern gamer. A lengthy review I found reflects those sentiments. Nonetheless, it seems that for some the nostalgia and/or the challenging gameplay warrants a sequel. Speaking of, whatever happened to the supposed sequel?

The Sequel?

In 1999, less than a year after Glover was released, IGN announced it was getting a sequel. Glover 2 was going to have enhanced hand/ball physics, better graphics, a more complete storyline, and multiplayer. The game was anticipated to arrive late in 1999 or early 2000. Sadly, not long after, Glover and its sequel dropped off the radar until about 10 years later. In 2010, a supposed unfinished "prototype" for Glover 2 was sold on Ebay. Footage of the gameplay can be found on YouTube, leading a little bit of credence to the sequel having been in development for several years before it was scrapped. A blog post by a former developer for Glover confirmed this. In 2015, this developer wrote a blog post outlining why Glover 2 was never released. The story is as such: When initially releasing Glover, Hasbro bought too few cartridges from Nintendo. After its release, it was selling more than anticipated, so Hasbro bought a larger batch of cartridges. Unfortunately, the game's sales began slowing down right around this time and no retailer would take these extras off their hands. Of this situation, the developer says: "Of course, the blame was put on the game and brand itself rather than the idiot who ordered the extra 150,000 carts from Nintendo. And that ladies and gentlemen, is why Glover 2 had been canceled." He goes further into detail about what this meant for the team by saying that they lost about 2-3 years of work. His coworkers were devastated. The Oliver twins floated the idea of re-skinning the game around, but eventually that was scrapped as well in order to shift developers to other Hasbro games. Now for a little speculation on my part. Because it was released about a year and a half after the N64 version, the PS port was obviously an after thought. An after thought that was intended to compensate for money Hasbro lost in the cartridge debacle. As mentioned above, they spent years working on a sequel. A sequel that was supposed to come out at the same time the PS port was released. To me, this solidifies my theory that they ported the game to the PS to make some of their lost earnings back. Hasbro probably saw these sales as comparable to what the sequel would have made, effectively putting a nail in the Glover 2 coffin.

Almost 20 years after the release of the first Glover, rumors about a sequel popped up yet again. This time a small German studio named Golden Mushroom announced they had bought the rights to Glover and had begun development on Glover 2 in March 2018. The game was to be released on the Switch. Gamers were skeptical of this, with many thinking it was a late April Fool's Day joke. Piko Interactive, a company that specializes in re-releasing classic games, thought it was anything but funny. Turns out, Golden Mushroom payed to have the trademark transferred to them, but ultimately failed to understand the difference between a trademark and a copyright. They owned the name, but did not own the content of Glover. They opened up talks with Piko, but they quickly fell through, once again dashing any hopes of a sequel. For those interested, they announced they would be making a "spiritual successor" to Glover instead of a sequel. Before beginning research for Glover, I wasn't sure I'd have enough material for a full article. Whhoooo boy, was I wrong. Despite being a bit of a forgettable game, there was a lot of talent on the development team. They created a challenging game that didn't appeal to a lot of gamers. However, that level of challenge won them some hardcore fans that still demand a sequel to this day. Will they ever get it or its spiritual successor? Only time will tell. House keeping stuff: I hope y'all enjoyed my first blog post in a really long time. I'm just getting back into the swing of things, so the format for these articles may change. Next week's article will be on another N64 game. After that, I'll pick another system, I promise.

Sources: 

1) https://www.mobygames.com/game/n64/glover

2) https://kotaku.com/the-studio-that-announced-glover-2-didn-t-actually-have-1825395955

3) https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/n64/197452-glover/data

4) https://www.gamerankings.com/n64/197452-glover/index.html

5) https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/glover-review/1900-2543664/

6) https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/glover-review/1900-2545963/

7) https://www.ign.com/games/glover

8) https://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/04/18/piko-interactive-glover-revival-sequel-nintendo-64-steam-pc/

9) https://www.thegamer.com/nintendo-games-worth-fortune-next-to-nothing/

10) http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2011/10/unreleased_n64_game_glover_2_surfaces_online

11) https://www.neoseeker.com/glover/user_reviews/37188/

12) http://www.nintendo64ever.com/Tests-Nintendo-64-Game,126,Glover,1.html

13) https://www.ign.com/articles/1998/11/10/glover-3

14) https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/01/04/glover

15) https://www.ign.com/articles/1999/07/08/glover-handed-a-sequel

16) https://www.destructoid.com/double-take-canceled-glover-2-becomes-playable-213224.phtml

17) http://nesworld.com/n64-unr-glover2.php

18) http://www.blitzgames.com

19) https://www.gamespot.com/articles/blitz-games-studios-closing-down/1100-6414369/

20) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blitz_Games_Studios

21) https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-24066065 

22) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Lord_(musician)

23) http://www.roblord.com

24)https://www.reddit.com/r/OSTOTD/comments/375ek6/glover_rob_lord_paul_weir_mark_bandola_1998/

25) https://www.mobygames.com/game/n64/glover/credits

26) http://www.olivertwins.com

27) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Twins

28) https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-02-20-introducing-game-dragons-the-oliver-twins-new-consultancy-firm

29) https://www.gamedragons.com

30) https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-05-15-oliver-twins-failure-to-change-results-in-complete-collapse

31) http://www.wonderfuldizzy.com

32) https://www.flickeringmyth.com/2017/05/a-brand-new-dizzy-game-is-coming-to-the-zx-spectrum-next/

33) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00001QHWH?tag=opr-mkt-opr-us-20&ascsubtag=1ba00-01000-ubp00-win10-other-nomod-us000-pcomp-feature-scomp-wm-5&ref=aa_scomp

34) http://www.secinfo.com/dVut2.78Ry.d.htm

35) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_Interactive#cite_note-subsidiary2-9

36) https://web.archive.org/web/20071012130226/http://civ3.com/pressrelease.cfm

37) https://www.mobygames.com/game/n64/glover/adblurbs 

38) https://youtu.be/T1AzU2ly2BI 39) https://twitter.com/autisticgamer89/status/1043642596097175553 40) https://oldgamemags.tumblr.com/post/142425722781/total64-19-sep-1998-preview-of-glover-follow 41) https://www.reddit.com/r/n64/comments/24moio/does_anybody_like_glover/ 42) https://lowlevelsoul.wordpress.com/2015/02/25/the-cancellation-of-glover-2/