Line #19 VideoGame/PortalRunner


1	[[quoteright:186:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/portal_runner_2635.jpg]]
2	A one-time spinoff from 3DO's ''VideoGame/ArmyMen'' franchise, ''Portal Runner'' is an action and platform game starring a doll named Vikki, a journalist for the Army Men's Green Army (and girlfriend of Sarge). But outside the Army Men's world of plastic warfare, the spy Brigette Bleu (and her right-hand war bot, Rage) plots to abduct Sarge, sending Vikki a map with "the story of a lifetime" which shortly sees her attacked by Rage and thrown through a portal to another toy world. Chasing after her is a large lion, whom she befriends and names Leonardo ("Leo" for short), and together they set off through a variety of locales to put a stop to Brigette's plans.
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4	The game was released on ([[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer and we aren't joking about this]]) September 11, 2001, with it releasing in Europe a month later on October 19, being available on the Platform/Playstation2 and the Platform/GameBoyColor. And yes, the two versions of the game play differently from each other.
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6	!!Portal Runner contains examples of:
7	* ActionGirl: Vikki may be an Army brat and freelance journalist/photographer, but she always carries around a bow.
8	* AlienInvasion: In the last few stages of the game, the Martians usurp Bridgette as the villain and start attacking the other worlds.
9	* AliensAreBastards: The Martians attack other worlds and start mindlessly blasting everything in sight.
10	* AliensSpeakingEnglish: The Martians speak English.
11	* AllThereInTheScript: Merlin's name is only revealed in the character descriptions.
12	* AndroclesLion: The first thing Vikki does upon her arrival in the dinosaur world is tend to Leo's injuries and find some food; this is enough to get Leo's loyalty in return.
13	* AllAnimalsAreDogs: After Vikki bandages his wounds, Leo thanks her by licking her face repeatedly. He does this again after saving her from a dinosaur attack.
14	* AnimalsLackAttributes: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in the sense that Leo is a ''toy'' lion figurine in a toy world, and not many toy companies include "those" details when manufacturing animal figures.
15	* ArtisticLicensePaleontology: The dinosaurs in the dinosaur world. Justified, though, in that they're supposed to all be toys, and toys are rarely accurate in the first place.
16	* AscendedExtra: Vikki Grimm is a supporting character in the ''Army Men'' series. Here, she is the protagonist.
17	* BadassInDistress: Vikki and Leo are both captured during the Medieval world. While Vikki is simply left in the dungeon, Leo breaks free on a search to rescue her.
18	* BagOfSpilling: Vikki can hold nearly unlimited arrows, but they do not carry over from one level to the next. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Even if she's depicted using them]] in a [[CutscenePowerToTheMax cutscene]].
19	* BeastOfBattle: There are a few levels that are played entirely from Vikki riding atop Leo. Other levels typically have Leo following alongside Vikki and acting independently.
20	* BossArenaRecovery: Boss arenas typically include a few health and arrow powerups which respawn over time. Regenerating powerups are also found across the game as a whole, frequently for puzzles that require special arrows.
21	* BottomlessPits: While they're not ''strictly'' bottomless (one of the dinosaur levels features a fall which isn't far enough to actually be fatal, but is treated as a BottomlessPit anyway to prevent SequenceBreaking), if it's not within jumping distance, it's probably lethal.
22	* ButNowIMustGo: When the heroes make it back to the military world, Leo cannot follow them back to the army base, as he is revealed to have a family of three lion cubs he is looking after. Vikki tells him she's gonna miss him. It is possible however that she could return to the cave to visit him in the future if she decided to.
23	* CaveBehindTheWaterfall: Present in the first level. It's relatively well-hidden behind the waterfall spray, but Vikki even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshades]] it as the player ventures inside.
24	* ConvectionSchmonvection: Even as a plastic toy (which the VideoGame/ArmyMen franchise in general often [[KillItWithFire melts with flamethrowers]]) Vikki has no trouble coming mere inches above hot lava with nothing but a FurBikini to protect her. (And even if she falls in, it's just minor damage.)
25	* CorridorCubbyholeRun: There's one in almost every world: A hallway with rolling gumballs in an early level; a cavern passage with steam vents; a Medieval hallway with an array of arrows shooting down from the ceiling, and a futuristic passage with ([[OneHitKill lethal]]) balls of pure energy travelling from one end to the other.
26	* CrateExpectations: Found primarily in the Medieval world. A few arrows (or claw swipes from Leo) will demolish them, typically revealing health or arrows.
27	* CutsceneBoss: While Vikki readies her assault on the Martian Emperor, Sarge and Leo fight off Rage and a brigade of Martians in a cutscene.
28	* DescendingCeiling: One of Leo's puzzles in the Medieval world dungeon is to hit four switches and then make for the exit before a spiked ceiling kills him.
29	* DifficultyLevels: The game has four of them, three being "Easy", "Normal", and "Hard".
30	** EasierThanEasy: The "Dream" difficulty level makes Vikki immune to all enemy attacks - only environmental hazards or BottomlessPits can kill her.
31	* DinosaursAreDragons: Pteranodons in the Jurassic world shoot fireballs at you.
32	* EnemyMine: Bridgette works with the heroes when the Martians turn on her.
33	* FallDamage: Vikki has this. Depending on how far the drop is, it may kill her or just take some of her life.
34	* {{Fanservice}}: The game's cutscenes like to emphasize Bridgette's voluptuous body. Also Vikki in her prehistoric level outfit. She even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades it]], exclaiming "Whoa! Check me out!"
35	* FisherKingdom: Vikki's outfit changes with each world she traverses, from her default green army fatigues to a [[FurBikini zebra-hide skirt and bikini]] in the Dinosaur world, to a silver-green jumpsuit in the Space world.
36	* FollowTheMoney: Gems are frequently arranged in midair to help the player align jumps from one platform to another.
37	* FloatingPlatforms: Every level has (at least) one platform with a lion's head on it, which is often the reward for solving a minor puzzle. Other platforms include floating leaves and chessboard tiles.
38	* FreelookButton: It's mapped to the Circle button by default. Doubles as first-person targetting for Vikki, but even Leo can use it to look around.
39	* FurBikini: Vikki spends much of the game in a white striped bikini and skirt.
40	* GravityScrew: Near the end of the penultimate level, one puzzle involves climbing to the top of a ''huge'' spherical room and disabling its artificial-gravity generator, which subsequently enables some ''spectacularly'' high and far jumps between the platforms.
41	* LethalLavaLand: The final prehistoric level involves Vikki and Leo reaching an exit portal located on the side of an erupting volcano.
42	* LevelUpFillUp: Vikki and Leo's HP are refilled whenever the player collects enough gems to earn a new HitPoint.
43	* LittleGreenMen: All Martians are green, and most are quite small, though there are some large ones.
44	* LovePotion: In a non-"potion" example, Brigette commissions futuristic Martians to create a [[RayGun love ray]], which she promptly uses on Sarge.
45	* LoyalAnimalCompanion: The only character Leo appears comfortable around is Vikki.
46	* MagicMirror: Merlin made one for Bridgette. It's a small mirror that can be carried around.
47	* MisbegottenMultiplayerMode: The multiplayer mode in this game is two-player [=PvP=] only and the players can only play as one of Vikki's four costumes and Brigette, [[PaletteSwap who plays exactly like Vikki]], on select maps that are pulled from the main game.
48	* MotiveDecay: Rage is Brigette's loyal hench-bot, yet he continues to aid the Martians after they betray her with no explanation.
49	* MsFanservice: Both Vikki and especially Bridgette can be considered this.
50	* NoArcInArchery: There is no apparent limit on the range of Vikki's arrows.
51	* NotTheFallThatKillsYou
52	* OneHitKill: A few environmental hazards are instant death if you contact them. Others (even hot lava) simply inflict damage.
53	* OneHundredPercentCompletion: Collecting at least 80% of gems within a level unlocks images in a bonus image gallery (generally of various scenes, called "vista points", within each level). Getting a perfect score across the entire game unlocks a few extra images of Vikki in the gallery.
54	* OrcusOnHisThrone: Outside the VideoGame/ArmyMen world (which at this point is firmly under Green Army rule), Brigette Bleu has grown a bit bored of her status as queen of various other toy worlds (particularly the Medieval world).
55	* PantheraAwesome: Leo, obviously.
56	* RaptorAttack: ''Film/JurassicPark''-styled raptors are the main enemies of the dinosaur world, and they come in different sizes.
57	* RayGun: The Martians carry these as weapons and also make a love ray for Bridgette.
58	* RiseToTheChallenge: In the volcano level, there is one puzzle that involves a cavern flooding with lava - fortunately, the player has safe footing on a platform that floats atop the lava, so it's unaffected as the player raises the lava level. Played straight with Vikki's rescue in the Medieval world, where the player must hit various counterweights on a platform to keep Vikki's cage away from rising poisonous goop.
59	* RPGElements: For every 10,000 points the player acquires, Vikki and Leo both acquire an extra HitPoint on their LifeMeter.
60	* PantheraAwesome: Leo is a LoyalAnimalCompanion who proves to be a valuable ally. Averted with the demon lions.
61	* PowerUpFood: T-Bone steaks are found in a few levels; they are generally placed on ledges to give Leo enough speed to jump across.
62	* {{Prehistoria}}: The dinosaur world.
63	* PuzzleBoss: The tree in the Dark Forest.
64	* SaveGameLimits: You can only save your game between levels, and the game utilizes only one save file (per memory card).
65	* SmashingHallwayTrapsOfDoom: Found primarily in the Medieval world dungeon; one hallway in particular has several rows of spiked cogs spinning across that the player must avoid.
66	* SpinOff: A spinoff of the ''Green Army Men'' games focusing on Vikki Grimm.
67	* SpreadShot: "Trident" arrows are picked up primarily in the Medieval world.
68	* StationaryBoss: The tree in the Medieval world's dark forest, as well as the FinalBoss. Rage also blocks the portal back to the Medieval world, requiring te player to defeat him with Leo.
69	* TakeYourTime: Averted in the prehistoric world. While gathering eggs for Leo, if you take too long, a raptor will attack him while you're gone, and you will have to hurry back to save him.
70	* TimedMission: One puzzle in the dinosaur world involves searching a canyon for eight key stones (within eight minutes); another level requires traversing the level to find the exit portal within ten. Both are played with Vikki riding atop Leo.
71	* WeComeInPeaceShootToKill: When the Martians start invading the other worlds, the Martian leader says that they come in peace...while the other Martians are blasting everything in sight. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by Sarge, who states "Doesn't look so peaceful to me."
72	* WeddingDeadline: Vikki arrives just in time to stop an entranced Sarge from saying "I do" to Brigette.
73	* WhenTreesAttack: The Great Tree in the Dark Forest is an evil sentient tree that shoots fireballs at you.
74	* WizardClassic: Merlin appears as a character you save. He dresses just like a stereotypical wizard, he uses magic, and he's fairly wise. He later communicates with Vikki through a Magic Mirror, telling her how to stop Bridgette.

Context VideoGame / PortalRunner