History VideoGame / Vectorman

In the sequel, ''Vectorman 2'', having successfully defeated Warhead and put an end to his tyranny, Vectorman immediately resumes his sludge-cleaning duties. While on a routine garbage run, his barge is shot down by a mysterious missile. Evacuating the barge and descending down to the surface, he finds himself on the outskirts of a seemingly abandoned research facility overrun by a horde of [[BigCreepyCrawlies mutant insects]] with unpleasant designs on the planet. Vectorman must find the intelligence controlling them and kill it to save the Earth yet again.

These games were released in 1995 and 1996 for the Creator/{{Sega}} [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Genesis]], and were very well received by critics and players alike, not only for their then-amazing faux-3D graphics and cool techno soundtracks, but for being highly enjoyable games that weren't too hard to play. Part of the game's appeal was the entire design of the "Orbots" themselves - characters made out of several individual sprites (which, as the name indicates, were mostly spherical in nature) that could be rearranged in a variety of different ways. The gameplay played this up, allowing Vectorman to transform into a variety of different forms, arranging his orb sprites so that he resembled things like scorpions or tanks instead of a humanoid, each form having their own gameplay quirks (or even entire stages dedicated to them).

A third game for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 was planned, but was ultimately cancelled. Since then, Vectorman's only appearances have been in various Genesis/Mega Drive compilations and--of all places--as an unlockable character in a mobile port of ''VideoGame/TheHouseOfTheDeadOverkill''.

!!'''''This video game contains examples of:'''''

* CollisionDamage: and lots of it. Most damage inflicted comes this way...for you AND the mooks.

* EpilepticFlashingLights: Occurs whenever you collect an item.

* FlashOfPain: Vectorman's blaster makes bosses lighten up...briefly.

** In the first game, the final stage (Aptly named "Twist and Shout,") and FinalBoss battle involves being sucked up a tornado, dodging and/or blasting furniture, before reaching the top of the funnel cloud, where you balance on roofs while shooting Warhead.
** A more subdued version in Level 18 of the sequel (Named "[[CallBack Shout and Twist]]") takes place in a desert with a tornado raging in the background, [[GustyGlade blowing you around while you move.]]

* GustyGlade: The 18th level of the second stage has you being blown around a desert with a tornado raging in the background.. As a sort of {{call back}} to the first game with the final level, "Twist and Shout," being [[FunnelCloudJourney inside a tornado]], the second game's stage is called "Shout and Twist".
* HandBlast: The main weapon of Vectorman.
* HarderThanHard: "Insane" really can be, given the ONE life and 3 hits (those can be gone in a flash). "Wicked" for the second game fills this slot better, thanks to the overhard enemies.

* LethalLavaLand: Levels 5-7 of the second game.

* LogoJoke: The first game's Sega splash screen has Vectorman landing on the Sega logo and nearly losing his balance. You can actually control him fully here and there's a semi-hidden TV in the top right that has a smart bomb you can use to short out the logo. Not to mention the level skip minigame you can trigger. Vectorman nudges the letters of Genesis on the box art shown above.
* MercyInvincibility: Also an interesting weapon if used right. The second game made it harder for players to use the MercyInvincibility by sending the player half a screen backwards with every hit.
* MercyRewarded: Easily obtainable in some levels, thanks to the DoubleJump.

* NumericalHard: In addition to how hard the rest of the game is, your difficulty selection determines the [[Every10000Points score needed to get an extra life (10K, 20K, or 40K to start and doubling with each additional extra life, as noted above)]], the number of lives you start with (4 on Lame mode, 2 otherwise), and the number of HP you get per life at the start of the game (5, 4, or 3).

* NeverTrustATitle: ''Vectorman'' is not a VectorGame.

* PaletteSwap: The first game uses several palette-swapped versions of the first level's tileset in subsequent levels.
** Can also be done to Vectorman himself in the second game by allowing him to get hit by a [[TheGoomba Paintbug]]. What's interesting about this is that whenever Vectorman's palette changes, so do those of the extra life icons (tiny versions of Vectorman) and any health items in the stage (spheres that share Vectorman's palette). This also happens in both games whenever Vectorman's sprite changes palette due to lighting, e.g. becoming dark when in shadow or being brightly lit by something nearby. The palette swapping of these things may have been intentional, or it may be a [[GoodBadBugs Good Bad Bug]].

* PunnyName: Many of the level names are nods to (or puns on) 90's pop culture. Raster and Vector are graphics types. Raster is things like photographs, videos, etc, and vector is CGI dots-and-lines. Raster graphics break up into pixels when viewed too closely/blown up too big; vectors don't. The villain being named, (originally) Raster before getting too big for his breeches and fighting the incorruptable protagonist Vector, may be a reference to this.

* ShiftingSandLand: Levels 19-20 of the second game. Also contain elements of RemilitarizedZone, in that you're a tank.

* SpikeBallsOfDoom: Boss of the first level has spiked metal spheres attached to its wings.

* VaporWare: The Playstation 2 game. [[ContinuityReboot It was probably for the best.]]
* VectorGame: Subverted. The whole reason he was named what he was is because it looks like a vector game. But, ironically, the game actually didn't use [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_graphics vector graphics]], but rather [[DigitizedSprites pre-rendered 2D sprites]] similar to ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry''. His initial rival, "Raster," is named for [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raster_graphics an inversion of this]].
* WeaponizedExhaust: The best part about the DoubleJump.

%%* BugWar: The second game.

* RewardingVandalism: Destroying floatin monitors yields various pickups and powerups.

* StationaryBoss: The Spider Queen, the final boss of ''2'', does not move from her spot. The boss of the first game's "Disco" stage as well.

* GustyGlade: The 16th and last level (briefly, before you reach the boss) of the first game, and the 18th level of the second. As a sort of {{call back}}, the former is called "Twist and Shout", and the latter "Shout and Twist".

* EveryTenThousandPoints: The score needed for your first extra life is 10K, 20K, or 40K, depending on difficulty level. Each additional extra life requires double the score compared to the previous.

* NumericalHard: In addition to how hard the rest of the game is, your difficulty selection determines the [[EveryTenThousandPoints score needed to get an extra life (10K, 20K, or 40K to start and doubling with each additional extra life, as noted above)]], the number of lives you start with (4 on Lame mode, 2 otherwise), and the number of HP you get per life at the start of the game (5, 4, or 3).

* NonindicativeName: ''Vectorman'' is not a VectorGame.

* AWinnerIsYou: The ending of ''Vectorman 2''. Also, while a lot of other games don't have much fanfare for clearing a level, this game takes it to the extreme, displaying a very simple score count and immediately moving on to the next level.

* SpikeBallsOfDoom: First boss of the first one has them attached to its wings.

These games were released in 1995 and 1996 for UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis, and were very well received by critics and players alike, not only for their then-amazing faux-3D graphics and cool techno soundtracks, but for being highly enjoyable games that weren't too hard to play. Part of the game's appeal was the entire design of the "Orbots" themselves - characters made out of several individual sprites (which, as the name indicates, were mostly spherical in nature) that could be rearranged in a variety of different ways. The gameplay played this up, allowing Vectorman to transform into a variety of different forms, arranging his orb sprites so that he resembled things like scorpions or tanks instead of a humanoid, each form having their own gameplay quirks (or even entire stages dedicated to them).

* OffModel: All of the first game's box arts take creative liberties with Vectorman's design, but [[https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/box/6/8/2/21682_front.jpg the European box art]] is particularly off-model.

* DirectionallySolidPlatforms: Like most examples, you can jump onto the majority of platforms from underneath.
%%* DoubleJump: Jet Boots. [[WeaponizedExhaust Also a useful weapon.]]

* SceneryPorn: Especially the first game with as many background effects as possible.
%%* SentryGun: These are mounted on surfaces.

Raster, a high-level Orbot who watches the cleanup through a planetwide computer network, is accidentally attached to a working nuclear missile by a lesser Orbot and [[FaceHeelTurn subsequently goes insane]], becoming an evil dictator named Warhead. He declares himself ruler of Earth, brainwashes all of the other Orbots, and begins preparing to execute any humans who dare return to Earth... not so fast!

* ShiftingSandLand: Levels 19-20 of the second game. Also contain elements of RemilitarizedZone, in that [[SomethingCompletelyDifferent you're a tank]].

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: Several stages change Vectorman into some other object where you'll have to blow something up, including every type of BonusStage in the second game.

** Can also be done to Vectorman himself in the second game by allowing him to get hit by a [[TheGoomba Paintbug]]. What's interesting about this is that whenever Vectorman's palette changes, so do those of the extra life icons (tiny versions of Vectorman) and any health items in the stage (spheres that share Vectorman's palette). This also happens in both games whenever Vectorman's sprite changes palette due to lighting, e.g. becoming dark when in shadow or being brightly lit by something nearby. The palette swapping of these things may have been intentional, or it may be a {{Good Bad Bug]|s}}.

* ChainReactionDestruction: Most bosses like to explode in that manner.

A third game for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 was planned, but was ultimately cancelled. Since then, Vectorman's only appearances have been in various Genesis/Mega Drive compilations and--of all places--as an unlockable character in a mobile port of [[VideoGame/TheHouseOfTheDeadOverkill The House of the Dead: Overkill]].

* AWinnerIsYou: The ending of ''Vectorman 2''. Also, while a lot of other games don't have much fanfare for clearing a level, this game takes it to the extreme, displaying a very simple score count and immediately moving on to the next level.

* AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent: Several stages change Vectorman into some other object where you'll have to blow something up, including every type of BonusStage in the second game.

* OffModel: All of the first game's box arts take creative liberties with Vectorman's design, but [[https://gamefaqs.akamaized.net/box/6/8/2/21682_front.jpg the European box art]] is particularly off-model.

** Can also be done to Vectorman himself in the second game by allowing him to get hit by a [[TheGoomba Paintbug]]. What's interesting about this is that whenever Vectorman's palette changes, so do those of the extra life icons (tiny versions of Vectorman) and any health items in the stage (spheres that share Vectorman's palette). This also happens in both games whenever Vectorman's sprite changes palette due to lighting, e.g. becoming dark when in shadow or being brightly lit by something nearby. The palette swapping of these things may have been intentional, or it may be a [[GoodBadBugs Good Bad Bug]].

* ShiftingSandLand: Levels 19-20 of the second game. Also contain elements of RemilitarizedZone, in that [[AndNowForSomethingCompletelyDifferent you're a tank]].

* StationaryBoss: The Spider Queen, the final boss of ''2'', does not move from her spot.

* BubblegloopSwamp: Levels 1-4 of the second game.
* BugWar: The second game.

* DigitizedSprites

* DoubleJump: Jet Boots. [[WeaponizedExhaust Also a useful weapon.]]
* DownInTheDumps: Levels 16-17 of the second game.

* LogoJoke: The first game's Sega splash screen has Vectorman landing on the Sega logo and nearly losing his balance. You can actually control him fully here and there's a semi-hidden TV in the top right that has a smart bomb you can use to short out the logo. Not to mention the level skip minigame you can trigger.
** Vectorman nudges the letters of Genesis on the box art shown above.
* MercyInvincibility: Also an interesting weapon if used right.
** Second game made it harder for players to use the MercyInvincibility by sending the player half a screen backwards with every hit.

* PunnyName[=/=]ShoutOut: Many of the level names are nods to (or puns on) 90's pop culture.
** Raster and Vector are graphics types. Raster is things like photographs, videos, etc, and vector is CGI dots-and-lines. Raster graphics break up into pixels when viewed too closely/blown up too big; vectors don't. The villain being named, (originally) Raster before getting too big for his breeches and fighting the incorruptable protagonist Vector, may be a reference to this.

* SentryGun: These are mounted on surfaces.

* SlippySlideyIceWorld: Levels 4-5 of the first game.