Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

The Jaguar edition of Alien vs Predator delivers a robust first-person shooter experience unlike its arcade and SNES counterparts. Players choose from three distinct campaigns—Marine, Alien, and Predator—each offering unique objectives, weapons, and playstyles. As the Marine, you’ll navigate the Colonial Marine Training base, scouring dark corridors for keycards, hacking computer terminals, and managing dwindling ammunition as hordes of Xenomorphs close in.

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Switching to the Alien scenario shifts the focus from firepower to stealth and swarm tactics. Here, you rely on agility, wall-climbing, and your ability to incapacitate opponents in viscous cocoons. The alien’s playfield extends beyond the main base into infested ventilation shafts and egg chambers, demanding patience and careful ambushes. You’ll feel empowered hunting down lone marines and dodging Predator strikes while safeguarding your queen.

The Predator mode strikes a balance between the other two campaigns, blending advanced weaponry with stealth mechanics. Equipped with a shoulder cannon, wrist blades, and limited cloaking, you must stalk the queen across the sprawling training facility. Honor-bound to not overuse your invisibility, each encounter feels tactical—you choose when to strike and when to retreat. The game’s inter-connected levels reward exploration, as hidden elevators and maintenance tunnels reveal shortcuts or surprise enemy nests.

Across all three modes, the level design stands out for its non-linear layout. The five main base levels interlink seamlessly with the Alien’s hive and the Predator ship, creating a sprawling environment ripe for backtracking and discovery. Whether rerouting power to unlock new wings or sealing off flooded sections, strategic problem-solving is as crucial as trigger reflexes. This depth of design elevates replayability, encouraging players to master all three species’ strengths and weaknesses.

Graphics

On the Atari Jaguar, Alien vs Predator pushes the console’s hardware with detailed sprite work and textured environments. Character models for the Marine, Alien, and Predator are distinct and animated smoothly, while enemies move with a natural gait that enhances immersion. Lighting effects—flickering bulbs, red emergency glow, and Predator vision sequences—add atmospheric tension throughout the base’s corridors.

Level textures, though occasionally repetitive, evoke the gritty industrial feel of a training facility under siege. Scattered debris, blood splatters, and pools of acid heighten the sense of danger lurking around every corner. The game’s color palette shifts appropriately: sterile white and gray for Marine areas, organic bone tones in the Hive, and alien-tech purple on the Predator ship, providing visual cues about your surroundings.

Environmental details, such as breakable computer terminals, vent grates, and destructible objects, lend authenticity to the base setting. The draw distance occasionally causes distant walls or foes to pop in, but fast-paced combat often distracts from these minor flaws. Meanwhile, the Predator’s thermal-vision mode showcases the Jaguar’s ability to switch palettes on the fly, providing both a tactical advantage and a striking visual change.

Overall, the graphics strike a solid balance between performance and style. Frame rates remain stable even in intense firefights, and the Jaguar’s audio accompaniment—from the hiss of alien drones to the crackle of Predator plasma—complements the visuals perfectly. For its era, this version of Alien vs Predator stands as one of the platform’s most visually compelling titles.

Story

Alien vs Predator on the Jaguar tells a self-contained narrative set entirely on a Colonial Marine training base. Unlike the arcade and SNES versions, this entry focuses on a single facility overrun by Xenomorphs and infiltrated by a Predator hunting the queen. The concise setting heightens the claustrophobia and urgency, immersing players in a desperate fight for survival, honor, or dominance.

The three parallel campaigns unfold concurrently, each shedding light on different facets of the incursion. As a Marine, you piece together mission logs and status reports, revealing how the infestation escalates and communications break down. The Alien’s perspective offers hints about hive hierarchy and the queen’s looming presence, while the Predator’s story emphasizes ritualized combat and the warrior’s code. This triad of viewpoints adds narrative depth uncommon in shooters of the time.

Despite the minimalistic dialogue—limited to brief text prompts and environmental storytelling—the game crafts a haunting atmosphere. Abandoned dormitories, echoing corridors, and distant alien screeches tell as much of the tale as the briefings and journal entries you discover. Players who appreciate lore will find themselves piecing together the fate of fellow Marines and the motivations driving the Predator’s hunt.

While the Jaguar version doesn’t feature cinematic cutscenes, the stark environment and in-game events compensate by building tension organically. Each campaign’s conclusion ties back into the central premise: can you fulfill your mission before the base is destroyed, overrun, or claimed by the ultimate trophy?

Overall Experience

Alien vs Predator on the Atari Jaguar offers a deep and varied FPS experience, anchored by three distinct campaigns that cater to different play preferences. Its sprawling, interconnected levels reward exploration and strategic thinking, while the tension-filled atmosphere keeps adrenaline levels high. Whether you enjoy methodical stealth, all-out firefights, or honorable one-on-one hunts, this title delivers memorable moments in every mode.

The game’s presentation—solid graphics, stable performance, and atmospheric audio—remains impressive for its hardware generation. Although certain textures repeat and the story unfolds through text rather than full-motion cutscenes, the immersive level design and character-specific mechanics more than compensate. Fans of the Alien and Predator franchises will appreciate the attention to lore and the chance to embody each species’ unique strengths.

Replay value is a standout feature. Mastering all three campaigns requires learning different strategies, from conserving ammo as a Marine to planting cocoons as an Alien and choosing honorable battles as a Predator. This variety, combined with hidden passages and multiple routes, encourages multiple playthroughs. Plus, the satisfaction of uncovering every secret and defeating the queen in each mode deepens your connection to the game world.

Overall, Alien vs Predator for the Jaguar remains a compelling purchase for retro FPS enthusiasts and genre fans alike. Its balanced gameplay, atmospheric design, and strategic depth deliver an engaging experience that holds up even decades after its release. If you’re seeking a classic shooter that challenges you to think and adapt across three wildly different perspectives, look no further than this standout title.

Retro Replay Score

8.1/10