Jayde, all I can say is Thank You So Much for this awesome piece! For those of us on the PR2 team this actually represents some kind of closure. We were never really sure what happened. It felt like a drive-by shooting. With your keen sense of detail and journalism, you discovered and proposed angles I never considered. Keep up the great work. Sending you lots of love from the PR2 team. 💞
Thank you, Dennis. You guys have done a great thing, and added magic to mine and many others childhood, it has been a pleasure providing coverage on these. Looking forward to working on similar projects down the road! 🙏
I played Primal Rage II as a kid, and none of my friends believed me! The Cinemark in Joliet, IL had a beta version. I played it once, but the next time I went it was gone - never to be seen again.
@TruFunGames this is actually totally believable, Atari and Bally used to do this all the time. I think it's one of the reasons the "Polybius" rumor grew to what it was - may have been a Blaster proto unmarked (which was originally written for Atari 8-bit Engines).
WOW, I had no idea developers from Primal Rage II went to work for Rare on Killer Instinct 2. I did notice some similarities between the games, but thought it was just a coincidence. The example side by side comparisons you showed better outlined just how similar the two games were really were. They booby trapped the code? That explains why it took decades before this game was ever emulated; for which the world can thank the developer Gruntzilla 94 for making emulation of the game a reality. And here Atari was worried about the game's code being stolen, yet it appears its possible their own developers jacked the characters, along with fighting maneuvers to be used in Rare's KI2; or so at least it seems that way. Regardless, it was Gruntzilla 94 that finally made the game a reality the world could enjoy.
That's me at 1:46! I'm blessed and humbled to have worked alongside industry legends and the unsung heroes of Primal Rage franchise: Pete Kleinow and Jon Berg. I will always fondly recall their tireless work ethic, hands-on creativity, and great taste in music. #RageAgain
Warner Bros could easily hire someone to hire someone to crack the copy protection or remake it from scratch to rerelease on modern hardware, but they'd rather waste money on SBI and tax write-offs.
While it's awesome that the game is playable and it would have been interesting to see it released, I do think that the human avatars are silly and they break the sense of scale part 1 had. I wish they had instead leaned on the movie monster angle with new designs.
Holy shit, I didn't know Chris Tang worked on Primal Rage 2. I mainly know who he is from being a Tetris commentator, and playing some insane Mortal Kombat 2 matches with him at PRGE one year.
Spot on, i remember when i saw clips of Primal Rage 2 i immediately compared it to (Killer Instinct) but in a good way...because i was i huge and still am a (KI) fan. But i agree they missed a good opportunity here.
So glad this was leaked, and finally made playable. Loved PR, so I was hoping for a sequel. Insane how there was a sequel, nearly complete, but never officially released. I saw Primal Rage at a Yestercade about a week ago, and was playing against a friend who had never even heard of the game before, and he said it was the best game at the place. Really hope a new PR game gets made eventually, but it seems unlikely since the IP owners own the MK license and see that as more profitable. MK1 seems to have been a disappointment, so maybe that will galvanize them to try a new IP to broaden their portfolio.
Rare is innocent. barbarian characters were based off arnie and conan hype... the sword swing move is a nod to og conan movie. even his theme in the game sounds like its from conan movie ost. idk when KI2 went into production but they probably made it around the same time as primal 2. its just sad primal never got its chance to fully shine. KI already had a dino riptor. but KI had that gimmick of unorthodox fighters too. with fulgore and glacius and cinder and sabrewulf etc... midway was greedy for MK tho. lol so i blame them. they did primal rage dirty. i wish primal 2 got the proper love and release back in the day. it could have rivaled KI and MK easy and become the goats like them. glad emulation makes it playable now.
I can somewhat understand the reason behind adding the human avatars to _Primal Rage II_ but their art and execution just feels really off. While the stop-motion models of the primordial dino-gods look highly detailed and very well articulated, the humans look like cheap clay figures with cartoonish expressions. The fact they were also just as big as the dino-gods themselves also looked really weird. Part of the charm of the first game was seeing how small and easily eaten the human worshippers were in comparison to the gods themselves. Still, I think the avatars themselves could still work within hypothetical reboot of the franchise. Maybe instead of having them be giant humans that stand-in for their respective gods, each of them could be empowered by them to be peerless warriors to lead their followers in smaller-scale battles. Perhaps they could even incorporate a mechanic where, in between matches among the dino-gods, you switch perspective to their respective avatars as they battle the rival group of followers. Victory or defeat their could impact the next match between the gods, like providing stat boosts and debuffs or depriving a rival of living followers to use as backup health sources. Here's hoping something happens with the franchise down the line and that the original _Primal Rage_ developers get the vindication they've been long denied. #RageAgain
I played this game a lot when my buddy Alex O (aka CoolFox) brought back to life a dead proto board. No thanks to the douche Atari Scott that wouldnt provide the art files to restore the Primal Rage II cab to its original glory.
Thank you Jayde for this amazing video full of knowledge for us fans. Please never stop doing what do you! And thanks to Dennis for his contributions to PR2.
"With the Atari 2600 considered a failure they sold the company in 1976"... um, the "2600" (which was called the VCS at that time) wasn't even released until 1977 and was a HUGE success.
You are correct, I mixed up my dialogues. It had a short-lived success - but it was failing by 1982. Bushnell sold the technology / company, which ultimately led to the systems failure for various reasons relating to (what became) a fractured Atari.
@@NEONBattleBitch Bushnell sold the company to Warner Communications before the VCS's release so there was enough capital available to the company to produce and distribute it (they couldn't do it on their own). He stayed with Atari to continue helping run it for a short time (if I remember right) but soon went on to start Chuck E. Cheese. From 1977-1982 wasn't all that short of a time for the unit's success. Pretty good run IMHO and there's something to be said that the name "Atari" was synonymous with the term "video games". That would denote success up to that point in my book. Atari as a company was failing beyond that due to oversaturation and Warner making some really bad moves. You couldn't really continue to sell a console that was already in most homes, which they didn't account for. There were also a litany of really bad games that flooded the market once it was ruled that 3rd parties were allowed to produce games for the system (after Activision was started by programmers that left Atari and Atari tried to sue them - Acitivision made great games themselves). When E.T. was due to drop Warner grossly overestimated demand and produced 3x as many carts as consoles existed at the time and the took a beating on that (and of course many of the games that were sold were returned). I could go on and on but ultimately it was Warner's bad business decisions that killed it. The console itself existed in some form into the early 90's.
@@80s_Gamr Yes, in 76 Bushnell sold it when it was prime time. The crash of 82 and struggling Atari 2600 platform (in '82) never did well because of Warner (I agree), but nonetheless after the 2600, the 8-bit family wasn't exactly flourishing (Although I love the 8-bit fam). The ST did better in Europe, into the 90's. I totally get what you're saying. And I apologize for the mix-up. How it was meant, Bushnell sold in 76 / Atari 2600 was later considered a failure during the crash / Follow-on dialogue. TW pretty much threw a grenade in the company core.
Honestly its sad to see so much left on the cutting room floor. But I think the company knew they were going to have issues and simply pumped the heck out of the game so they could take it as a loss... multiple times.
the og ps1 board should have been enough to handle it tho... if things like tekken 3 were possible. even KI was able to be ported to snes and gameboy lol. it was also a heavy technical marvel in its day. so there had to be a way to get primal 2 running optimal condition. or they should have ran to nintendo and used 64 tech. or even saturn. it is sad tho only the one guy seem to have the passion to see his game complete and released. shame on atari... and midway.
Best was stand up. Console made this game look absolutely terrible. Never heard of PR2 until this vid and am not digging the morphing. Also the AI art in the vid is just plain silly and not needed.
Due to your video documentary I learned about the emulator and the community behind the game so I created a Launchbox Bigbox media files for it. Thanks a lot and also (: #RAGEAGAIN
Now I knew about this recently didn't know it back in the days.But I'm kinda against you know, these monsters, turning human. You know i've just know this is not Rampage So therefore I will always like the first Primal Rage, I could be wrong but let's check it out
👍for the story, 👎for the AI art. I get that it's convenient, but it looks bad & is a kick in the teeth to real artists. The documentary clips and images you've used are great, my feedback fwiw is to use those & ditch the AI. No hate, just honest feedback. ✌
Jolly-Green-Steve, talking about ‘monthly transformations’ like you’ve got firsthand experience? Bro, if you’re spending that much time watching the sidelines, maybe it’s time you figure out your own playbook instead of projecting on everyone else. We’re here for Primal Rage, not your undercover confessions. Stick to the gameplay, stop with the cringe, and let the real fans handle it. Guess some closets are harder to escape than others. 😂
@Jolly-Green-Steve, you are an insult to the English language, to ALL languages, and to humankind. Moreover, every kind word that everyone has ever said to you is wrong.
@@MeSiah1S Why does everyone that ABC messages me on RUclips always sound like an ex-girlfriend that is mad at me? I was making a joke to her I wasn't talking to you Simpatron 3000.
@@Jolly-Green-Steve Ummmmmmm.... Prolly brcause you said something or acted in a way that got your ex girlfriends and them mad at you!! The common denominator is you... "You, You're the problem, it's You!!"
Jayde, all I can say is Thank You So Much for this awesome piece! For those of us on the PR2 team this actually represents some kind of closure. We were never really sure what happened. It felt like a drive-by shooting. With your keen sense of detail and journalism, you discovered and proposed angles I never considered. Keep up the great work. Sending you lots of love from the PR2 team. 💞
Thank you, Dennis. You guys have done a great thing, and added magic to mine and many others childhood, it has been a pleasure providing coverage on these. Looking forward to working on similar projects down the road! 🙏
Primal Rage 2 plays SO much better than PR 1.
Midway saw that you had a superior product and shut you down.
I still Play PR2 on MAME4Rage 2.
Who are you thanking?! The AI or the person that is making the lies?
I played Primal Rage II as a kid, and none of my friends believed me! The Cinemark in Joliet, IL had a beta version. I played it once, but the next time I went it was gone - never to be seen again.
Do you still play it with M4R emulator? Also good luck with MK on the Jag.
lol sadly no social media or smartphones back then. or fast internet and such...
lucky tho. wish i caught this in arcades back then.
@@SRC267 I’ve played it a few times on emulation, but I’ve never done a deep dive on it. Btw, I have a new MK video coming soon! 😁
@TruFunGames this is actually totally believable, Atari and Bally used to do this all the time. I think it's one of the reasons the "Polybius" rumor grew to what it was - may have been a Blaster proto unmarked (which was originally written for Atari 8-bit Engines).
@@NEONBattleBitch Are you a transgender?
WOW, I had no idea developers from Primal Rage II went to work for Rare on Killer Instinct 2. I did notice some similarities between the games, but thought it was just a coincidence. The example side by side comparisons you showed better outlined just how similar the two games were really were. They booby trapped the code? That explains why it took decades before this game was ever emulated; for which the world can thank the developer Gruntzilla 94 for making emulation of the game a reality. And here Atari was worried about the game's code being stolen, yet it appears its possible their own developers jacked the characters, along with fighting maneuvers to be used in Rare's KI2; or so at least it seems that way. Regardless, it was Gruntzilla 94 that finally made the game a reality the world could enjoy.
That's me at 1:46! I'm blessed and humbled to have worked alongside industry legends and the unsung heroes of Primal Rage franchise: Pete Kleinow and Jon Berg. I will always fondly recall their tireless work ethic, hands-on creativity, and great taste in music.
#RageAgain
🙏🏼
Warner Bros could easily hire someone to hire someone to crack the copy protection or remake it from scratch to rerelease on modern hardware, but they'd rather waste money on SBI and tax write-offs.
While it's awesome that the game is playable and it would have been interesting to see it released, I do think that the human avatars are silly and they break the sense of scale part 1 had. I wish they had instead leaned on the movie monster angle with new designs.
I was at that Chris Tang talk. Still one of the best conference event talks I’ve ever seen. Such a fascinating back story to a cult classic game.
Great video! Really well done 👍
@@WarriorTier 🙏🏼
with how popular jurassic park is , someone should buy the ip and make a modernized version
Holy shit, I didn't know Chris Tang worked on Primal Rage 2. I mainly know who he is from being a Tetris commentator, and playing some insane Mortal Kombat 2 matches with him at PRGE one year.
I love dinosaurs in my childhood, having a dinosaur fighting game was mind blowing at that time
Spot on, i remember when i saw clips of Primal Rage 2 i immediately compared it to (Killer Instinct) but in a good way...because i was i huge and still am a (KI) fan.
But i agree they missed a good opportunity here.
Grunt got his own rap song? That's awesome!
We need a remake / reboot badly
So glad this was leaked, and finally made playable. Loved PR, so I was hoping for a sequel. Insane how there was a sequel, nearly complete, but never officially released. I saw Primal Rage at a Yestercade about a week ago, and was playing against a friend who had never even heard of the game before, and he said it was the best game at the place. Really hope a new PR game gets made eventually, but it seems unlikely since the IP owners own the MK license and see that as more profitable. MK1 seems to have been a disappointment, so maybe that will galvanize them to try a new IP to broaden their portfolio.
Apparently, MK Tom Brady said that he had the Primal Rage 2 board. Not sure if he was being serious. But he has a video posted.
I remember when raydude didn't when title the video correctly, initially it was just numbers, very cryptic.
Rare is innocent. barbarian characters were based off arnie and conan hype...
the sword swing move is a nod to og conan movie. even his theme in the game
sounds like its from conan movie ost.
idk when KI2 went into production but they probably made it around the same
time as primal 2. its just sad primal never got its chance to fully shine.
KI already had a dino riptor. but KI had that gimmick of unorthodox fighters too.
with fulgore and glacius and cinder and sabrewulf etc...
midway was greedy for MK tho. lol so i blame them. they did primal rage dirty.
i wish primal 2 got the proper love and release back in the day. it could have
rivaled KI and MK easy and become the goats like them.
glad emulation makes it playable now.
#RageAgain
Don't forget to share this video and hashtag!
I can somewhat understand the reason behind adding the human avatars to _Primal Rage II_ but their art and execution just feels really off. While the stop-motion models of the primordial dino-gods look highly detailed and very well articulated, the humans look like cheap clay figures with cartoonish expressions. The fact they were also just as big as the dino-gods themselves also looked really weird. Part of the charm of the first game was seeing how small and easily eaten the human worshippers were in comparison to the gods themselves.
Still, I think the avatars themselves could still work within hypothetical reboot of the franchise. Maybe instead of having them be giant humans that stand-in for their respective gods, each of them could be empowered by them to be peerless warriors to lead their followers in smaller-scale battles. Perhaps they could even incorporate a mechanic where, in between matches among the dino-gods, you switch perspective to their respective avatars as they battle the rival group of followers. Victory or defeat their could impact the next match between the gods, like providing stat boosts and debuffs or depriving a rival of living followers to use as backup health sources.
Here's hoping something happens with the franchise down the line and that the original _Primal Rage_ developers get the vindication they've been long denied.
#RageAgain
12:19 freaky rage
Those GDC post mortems are really informative on these games. Great video and super informative.
Excellent deep dive!
I learned a lot and really enjoyed this.
I played this game a lot when my buddy Alex O (aka CoolFox) brought back to life a dead proto board.
No thanks to the douche Atari Scott that wouldnt provide the art files to restore the Primal Rage II cab to its original glory.
Thank you Jayde for this amazing video full of knowledge for us fans. Please never stop doing what do you! And thanks to Dennis for his contributions to PR2.
#RageAgain
Chris Tang looks like a used car salesman
I met him where we talked about Primal Rage 2. He is an otaku!
"With the Atari 2600 considered a failure they sold the company in 1976"... um, the "2600" (which was called the VCS at that time) wasn't even released until 1977 and was a HUGE success.
You are correct, I mixed up my dialogues. It had a short-lived success - but it was failing by 1982. Bushnell sold the technology / company, which ultimately led to the systems failure for various reasons relating to (what became) a fractured Atari.
@@NEONBattleBitch Bushnell sold the company to Warner Communications before the VCS's release so there was enough capital available to the company to produce and distribute it (they couldn't do it on their own). He stayed with Atari to continue helping run it for a short time (if I remember right) but soon went on to start Chuck E. Cheese. From 1977-1982 wasn't all that short of a time for the unit's success. Pretty good run IMHO and there's something to be said that the name "Atari" was synonymous with the term "video games". That would denote success up to that point in my book. Atari as a company was failing beyond that due to oversaturation and Warner making some really bad moves. You couldn't really continue to sell a console that was already in most homes, which they didn't account for. There were also a litany of really bad games that flooded the market once it was ruled that 3rd parties were allowed to produce games for the system (after Activision was started by programmers that left Atari and Atari tried to sue them - Acitivision made great games themselves). When E.T. was due to drop Warner grossly overestimated demand and produced 3x as many carts as consoles existed at the time and the took a beating on that (and of course many of the games that were sold were returned). I could go on and on but ultimately it was Warner's bad business decisions that killed it. The console itself existed in some form into the early 90's.
@@80s_Gamr Yes, in 76 Bushnell sold it when it was prime time. The crash of 82 and struggling Atari 2600 platform (in '82) never did well because of Warner (I agree), but nonetheless after the 2600, the 8-bit family wasn't exactly flourishing (Although I love the 8-bit fam). The ST did better in Europe, into the 90's. I totally get what you're saying. And I apologize for the mix-up. How it was meant, Bushnell sold in 76 / Atari 2600 was later considered a failure during the crash / Follow-on dialogue. TW pretty much threw a grenade in the company core.
Honestly its sad to see so much left on the cutting room floor.
But I think the company knew they were going to have issues and simply pumped the heck out of the game so they could take it as a loss... multiple times.
the og ps1 board should have been enough to handle it tho...
if things like tekken 3 were possible. even KI was able to be
ported to snes and gameboy lol. it was also a heavy technical
marvel in its day. so there had to be a way to get primal 2 running
optimal condition.
or they should have ran to nintendo and used 64 tech. or even
saturn. it is sad tho only the one guy seem to have the passion
to see his game complete and released. shame on atari... and midway.
Such a good video!
My dad works at Nintego and he says they actually made Primal Rage 3 and I got to play it.
@@rimjobledouche5201 Ummmm... So your Dad told you this info.... BUT... You got to play it?!?!
well I bet Bloody roar spawned from this.
Killer Instinct 2 got an official release while Primal Rage 2 did not.
I love this. This is deep. Could even be on Netflix. 🍿
Amen
Whoa. This is a crazy story. What could have been.
Best was stand up. Console made this game look absolutely terrible. Never heard of PR2 until this vid and am not digging the morphing.
Also the AI art in the vid is just plain silly and not needed.
Great video
Kickstarter for the next one!?!? #RAGEAGIAN
Due to your video documentary I learned about the emulator and the community behind the game so I created a Launchbox Bigbox media files for it.
Thanks a lot and also (:
#RAGEAGAIN
Primal Rage Against the Machines.
Another great video
Thank you so much.
could have at least made a port for the consoles of the times, the fools
Now I knew about this recently didn't know it back in the days.But I'm kinda against you know, these monsters, turning human. You know i've just know this is not Rampage So therefore I will always like the first Primal Rage, I could be wrong but let's check it out
👍for the story, 👎for the AI art. I get that it's convenient, but it looks bad & is a kick in the teeth to real artists. The documentary clips and images you've used are great, my feedback fwiw is to use those & ditch the AI. No hate, just honest feedback. ✌
i have that mame Primal Rage 2, emulator very nice game
1:16 It is much bigger being an experience all women have once a month even you when you transform into your channel name. :)
Jolly-Green-Steve, talking about ‘monthly transformations’ like you’ve got firsthand experience? Bro, if you’re spending that much time watching the sidelines, maybe it’s time you figure out your own playbook instead of projecting on everyone else. We’re here for Primal Rage, not your undercover confessions. Stick to the gameplay, stop with the cringe, and let the real fans handle it. Guess some closets are harder to escape than others. 😂
@Jolly-Green-Steve, you are an insult to the English language, to ALL languages, and to humankind. Moreover, every kind word that everyone has ever said to you is wrong.
@@MeSiah1S Why does everyone that ABC messages me on RUclips always sound like an ex-girlfriend that is mad at me? I was making a joke to her I wasn't talking to you Simpatron 3000.
@@Jolly-Green-Steve Ummmmmmm.... Prolly brcause you said something or acted in a way that got your ex girlfriends and them mad at you!!
The common denominator is you... "You, You're the problem, it's You!!"
Really? AI? Just use stock images if you aren't going to actually make something yourself