True Lies

The home versions and portable versions are drastically different from each other, but have similar play mechanics.

• Title — True Lies • Developer — Beam Software • Publisher — Acclaim Entertainment • Director — Cameron Brown • Composer — Marshall Parker • Released — 1995 • Genre — Run and gun • Modes — Single-player • Platforms — Game Boy, Game Gear, Genesis, Super NES

The player controls Harry Tasker, who is tasked with the duty of foiling the terrorist plot of Salim Abu Aziz. Each stage has a particular series of goals that the player must fulfill before reaching the stage's goal. Harry's abilities include the ability to keep his aim steady at one direction while shooting and a diving shoulder roll move that allows him to avoid enemy fire. The player has a health gauge and a limited number of lives, with power-ups available that restore health. In addition to enemies, there are also civilians that the player must not harm during shoot-outs. If the player kills three civilians in the same stage, he will be forced to restart the current stage at the cost of one life. Harry starts each stage wielding only a semi-automatic pistol that has unlimited ammo, but must be reloaded after every 15 shots. In each stage, Harry can procure three additional firearms (an Uzi machine gun, a shotgun, and a flamethrower that takes the pistol's spot upon being equipped), as well as hand grenades and anti-personnel mines, which he can switch between at any point. Unlike the pistol, Harry's other weapons have limited ammunition (with a different maximum capacity) and individual ammo for each must be found if Harry runs out. There are a total of nine stages, which consist of a chateau, a mall, a park, a subway, a dock, a Chinese city, an oil refinery, an overseas highway, and an office building. A password feature is available that allows the player to restart the game at later stages. Stills from the movie mark the beginning of each level and the end of the game.

The portable versions of True Lies for the Game Boy and Game Gear are a bit simplified compared to the console versions for the Super NES and Sega Genesis. The Game Boy and Game Gear version are almost identical to each other, aside from the addition of colored graphics and the omission of a pause function in the Game Gear version. Although the play mechanics are similar, Harry's shoulder diving roll was removed due to limited controls, although all the weapons, except the flamethrower, are included. Only five stages (the chateau, the mall, the park, the docks, and the office building) are included and the level designs are completely different.