Villain to Hero

Villain To Hero is a platforming video game developed by the Underground PWN Mafia and published by Snowtendo for the Snowtendo DS video game console. It was first released in Eastshield on May 7, 2009, in Pengolia on August 12, 2009, and in Trans-Antarctica on December 30, 2009.

Plot
Bugzy, a notorious crimminal infamous for his driving skills, was offered a large reward of up to twenty million pebbles by the PSA if he goes undercover, and must gain the confidence of the syndicate's bosses by performing increasingly difficult missions such as stopping or following another car, driving through windows, delivering a stolen car or scaring a taxi customer. The game is played in four cities—(Pengolia, Dorkugal, Freezeland, and South Pole City) which, like many games, remain only partially faithful to the original city layouts.

The game was designed to look like '60s and '70s car chase movies. Most notably, the Training level at the beginning of the game is a copy of a scene in a movie in which a driver proves his skills to some gangsters in a parking garage. The game also features a Director's Mode, where the run could be replayed with cameras chosen by the player, and a Quick Replay, where the cameras were automatically selected.

In addition to the Undercover mode, the player also had an option to drive around in the cities (once they were unlocked) and dirt tracks. There were several other modes, like pursuit, escape, checkpoint, and carnage (inflicting as much damage as possible). After the game was finished (or secret passwords inserted in the records screens), several cheats were available. Among them are: skipping the garage mission, give (among others) the car super speed, immunity to police cars, invincibility, or a short ride in the UPM Headquarters, Bugzy's home town. However some editions of the game do not show this.

Initially, it was only released for the Snowtendo DS; Doors 2008 ports were released less than a year later. A special PengStation 1 version was released, with top-down view, and only three cities (San Francisco was removed), and fewer missions.

Gameplay
In the beginning cutscene, you see Bugzy walking through a parking garage looking for a car, and steals a 1965 Ford Mustang. He starts to drive to the exit of the garage, until he is spotted by the police and initiates a chase. Bugzy gets away after the police car crashes.

Training
Before starting the actual undercover mode, Bugzy and Ford Car are talking about a guy named Rufus. In order to find out more about him, Bugzy must give up his status as a Mafia Lord and go undercover. Bugzy has to prove to very lowly gangsters in a parking garage that he can do jobs for them by demonstrating his skills while keeping the car intact. Success means access to the first mission in Pengolia.

Pengolia
Bugzy begins his missions in a Pengolia motel room.

Bugzy begins with a lowly bank job carried out by a penguin named Art and his associates, before being called up to either drive a stolen car to a yard for a respray or helping a lowly gangster called Ticco smuggle goods. If Bugzy takes the stolen car mission he works for Art in exchanging a briefcase for a key, but ends up being double-crossed and forced to chase the double-crosser across East Pengolia. If Bugzy takes Ticco for a ride then Bugzy cleans up after a driver left a stolen car and its occupants in the lurch.

Bugzy then talks to a gangster named Rufus who reveals that he is busting out an associate of his called Jean-Paul from an armoured police car. When Bugzy carries this out, he either smashes a group of restaurants for a gangster who has found one of his associates lacking in paying for protection money, or drives an extremely fast car to safety for a gangster who needs the car for a job. After this Bugzy is forced to pick up a supply of Doom Weeds for an operation and get home with the goods.

Upon Bugzy's return, Rufus is bashed by his girlfriend Jesse and Bugzy chases her as she tries to escape in a monorail. Bugzy turns her over to the police, and under interrogation she reveals that a guy named Castaldi is in Dorkugal.

Dorkugal
Bugzy begins in Dorkugal with a casino job for a bunch of gangsters who have heard he is in town. After this mission he meets an informant known as Mojo, who gives Bugzy information about who Jean-Paul is really working for and a man named Rudi for money.

From here Bugzy either aids in an exchange (passing a test whereby he has to pass through three destinations in a time limit before the pick-up for the exchange), drives stolen money to a warehouse or aids in the robbery of a shopping mall. Following this, Bugzy meets a legendary rival from their racing days called Slater. Bugzy suplexes him but their rivalry is settled before Bugzy either aids a gangster in scaring one of his former associates (who double-crossed him) by taking him on a bumpy taxi ride or takes heavy-duty explosives to an alleyway while evading large collisions in order to stop an explosion. If Bugzy has scared the associate then he takes a local gangster called Cosy to a chopper taking him out of town, or if he has taken the explosives across town then Bugzy aids a group of gangsters left in the lurch in West Pengolia.

Bugzy then gets a phone call whereby he learns that Mojo the informant has been kidnapped, and his captors want $10,000. They make Bugzy work to save Mojo by forcing him to go to three phone booths in order to pick up instructions about where to go next. At the third phone booth Mojo is saved and the money exchanged. Mojo reveals that Castaldi (the gangster Jean-Paul is really working for) is working with a man called Don Hancock who is running for president. He also reveals Slater's great hatred for Bugzy.

Following this Bugzy is either setup by Slater and forced to evade cops as he heads home, or aids Castaldi in meeting one of his men called Ross and bringing him to an underground car park for a meeting. The rivalry between Bugzy and Slater has become too bitter at this point, and when Bugzy suspects Slater of spying on him, Bugzy frames Slater by smashing his car in a chase, from which in the aftermath Slater is caught by the police.

Freezeland
Freezeland is straight-forward, and all missions are at night. Bugzy begins his job here by either stealing a cop car for Castaldi's associates in order for future jobs or picking up an associate called Lucky and taking him to a bank. Following this Bugzy then either chases a double-crossing associate of Castaldi's called Duval and smashes him off the road or gets Castaldi's girlfriend Maya to a bank after she has overused her credit card.

Following this Bugzy learns of Castaldi's true purpose in Freezeland: the carrying out of a 2-ton amount of Doom Weeds. Bugzy later meets with Leck, a partner from South Pole City and alerts him to the smuggling. Bugzy orders him to make sure Castaldi's goons turns up or otherwise his cover may be rumbled. He also warns him that there is an PSA leak giving information to Castaldi about pieces of interest. Bugzy picks up the gangsters from a parking garage before taking them to Arda, where the smuggling takes place. The cops spring an ambush on Bugzy, who then takes the gangsters to a safehouse. The gangsters are convinced that Bugzy (The newest and therefore least trustworthy of the Castaldi Family) tipped off the cops, but he convinces them that Slater probably let the Dorkugal Police know about the hit under interrogation.

Bugzy survives, then either rescues Lucky from a gangster called Granger, helps some associates escape from a Beverly Hills job or tests the effectiveness of a safehouse by driving to it.

South Pole City
When Bugzy arrives back in South Pole City he begins by either making a switch at the South Pole Council Hall (a briefcase for a key to a man in a Stetson hat) before getting double-crossed by the Stetson wearer or taking a very damaged car to a scrapyard for crushing before the cops can pick it up. Following this Bugzy either takes control of a cop car to thwart a bank job by Granger's Gang and raise his suspicions about possible rats in the Gang, or gets some gangsters out of trouble after they were pinned down by cops in a building after a bad getaway job. After Leck tells Bugzy that McKenzie wants him out, he either brings a cab home for further jobs in the city or destroys Granger's main car.

If you took out Granger's main car, then Bugzy will have to wreck a car to retrieve photo negatives. If you took the cab, the good ending mission occurs, destroying four of Granger's Gang's cars before they reach Castaldi.

If the bad ending is being activated (or the good ending mission is completed) then Bugzy meets with his associate from Freezeland who again warns him that Ford Car wants him out because he is worried that Bugzy's cover will not hold up much longer. Bugzy again ignores this advice but tells the associate that he will let him know who the ultimate hit is on. If you got the negaetives, then Bugzy's lady friend Ali will call for help and Bugzy has to bail her out of a situation. If you destroyed Granger's four cars, then Bugzy goes through a "Rite of Passage", told over the phone by Castaldi that if he does not beat Slater's time across town (7 minutes) then Bugzy is out of the final job.

If Bugzy completes this mission (or goes for the good ending) then the final mission starts where Bugzy learns that there is going to be an assasination on the USA Mayor, Mayor McFlapp. Bugzy is forced (in the hardest mission of the game) to ignore all of Castaldi's instructions and take the Mayor to safety. With a little luck, Bugzy takes Mayor McFlapp to his parking garage to eventual safety.

Aftermath

 * Good Ending: Bugzy drives into the parking garage having taken Mayor McFlapp across town and evaded all attention from The Castaldi Crime Family and the Police. Bugzy checks on the Mayor's condition before Ford Car enters along with another unknown man, probably the Mayor's security guard. Ford Car congratulates him and tells him that Castaldi, Don Hancock and the PSA leak are behind bars. He tells Bugzy to take his money, but Bugzy is infuriated that the PSA and Police could be involved in the job, corrupted by bribes. He leaves the garage, ignoring Ford Car completely. He then drives on a highway out of South Pole City (though it looks like he is driving to Pengolia).


 * Bad Ending: Bugzy drives into the parking garage having taken Mayor McFlapp across town and evaded all attention from The Castaldi Crime Family and the Police. Bugzy checks on the Mayor's condition before Ford Car enters along with another unknown man, probably the Mayor's security guard. Ford Car congratulates him and tells him that Castaldi, Don Hancock and the PSA leak are behind bars. He tells Bugzy to take his money, but Bugzy is infuriated that the PSA and Police could be involved in the job, corrupted by bribes. He leaves the garage, ignoring Ford Car completely. He then meets up with Ali, who is packing up a Jeep, and gives Bugzy an envelope full of money she found in Handcock's safe. They then drive out of South Pole City (this time the background is a tunnel and then a highway).


 * Common Ending: Bugzy drives into the parking garage having taken Mayor McFlapp across town and evaded all attention from The Castaldi Crime Family and the Police. Bugzy checks on the Mayor's condition before Ford Car enters along with another unknown man, probably the Mayor's security guard. Ford Car congratulates him and tells him that Castaldi, Don Hancock and the PSA leak are behind bars. He tells Bugzy to take his money, but Bugzy is infuriated that the PSA and Police could be involved in the job, corrupted by bribes. He leaves the garage, ignoring Ford Car completely. Bugzy then drives out of South Pole City (this time the background is a tunnel and then a highway).

Gameplay
Villain To Hero's game mechanics are cel-shaded graphics. On the top screen of the Snowtendo DS, Villain To Hero shows Bugzy's car, which a player can accelerate by pressing the B button, break by pressing the A button, burnout by pressing the Y button, and reverse by pressing the X button.

The player may choose from these modes once introduced to the title screen;


 * Undercover: When selected, the player will go through the storyline of the game, and complete missions;


 * Wi-Fi: This will initiate a wireless connection with a nearby Snowtendo DS, and the players may either co-operate in Undercover, race each other, or be placed in a destruction derby-type arena, where the objective is to smash each other's cars until one has received sufficient damage;


 * Cheats: If a player has completed certain events in the game, or has input certain codes in the Title Screen, they may visit this section to turn on cheats such as Invincibility, Immunity to the Police, Rear Wheel Drive, and a plethora of others;


 * Take a Ride: A player may select from either Pengolia or Dorkugal (Freezeland and South Pole City, if the player has unlocked them during Undercover) and take a free drive around the respective locations;


 * Options: The options menu allows the player to adjust music and SFX volumes, or delete game files that are saved in the Undercover section;


 * Tracks: The player may select this option to play several minigames (Trail Blazer, where the player must bob and weave through certain objects, Survival, where the player will be chased by eight veteran Police officers and must survive as long as they can, and Dirt Track, where the player must race through a muddy, slippery course within a certain time)

Reception
Villain To Hero was met with very positive feedback and critical acclaim, Official Snowtendo Magazine gave the game a score of 9.7 and 'Game Reviewers gave it a score of 8.6. However, a few crticised the game, saying that the game itself uses very little of the Snowtendo DS's touch screen capabilities.

Trivia

 * Originally, Villain To Hero was given only to UPM members for enjoyment and something to do when they're bored, but Bugzy has broadcasted the game to the public in the hopes of earning more money.

Internal Links

 * Bugzy
 * Ford Car
 * Dorkugal
 * Pengolia
 * Freezeland
 * South Pole City
 * Underground PWN Mafia