A Bug's Life: The Video Game

Cover art.

A Bug's Life: The Video Game is a video-game based on the Pixar movie, A Bug's Life. The game was released in November 1998, on PlayStation, PC, Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color.

Plot

(Taken from the UK PlayStation Manual)

"Every year on Ant Island, the Ant Colony, under the rule of the Queen Ant and Princess Atta who is training to succeed her aged Mother, works tirelessly gathering Food for the Winter. And every year, cold-hearted Hopper and his hungry horde of unruly Grasshoppers ride through and extort Food from the timid Ant Colony.

It's not only terrifying for the Ants; it's downright humiliating! Flik, a klutzy but inventive worker, has built a Harvesting Contraption to increase Food Production. Instead, it runs out of conrol and destroys the the Ants' Food Offering to the Grasshoppers.

When the Grasshoppers arrive, Hopper is furious with the Colony's apparent lack of progress. Unwilling to listen to an explanation, Hopper demands "Twice the Food."

"We'll be back by the end of the Season," Hopper intones, "When the last Leaf falls."

Flik is put on trial for his colossal mistake and brought before Princess Atta and the Ant Council. During the proceedings, Flik, unable to contain his thoughts and ideas, suggests that they find Bigger Bugs to help defend the Colony against the Grasshoppers. Flik even volunteers to find them himself. Surprisingly Princess Atta grants his request to go search for the Bugs, secretly hoping that it will keep the jinxed Flik out of the way, allowing the Colony to meet Hopper's demands without interruption.

Now Flik will leave the Island in search of Tough Bugs, oblivious to the fact that the Colony is more than happy to see him go. Once he gets to the Big World outside, the adventures awaiting Flik will change him and Ant Island Forever!"

Flik in the game (PlayStation Version).

Gameplay

You played as Flik, the main Protagonist from the movie. He had several moves which were Running, Jumping, Attacking with Berries, Picking up things (such as Seeds), Growing Plants, Throwing Plants, Using a Grain Harvester, Butt-Bouncing, Swinging and Sliding.

Main Goals in the Game

As well as exploring and destroying Enemies, there were three main tasks in each level that you had to complete to truly reach 100% in the form of Tokens, if you got all three you were rewarded with a Movie Clip that you could view in your Movie Viewer and if got all forty-eight by the end of the game you would receive a very special Clip, these were as follows:

• Grain Token: Obtain all fifty pieces of Grain, if successful your health was restored to full.
• Flik Token: Collect all the letters F.L.I.K, if successful, you would gain a new Life.
• Enemy Token: Eliminate all the Enemies in the Level, which even sometimes included the Boss.

Berries

The Berries were Flik's main form of defense, they came in five different colours. You could either get them on their own or from growing a Purple Plant:

• Red Berry: Standard Berry that is available to you at the beginning of every level, but has no effect on Grasshoppers or Flies.
• Super Berry: A more powerful Blue Berry that can even take out Grasshoppers.
• Homing Berry: A Green Berry that homes in on Enemies that are at a distance.
• Mega Homing Berry: A Purple Berry with increased homing ability.
• Gold Berry: The most powerful Berry of all that eliminates your Enemies permanently and helps you obtain the Enemy Token. NOTE: You could also do this with the Grain Harvester or Mine Plant, but the amount of Enemies was limited.

Seeds and Plants

The main source of exploration were the seeds that grew various Plants. Some helped you gain access for hard to reach places, while others gave you special Power Ups or Items that came in useful for that particular level. In order to obtain these different plants, you had to obtain special coloured Tokens that were scattered around the levels. The more Tokens you got the more Plants you could grow such as obtaining four Brown Tokens gave you the ability to grow four different Plants. Some Seeds you could change colour, lift and place in any area you wanted, while others were stuck in the ground or stuck as the same colour. You could grab onto a seed, throw it and crack it open by Bouncing on it. If you wanted to grow something different, you just picked up the Plant and threw it away:

Brown Tokens (Brown Seed)

• 1 Token gave you a Mushroom to Bounce on.
• 2 Tokens gave you a Propellor Plant which could lift you up, help you place more seeds on a ledge and lift you higher if you were on a Dandelion.
• 3 Tokens gave you a Dandelion Plant for use of Flying.
• 4 Tokens gave you a Cannon Plant which could shoot you up to great heights.

Green Tokens (Green Seed)

Each Token gave you Plants with lots of Leaves, the more you obtained, the higher you could go.

Blue Tokens (Blue Seed)

• 1 Token gave you a limited Invicibility.
• 2 Tokens gave you a Health Leaf producing Plant with Leaves to restore your Health.
• 3 Tokens gave you a Bubble Shield to protect you From Enemies.
• 4 Tokens gave you Super Jump that increased the height of your Jumping.

Purple Tokens (Purple Seed)

• 1 Token gave you the Blue Super Berry.
• 2 Tokens gave you the Green Homing Berry.
• 3 Tokens gave you the Purple Mega Homing Berry.
• 4 Tokens gave you the Gold Berry.

Yellow Tokens (Yellow Seed)

• 1 Token gave you a Blue Berry Shooter that attacked Enemies and airborne Grasshoppers who were holding seeds.
• 2 Tokens gave you a Purple Homing Berry Shooter that homed in on your Enemies and Grasshoppers
• 3 Tokens gave you a Mine Plant, which worked the same way as the Gold Berry and Grain Harvester, permanently eliminating your Enemies.

The Lands of Bugdom

Flik had to travel to five Worlds each with two levels and a Boss Stage:

Training: Training Level: Led by Mr. Soil, this level gives you an understanding of Flik's moves and items in the game.

World 1: Ant Island

• Anthill: Level One: Welcome to Ant Island
• Tunnels: Level Two: Tunnel Run
• Council Chamber: Level Three: They call him Thumper (Boss: Thumper)

World 2: Leaving Ant Island

• Cliffside: Level Four: Dandelion Flight
• Riverbed Canyon: Level Five: Riverbed Run
• Bird Nest: Level Six: Bird Bait (Boss: Bird)

World 3: Little Bug, Big City

• City Entrance: Level Seven: Little Ant, Big City
• City Square: Level Eight: Meet the Circus Troupe
• Bug Bar: Level Nine: Horsefly Mayhem (Boss: Thud)

World 4: Return to Ant Island

• Clover Forest: Level Ten: Assemble the Bird
• The Tree: Level Eleven: Blueberry Scouts to the Rescue
• Battle Arena: Level Twelve: Lead the Revolt (Boss: Molt)

World 5: Grasshopper War

• Anthill 2: Level Thirteen: Grasshoppers Leave
• Riverbed Flight: Level Fourteen: Atta Flight
• Canyon Showdown: Level Fifteen: Save the Colony (Boss: Hopper)

Bonus Levels

If you did a certain task in a particular level, you would be transported to a hidden Bonus level that had a Bonus Movie Clip, three stages had these, they were as follows:

• Training Level: Butt-Bounce on all four Spiders in a row.
• Level Two: Hit five Grasshoppers in a row with the Super Berry.
• Level Ten: Line up five brown seeds in a row, then grow them all as Mushrooms. Afterwards bounce to each one in a row. NOTE: The Bonus level for this one had a glitch that froze the game and removed your data.

Characters

• Flik
• Atta
• Dot
• Hopper
• Mr. Soil
• Francis
• Slim
• Heimlich
• Dim
• Rosie
• Manny
• Gypsy
• Tuck and Roll
• Molt
• Thumper
• Blueberry Scouts
• Thud
• Bird

Enemies

• Grasshoppers
• Spiders
• Mosquitoes
• Flies
• Cockroaches
• Wasps
• Mites
• Grubs
• Earthworms
• Centipedes
• Dragonflies
• Earthworms
• Armour Plated Beetles
• Daddy Long Legs

Versions

UK PlayStation Version

USA PlayStation version.

PC version.

Nintendo 64 version.

Game Boy Color version.