Remember the days when a game became almost impossible to get once it was no longer being printed? NES, SNES and even N64 titles became lost to us and wound up online for ghastly prices, and we just had to live with the fact that we weren't going to play certain games.
Thankfully those days are a thing of the past. We now live in an era where classic video games from yesteryear are at our fingertips. Games are being remade on current-gen consoles and – if not – they are turning up as downloads here and there. We as gamers are truly spoilt sometimes, but there are still some games that are left behind and the chance of seeing them again is lost forever. But fear not, for one game has emerged from its grave and moved to resurrect itself — and on its original system, no less. Behold the game you never knew you wanted: Super Noah’s Ark 3D. You read that right — the infamous unlicensed Christian game is being reprinted on the SNES two decades after its original release.
For those of you that don’t know what we're talking about, Super Noah’s Ark 3D is one of the many biblical games made by US developer Wisdom Tree. At a passing glance you might think you were looking at a classic Wolfenstein 3D clone, but you won't find any Nazis or robotic dictators here. The player is called upon to step into the sandals of Noah and sling-shot animals with fruit to knock them out. For the low, low price of just $69.99 you can own this piece of history for your original SNES – cartridge and all.
Wisdom Tree’s entire catalogue of Christian “classics” – which features the Zelda-esque game Spiritual Warfare — is available for PC direct from the developer for much less. So if you really do want to go out of your way to own these games, it might be financially better to go down that route — but make sure your operating system is pre-Windows Vista as Wisdom Tree seems to be stuck in the past in more ways than one.
Thanks to Ryan Millar for the tip.
[source tinycartridge.com, via examiner.com]
Comments 102
I feel like watching AVGN now, thanks.
Now with 4 colors of brown!
Super Noah's Ark did grimdark before it was mainstream.
Piko's a great guy. Lots of cool stuff on his site. Classic Kong and Super 4-in-1 homebrews come highly recomended.
Oh hey it's Doom!
@Baum897 Having Trouble?
This is the sort of game Jesus would play!!!
@Baum897 On an article page, probably not.
Teehee, Senketsu is dead.I'm a Christian and lived in a logging camp in the Alaskan wilderness for many years. I've never seen more copies of the Wisdom Tree games in one place. The majority of them were garbage, but there was one which was amazing: JOSHUA. It was an action/puzzler where you were breaking down the walls of Jericho. It kicks donkey. Originally for the NES I got my hands on a rare Sega Genesis version thanks to Funcoland. (Them and Chips & Bits were saviors for a hardcore gamer living in the middle of nowhere - no pun intende). I urge you all to check out JOSHUA for NES or GENESIS.
Listen to the joyful music while goats try to kill you.
I actually own this game. it's the black cartridge that you need another game to plug into
"– if not – they are turning up as downloads here and there."
I love the carefully worded double meaning of this. XD
Great! I've just picked up a SNES so I'll be looking to pick this up!
@WhiteTrashGuy I had that game on NES, as well as Exodus and Bible Adventures. dat nostalgia. coincidentally, all the aforementioned games are available in java form through Wisdom Tree directly to play in browser.
http://www.wisdomtreegames.com/arcade.html
If only it released on Wii U, then the "drought" would finally be over
Interesting that the Examiner article notes:
However, this re-release of Super 3D Noah's Ark does not yet appear on the site, and has apparently only been made available through private orders via email, as explained in a press released circulated recently.
But does not show the press release.
Makes you wonder about it.
@Csaw I see what you did there!
the game where Noah knocks animals unconscious in order to take them captive on his ark. That sounds wrong to say the least!
I've played this and it's terrible. However it is unintentionally hilarious. I recall running about throwing fruit at a donkey. I dont recall that bit in the noahs ark story...
Let us all swiftly march away from this 2-by-2 .
Amen.
"All the animals want Noah dead!"
So the terrible, horrible Wolfenstien 3D is okay as long as it's animals you are putting down... uh sorry, you are putting "to sleep".
At least if you are going to come up with a "christian" video game, be original.
I wonder how the AVGN would react to this news.
@Hyperstar96: i don't think it's so much about religion as it is about the Wisdom Tree games being crap, lol. i grew up with friends who had an NES and were only allowed to play Bible Adventures, holy crap was that trio of games awful. thankfully my parents didn't go that route (but TMNT, which us kids had begged them for, was about as ridiculously punishing, i guess... D: )
Wow, 3D on a Snes game; if you're a retro gamer this a must-have!
The issue here is called "making good games", & if it is supposedly based around a religious theme, then there is reason to be a bit narrow in game design, to fit the religious text source, as accurately as possible, & still not actually have a bad game, & possibly instead a good game. That said, while I like the concept of Bible Adventures, & King of Kings, out of the 2, King of Kings is the better of the 2 I own, but neither are great in the same way, say, Super Mario Bros 3 would be.
@theblackdragon: Not surprisingly, a lot of owners of that game probably were only allowed to play that. Then there were those like my family, that were not bothered by me playing other games. As for TMNT, depending on which one you're talking about, I would say it's more a matter of difficulty.
For me, if I had moral issues w/ retro fps, I probably wouldn't play this either, since it's just an aesthetic change, overall. It's not new news, Wisdom Tree games have a reputation as bad games. I wouldn't say they're horrible, since I do get a little fun out of the 2 aforementioned games above(Bible Adventures, & King of Kings), but I would not call these games wonderful, either.
Lord help us all. D:
So Nintendo Life is trolling now? Seriously, what is the point of this article other than to throw some underhanded jokes at Christianity and this company (referring to this line - "Wisdom Tree seems to be stuck in the past in more ways than one.")?
Wow, $70 for this? That's an amazing deal...NOT! What were they thinking???
@theblackdragon: TMNT 1 was awesome. Difficult, but awesome.
ARGH! It hurts my head...!
@hypercoyote: I caught that (first go-round). That aside, this is news in regards to this particular game, being one of a bit in a trend of recent years, of making actual cartridge releases for legacy(retro) hardware/consoles. It's kinda niche popular, at the moment, I think. Edit: As for Wisdom Tree being "stuck in the past", assuming they haven't got the resources to (make new games), their past catalog is their life's blood.
@Capt_N I think it's the tone of the article more than the report itself. I find it interesting that they are reprinting it (though am in no way interested in the game itself), so that part was informative. But I felt the undertone of the article was unnecessary.
@theblackdragon @Hyperstar96 @GreenGaming I don't think the title "Christian First -Person Shooter..." was really necessary, playing off of a well known bible story (but not staying true to it at all!) doesn't neccecerally represent a "Christian" game. But I know you guys love your catchy if slightly misleading headings over at Nintendolife, so
@hypercoyote:"But I felt the undertone of the article was unnecessary." So did I, & it's not the first time.
Wisdom Tree is not publishing the title. It is being published by Piko Interactive:
http://pikointeractive.com/blog/super-noahs-ark-3d-acquired/
@Yorumi lol, well, they do set themselves up as a lightning rod, though the comments in the article were reaching deeper than the company itself. But I agree, there's room for some great Kingdom-centered games on the market. It's just a matter of talented people willing to come together for the sake of Christ and not profit, because the odds are, they are not going to sell like Call of Duty no matter how good they are (though who am I to limit God?).
"as Wisdom Tree seems to be stuck in the past in more ways than one."
Oh man, did I lol I'm surprised they didn't notice the double slingshot looks exactly like a pentagram.
My cousin had Exodus and we used to play that every now and again when we were young, but boy am I glad my parents didn't buy that nonsense. My aunt had some lady telling her video games were bad, BUT, there were some good games out there that taught kids about religion. I'm trying to build a time machine to go back in time and kill that lady before she meets my aunt . What's odd is years later I end up reading about "Wisdom Tree" in college, and I'm one of the only lucky ones to have actually played one of their so-called "games".
@hypercoyote As a Christian, who plays video games, and who had considered this site to be a reliable source of daily gaming news, without any un-needed commentary against my lifestyle, I did very much notice the joke being played out in this article, at my expense. sigh.
Anyway, just wanted to add my comment, take it as you will.
@DerrickC I know I'd like to see some company step up and develop some quality Kingdom-based games. On a random note, I recently finished Earthbound for the first time....is it just me, or did that final battle have a crazy number of spiritual parallels? It was pretty epic.
@hypercoyote
I agree!
There's been a few surprisingly decent Facebook games developed by Lightside Games, even one Zelda-esque title called Journey of Jesus, but like pretty much any other Facebook game, they tend to get repetative and boring after repeated plays. Any suggestions of any other tolerable Kingdom-based games?
All you people complaining about this article because you're Christian should just turn the other cheek, right?
Any who, take the time to research how and why this company came about. It's very interesting. For the lazy, here is the short story: Wisdom Tree's parent company, and many other companies, didn't want to have to buy the chips that enabled games to be played on the NES. After engineers at Atari figured out how to bypass this chip companies started to make games that weren't Nintendo certified. There were a lot of restrictions back then, such as third parties could only make 5 games a year, and so on... That's for another day... Nintendo eventually fought back against these companies skirting around their policy and won. Color Dreams, Wisdom Tree's parent company, started Wisdom Tree to make non Nintendo certified religious themed games based on the thoughts that these games would be so non mainstream Nintendo wouldn't bother to take them to court. Nintendo never did, either. Wisdom Tree's games were sold in religious book stores and the like, not in the traditional places one would normally find video games, which helped them remain low key. One thing to note is their games are all rip-offs of other games. Some of them are so similar the code is the exact same with just a few minor cosmetic changes to make the game more religious in nature.
The more you know.
@DerrickC Naw, I don't think I've ever played one I considered a good game. The thing is, they could be really clever. Unlike the normal hack and slash where you rely entirely on your own experience and resources, at some points in the game you should come to an enemy that is absolutely impossible to beat, and you suddenly realize it's because you forgot to seek God before the battle. It'd take a lot of planning out and a lot of innovative ideas, but I think there's enough source material there to come up with some pretty epic games. But like I said, you still need some talented developers to make it happen. And most of those developers are only looking to work for money and not for the Master.
@Prof_Elvin_Gadd I don't think anyone was defending the company, but that's pretty funny. It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to do something shady in the name of religion.
Oh dang, look out for that goat!
Turn the other cheek is a valid comment. However, if I can find another site to get my Nintendo news from that publishes articles which don't mock my faith, you can bet I will. And since sites like these depend on readers to exist, it's only fair that any reader considering reading elsewhere due to insulting content at least voice their disaproval before doing so.
It seems the original one will become rare, since that version was black and needed another SNES game.
This reprint seems like a normal cart.
Oh and I wonder what exactly the writer of this article ment by wisdom tree being stuck in the past other than needing vista to play SW
While Wisdom Tree made some horrible a games, a few were really incredible. Namely--Exodus, Joshua, and especially Spiritual Warfare. I still contend that Spiritual Warfare is a Zelda-clone that manages to be better than most of the 2D Zeldas ever made and certainly better than the original LoZ it was ripping off.
It's amazing how something that's supposed to unite people actually ends up dividing them. Amazing and sad. I'm seeing it right here, in these comments (sigh)...
I hope this can be my last comment in this thread, and I seriously hope that site admins have been taking notes on this. Please, continue publishing great articles about Nintendo related gaming news, and PLEASE, take a little more care to inspect the content of the articles that you do post, to ensure that no "passive agressive anti-religion" comments are sneaking in, as if that is an ongoing pattern, I will no longer be a reader of this site.
hey guys, we're not here to argue religion, and trolling is an unwise decision. just a heads-up.
as for the article itself, for those of you who took offense — sorry, but are we really reading the same one? I'm seeing jokes leveled at Wisdom Tree (and now Piko, I guess), the former for having put out crap games (and apparently maintained them for long-outdated OSes) in the first place and the latter now regarding a re-release that's surely more a joke than anything else. I'm not seeing jokes made at the expense of Christianity in particular...?
@theblackdragon The games and the concept behind them do seem laughable, agreed.
But "stuck in the past in more ways than one" at the end is unnecessary.
I'm not sure how that can be interpreted in any other way than a dig at Christianity. Unless I'm missing something?
This game is way more fun to play than Other M.
I spotted at least two quips:
1) "...for one game has emerged from its grave and moved to resurrect itself..." (obvious reference to Jesus).
2) "...Wisdom Tree seems to be stuck in the past in more ways than one" (can easily be interpreted as implying Christianity is stuck in the past).
As far as I'm concerned, both were uncalled for.
@Yorumi Okay, but you have to see it from the point of view of a believer. Basically, that first line equates the miracle of Jesus' resurrection to something as wordly and trivial as a video game. It might not have been Mark Green's intention, but it still diminishes the worth and importance of an event that is pretty much central to Christianity.
@antonvaltaz, @GeminiSaint (whoops, sorry Yorumi!): please take a look at their game offerings. What part of any of that is modern? Their entire 'current' game library looks like it came straight out of the late 80's and early 90's. They're not even trying to come up with anything new. I suppose it's not that they really have to, unfortunately they have a fairly captive audience since there's so little competition in terms of Christianity-based video gaming, but you'd think that with a company that's been around for so long they would have at least picked up some talent along the way and made the effort to do something to genuinely appeal to Christian children who enjoy modern video games. Wisdom Tree is stuck in the past, at least from what I can see.
As for the line about Jesus' resurrection, I'm in the same camp as Yorumi to be honest. I genuinely doubt it was meant with any sort of hostility or spitefulness; i thought it was a pretty standard sort of joke when talking about a game which no one who had ever played it back in the day thought would see a genuine SNES re-release (or at least I certainly thought I'd never see the day, haha!). It really has been resurrected (by Piko) and is emerging from its grave (absolute obscurity, aside from an occasional YouTube 'review' or the AVGN video).
@theblackdragon
"Wisdom Tree is stuck in the past, at least from what I can see."
Agreed. It was the "in more ways than one" bit which is the unfortunate addition.
@antonvaltaz: again, I read that as not only being stuck in the past regarding the systems on which their games work for, but also their entire gaming library (which looks like it's — and probably has — come straight from the late 80's/early 90's). you could also read it as the games themselves, which do focus on featuring events that occurred long, long ago (i'm not sure if they have any games that specifically focus on future events or possibly the apocalypse off top of my head). :3
Yeah, "In more ways than one" could be perceived as describing Christianity instead of their game library, which would be defamatory (regardless of intent) Meh, that's just a risk writers take xD
Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!!!
Can't find many kind words for this project eh? I am friends with the guy who heads up Piko Interactive and I recall him working on working to get the license to the Wisdom Tree stuff. I think it's nice that it's out there, but what's more special is the fact this isn't bootleg garbage lying under the mystique of a repro, it's a legit licensed project that uses all new materials down to the board and chips. Sure it's a cheese hack of Wolf3D, but subject matter aside it's no better or worse than the neutered Wolf3D for the SNES was. The nice thing is this is a gateway game into other stuff, and Wisdom Tree was also Color Dreams and they did have a few decent unlicensed titles that could perhaps pop up later depending on the deal involved. If you guys want to do a follow up piece, check the website as recently a complete in box (or variations down to cart only) of Crazy Kong were put out recently too for SNES and it's a really solid DK homebrew clone that's fun to play.
The story here I think beyond the game which has some good hate against it is that you have a new company here that's striving to pick up licenses for released or even unreleased (never published or homebrew) titles on their proper formats for fans of old gaming.and depending on factors other formats as well. It's a good service for people who don't have a means to get their games made on legit media services.
I always found it ironic that these christian based games were unlicensed and therefore stealing from nintendo. Good morals for children there.
So much hypocrisy in these comments but then considering the people getting offended it makes sense.
But besides the obvious content, do they also offer an extended story arc? Oh wait...
Seriously, to be offended at something like this... (shakes head)
I think everyone is free to think and do what he or she wants with or without religion (and obviously within the confines of the law) and some people shouldn't read to much into something that isn't anything at all. If you manage to get all kinds of extra meanings out of plain and crystal clear text, then it is rather your perception of it, than the actual text itself. The fact that most comments think "it could be interpreted as" says enough.
@3Daniel Good point.
"So much hypocrisy in these comments but then considering the people getting offended it makes sense."
OK, I'll bite, what is it about someone like me which would make it make sense for me to be hypocritical? Please enlighten us all. If I'm going to be publicly judged in a message board comment, at least give me the courtesy of clearly explaining the judgement you wish to pass on me, Arcamenel.
@hypercoyote That was a joke about the fact that the company is re-releasing its old games, rather than an attack on religion. This post actually has nothing bad to say about Christianity whatsoever - this game is just plain bad, pure and simple.
@PvtOttobot Wisdom Tree is a company which exclusively produces games with a Christian theme. How is the title of this story in any way misleading?
@Damo "Wisdom Tree seems to be stuck in the past in more ways than one." What are the other ways it's stuck in the past other than re-releasing an old game?
I'm Christian too, and I can see where both sides are coming from. My advice is to refrain from throwing out personal attacks against people you don't even know. I can see why my fellow Christians are so sensitive about it, go spend a few weeks in any MMO, and you'll see just how religious people are treated by many of those in the gaming community. On the other hand, I can see why those who disagree think way too much is being read into this. It really comes down to personal experiences and how those experiences(or lack thereof) shape our perceptions. Just some food for thought.
@hypercoyote Because you need Windows Vista to play the versions of the games on their site - as is stated clearly in the news post.
Thank you MikeyMaster2001 for your clear and well thought out explanation. Let's just say I've been subjected to a handful of personal attacks for my faith, since I've been open about it with my online presence, so those kinds of unfortunate experiences tend to put one on the defensive.
@mikeymaster2001 Well, you said it right, like I also said: it all comes down to perception of the individual. But you cannot honestly expect a game website for the general public to put every word they type on a balanced scale to check them when they weren't intended to be insulting in the first place. If these words were slanderous, racist, sexist or plain abusive to any group then I would agree, but now I almost have the feeling that I have to apologize to this British website for my religious fellow Americans...
@Damo pre-Vista, right?
Just to clarify - as I've now had time to read all of these comments - this post does not contain a single negative comment about Christianity or religion. The digs taken here are aimed at Wisdom Tree as a company, and the "stuck in the past" comment at the end is clearly aimed at the company's mining of its (terrible) back catalogue and its stipulation that outdated operating systems are required to play the games available for purchase from its online store.
As several people have already pointed out, those who take offense at these comments are jumping to entirely the wrong conclusion - no insult has been made here towards anybody's faith, but rather a slightly ropey games developer which just so happens to produce Christian-themed games - and awful ones, at that.
Panic over!
@TheRealThanos No apology required!
@Damo @Yorumi Given your explanation, then I did come to the wrong conclusion. The only reason is, that statement parallels one of the most common insults slung at Christians which is that they are 'stuck in the past', 'following an oudated book', etc. Forgive me for taking it that way, but given that it's a fairly common slur, I don't think it was as much of a stretch as it's being made out to be. But I don't think anyone is arguing that the games this company makes are garbage.
it cant be that bad...
@Damo That's why I said almost.
@hypercoyote No problem. I'm a practising Catholic so I can certainly understand your desire to speak up and defend your faith.
The test is "What was the intent behind the statement". Nothing within this article strikes me as having the intent of taking a swipe at anyone's beliefs. To me, such a thing would be inconsistent with the values of professionalism that NintendoLife so consistently exhibits. This site isn't some hypocritical sub-par website who lets users rampage around like bullies. They are actually professional.
@theblackdragon
Are you a Christian? If not I bet you fail to see any issues.
I am not stuck in the past I am looking forward to the future.
I can certainly understand feeling harassed for my faith, but I also am willing to say I don't always interpret things properly online. I will concede that it is possible the writer meant no offense, but to certain people it just didn't look that way..
By the way, I actually do tolerate a lot of comments that are definitely harassing(primarily not from here). A person must just ignore it, & move on.
Look, everyone, it's the internet. Simply put: since no one can hear the voice(connotation/emphasis/tone/etc.) putting down the words, it's easy to misinterpret (what they meant). Even I'm guilty of this. So, for whatever I may have negatively contributed to these comments, I apologize to the staff, & community.
It's good that NLife does articles about this stuff, even though I honestly can't say I know anyone who would buy this game.
Someone should totes do a remake of this game! B) Maybe as a Source mod?
Some features:
Other Gameplay elements:
What do you guys think?
@WhiteTrashGuy I had it on PC. There was also Exodus. It was the same game, but I think it was harder.
...This looks like somebody took the original Doom engine, and changed the graphics. To me, putting 100 of the SAME animal to sleep with chloroform fruit (chlorofruit?) doesn't sound like fun...
I remember playing one of these games, when I was younger, and thinking it wasn't very fun, even for a Christian game.
What makes this bad is the people with the underhanded quips in the comments.
I'd just like to say that I'm a Christian and didn't take any offense at this article whatsoever. Seemed pretty clear to me that "stuck in the past" comment had to do with pre-Vista Windows and re-releasing an SNES cartridge.
@hypercoyote
Passion of the Christ is proof that Christian media can thrive, if done correctly. I'd love to see more Christian movies/games, cause to be honest, there really isn't much in the mainstream, if at all. Always thought some of the Old Testament stories were more interesting than 90% of the movies they make today anyways.
@JaxonH Man, you ain't kidding! If you really take the time to read the Word, that stuff is deep. We can glaze over things and miss the big picture, like not realize that in two chapters you just read 40 years of someone's life. And to know those people were just like anyone else, they just let God use them...and still will today.
Man, I hope some of you guys never ever read the comments on a YouTube game review. Or reddit.
@NorthLightSuplx: You seem to have missed comments #64 and #66. Please give them a read-through :3
@Number_6: we work quite hard to not allow NL to go that route, thank you. :3
@Moshugan: See, that sounds like a game worth playing if they were to do it right. Perhaps you should pitch them your ideas :3
LOL, I remember hearing about this from The Angry Video Game Nerd.
He is risen, indeed!
I'm a huge fan of Spiritual Warfare on the Sega Genesis. That game needs sequels.
Yeah, the quality of some of their other titles is a little suspect, but kudos to Wisdom Tree for putting them out there in such an increasingly secular world.
While i appreciate your sentiment, let's not re-light the fire after it's already been put out :3 — TBD
This game's a big load of rubbish.
Unofficial overpriced copied/cloned rubbish.
And it has nothing to do with Christians
or do Christians go kill animals with slingshots?
0/10.
I still think there was a mix up, and its not a Christian game, but it was in fact made by a guy called Christian.
Because no way this is religiously allowed. At all. If I flung fruit at my Pastor and shouted "Get in the boat!" I don't think he'd get it.
or do Christians go kill animals with slingshots?
Are animal sacrifices still a thing?
Here's a fun review of the best game that Wisdom Tree arguably, "made". It's the Sega Genesis review, but it is exactly the same as the NES game.
For some of you, be forewarned: either don't watch, grow elephant skin or be prepared to turn the other cheek. The review is very critical/scathing and sharp, although on the bright side he does mention some plus points and thinks it's a fairly fun game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_8owXFYGwA
Credits to @Mr_Nose for making me curious enough about this game to actually look it up... (which is why I posted this, for other people that might be curious about it, not to offend, hence the warning)
@JaxonH Quite sp, if you look at it good. As I once said to a good friend,
"If the whole bible was made into a movie, the rating would be SKY high,"
@JaxonH Yeah like the story of Moses.
horse dung
@Bitten ''I want to see a real time Noah simulator, 40 days and 40 nights of sailing, feeding and mucking out fun!''
Actually, according to the Bible, Noah was in the Ark for somewhere around 375 days! The raining might have lasted for 40 days but the flood took a lot longer to recede.
It could work as a resource management and a social simulator, where you'd have to deal with the limited food and water on board and take care of the animals as well as the other seven members of your family.
Bible based games need not be crappy edutainment romps that try to teach ''bible stories'' nor they have to twist the Bible's accounts into something that will get people to call blasphemy. I wish there were more games about the Bible and more good quality games with christian values and themes.
The christian game making community needs to start thinking outside of the box.
@Moshugan I couldn't agree with you more about there being an undertapped market in developing AAA game titles with a basis in Christian values. The Noah game you're describing sounds fascinating, and titles like that would go a long way to convincing secular gamers that there's no reason to dismiss something just because it has its basis in a lifestyle they don't personally practice.
These are some pretty decent graphics for a 3D SNES game, especially an unlicensed one!
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