SD Snatcher - TV Tropes

SD Snatcher (Super Deform Snatcher) is an RPG adaptation of the Visual Novel Snatcher released for the MSX2 in 1990. In this version, the cast of characters turns cutesy and Super-Deformed and the storyline is slightly altered.

An English Fan Translation by a Dutch group fond of Bilingual Bonuses is available, though by the group's own admission, it's missing a portion of the script due to the way the Japanese text was coded into the game. It's notable for being the first known fan translation of a video game, being released all the way back in 1993.

On November 2, 2019, another group known as Project Melancholia released a more loyal translation with several bug fixes included in the patch.

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SD Snatcher provides examples of :

• Absurdly Spacious Sewer
• Adam Smith Hates Your Guts: JUNKER must be on a shoestring budget, because you're now expected to pay for your own ordinance and health restoration.
• Adaptational Heroism: Elijah Modnar is portrayed more sympathetically here than in the original Snatcher.
• Amusement Park of Doom: Syd Garden.
• Art Shift: Despite using super-deformed graphics for everyone, the ending has Gillian, Jamie and Random drawn normally.
• Art-Style Dissonance: The characters may be super-deformed, but that doesn't mean the story is any more family-friendly. The game still retains its serious tone and a lot of the graphic death scenes, like Jean-Jack getting his head twisted off.
• Ascended Extra: Jean-Jack Gibson. He's partnered with Gillian at the beginning, though given this game's penchant for splitting up the heroes, don't expect much in the way of backup.
• Blackout Basement: Queen Hospital.
• Bloody Handprint/Stay on the Path: In order to navigate a minefield, you have to follow Jan's footprints and (later) his trail of blood. A similar sequence happens while following the wounded Cunningham's blood trail through the caves.
• Bond Gun Barrel: Gillian in the opening cinematic.
• Canon Foreigner: Numerous characters, but most notably Geoff Tonegawa, Harry Benson's assistant at JUNKER HQ, who was added to the game just to serve as the new weapons engineer after Harry bites the dust.
• Coat, Hat, Mask: After Gillian gets sacked from JUNKER, Jamie gives him a fedora hat and surgical mask to wear, so he can stay on the case without being noticed.
• Console Cameo: Jean Jack Gibson owns an MSX turbo-R in this version of the story.
• Darker and Edgier: Compared to most mainstream JRPG's that came out at the time, SD Snatcher really stands out with its dark subject matter and graphic death scenes. Ironically, some parts are still Lighter and Softer than in the original Snatcher.
• Demoted to Extra: Metal Gear and Katrina are not as important to this game as they were in the original Snatcher.
• Don't Touch It, You Idiot!: Cunningham's painting. If you inspect it, he bellows at you to get lost. (Unlike in the original, the picture conceals a Secret Underground Passage.)
• Dual Boss: Naizu & Kashu, and (later) Rob & Lisa.
• Evil Knockoff: Jamie's Snatcher.
• Evil Redhead / Sinister Minister: Rob and Wesley Crumpton.
• Forced Level-Grinding
• Frameup: Rob tricks Gillian into shooting his brother, Wesley, by claiming he's a Snatcher.
• Game Within a Game: "Snatcher Headhunter", a Whack-A-Mole arcade game in which you hammer the Snatcher heads as they appear.
• Gecko Ending: This was made after the original 8-bit releases of Snatcher, but before the later CD-ROM versions that introduced Act 3 to the story. As such, the ending of SD Snatcher differs from the CD-ROM versions in quite a few significant details (specifically Random survives in this one).
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Wesley Crumpton. He has an excuse: Snatcher-Rob lobotomized him.
• Graceful Loser: Elijah Modnar admits defeat in his personal quest to surpass his father, once he pieces together that Pettrovich Modnar created Random, a perfect android, whereas all he could invent in all those decades was a defective artificial skin.
• In Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves: The Snatchers are more self-righteous in this version, believing that humans pose a threat to the planet's survival.
• Intrepid Merchant: Joy Division's gun merchants.
• Machine Worship: The humans of North Downtown worship the Snatchers as gods.
• Meat Moss: The Final Boss's room.
• Monster Clown: Syd Carnival is populated by Snatcher-clowns and, (gulp)... Snatcher-pandas.
• Mr. Exposition: Cunningham is a lot more useful this time around.
• Nerd Glasses: Geoff, a new JUNKER engineer who works alongside Harry, wears a massive pair of coke-rim glasses that block out his eyes.
• No Escape but Down: The warehouse time bomb requires jumping out the window, from the second floor. If the player instead attempts fighting through the enemies to reach the first floor exit, it's locked.
• Not Quite Dead: Cunningham.
• One-Winged Angel: The Master Snatcher hulks out after you deplete half its energy.
• Parrot Pet Position: This game's version of Metal Gear (dubbed "Petit Metal" in the Project Melancholia translation) is so small that it doesn't even need to move on its own, instead hitching a ride on Gillian's shoulder and aiding him from there.
• Robotic Reveal: Random. We actually get to witness his horrified reaction this time.
• Send in the Clones: The Very Definitely Final Dungeon is crawling with clones of Jamie and Cunningham. Amusingly, the latter will say "Making progress yet?!" before attacking.
• Shout-Out: Quite a few, particularly with the tongue-in-cheek fan translation. More overt shout outs include the opening cinematic (which copies AKIRA establishing shot) and JUNKER's agents, who are called "Runners".
• Shows Damage: Enemies show visible damage the more you hit them. Hitting certain parts also decreases specific stats.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: "No way, dickhead! Not when Gilian Seed is alive!!"◊ (sic) (NOTE: pic contains spoilers)
• Spared by the Adaptation: Random survives the explosion in this version's finale.
• Spider Tank
• Subsystem Damage: Specific parts of enemies can be targeted to damage or destroy them. For example, you can shoot a leg to reduce speed, the weapon to reduce damage, the eye to reduce accuracy, and so on.
• Time Bomb: The time bomb in the warehouse has 30 seconds when you find it. Unlike the original game, this counts down on a timer (although the timer is paused during combat.)
• Trick Boss: Wesley Crumpton.
• Turn in Your Badge: After being duped into shooting a civilian — and a priest no less, Gillian is outright fired by an irate Cunningham.
• Turned Against Their Masters: Unlike in the original, the Snatchers no longer obey Elijah Modnar. In fact, he's their prisoner!
• Underground Level: The tunnel from North Downtown to South Downtown. (A substitute for the subway tunnels used by Snatchers in the original.)
• Universal Translator: A "Lingu-Disk" to translate Spanish, which is needed to speak with Mr. Cielo.
• Villainous BSoD: Elijah Modnar has already undergone one by the time you meet him, despite still being responsible for all of his crimes in the original. He implores Gillian to stop the Snatchers and save Jamie.
• Virus and Cure Names: Snatcher introduces "Lucifer-Alpha", a virus that ravages Eastern Europe but mutates into a benign form by the present day. SD follows more in line with the trope with "Lucifer-Beta" (the New and Improved virus) and "L-Angel" (the antidote).
• Weakened by the Light: Snatchers are sensitive to sunlight; their artificial skin develops cancerous sores when exposed to it.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Pettrovich Modnar (who actually gets lines this time) admits to treating Elijah as a subordinate employee all of his life, and not as a son.

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