/ Brandon Boyer / 12:02 am Wed Feb 10, 2010

Harvey Weapons: Taito's secret Elevator Action DS revival that never was

harveyjameseadsheader.jpg Born of a time when novel ideas and game mechanics were flourishing and the rules were being rewritten with every new release, Taito's 1983 arcade original Elevator Action might not have achieved the certifiable classic status of Pac-Man or Galaga or Taito's own earlier Space Invaders, but it remains a true cult hit, remembered best for its semi-slapstick themes of lighthearted espionage. It's a franchise that never managed to lift itself up as well as it deserved: its 1994 arcade sequel -- even more lavishly animated (and far more cheerily ultraviolent) than the original -- only saw console release in Japan on the Sega Saturn, and, most curiously, as a Game Boy Color release re-skinned via Cartoon Network in the U.S. as a Dexter's Laboratory game. All of that could have changed in 2008, when Taito was pitched a Nintendo DS revival of the franchise, a pitch that would center on original character designs by long-time favorite illustrator (and occasional Vice Magazine comics contributor) James Harvey, better known by his swapped-around pen name Harvey James.
elevatoractionnesbox.jpgA quick getaway to Japan that was meant to be for pleasure only, Harvey explains, turned into "a pretty fruitful business trip" when a friend happened to have an upcoming meeting with a Taito representative: one in charge of the secret project to bring Elevator Action back to life for Nintendo's handheld. The friend, says Harvey, "solicited some character designs as part of his proposal for the game... The brief he gave me was to redesign the main characters, three gung-ho anti-terrorists, but to 'keep one eye on the present and one eye on the past', which is one of the more exciting briefs I've ever had. At the time, the economic proliferation of China was making big headlines, so I looked to things like modern Chinese couture and street fashion to get inspiration for my designs, as well as North Korean military uniforms and hip-hop culture." Though the project never made it to light -- "maybe my designs are still sitting in a file at Taito somewhere, or maybe they're in the trash," Harvey adds -- the radically culturally diverse team he invented are too fantastically brash and imaginative to keep under cover. So below, a quick introduction to every member of the would-be snooper squad, printed here maybe not so much in overt hopes that it'll jog Taito's memory into giving them a second look, but it would be nice, wouldn't it?kimminbig.jpg Quite obviously the clear charmer of the three, North Korean team member Kim Min Ji uses a (curiously familiar) laser pistol that Harvey explains "charges from a tea kettle full of battery acid, which she can also hit people with." brusselsbig.jpg Described simply by Harvey as a "crazy white kid in a Halloween suit", Brussels Tibia's special power would have been his deadly flying kick. rakimbig.jpg Finally, Muslim radical Rakim Al Taff (his name a callback to Elevator Action Return's original Engrish-ed up "tough" guy Jad the "Taff") looks no less foreboding in his dashing pink cap, and would have come equipped with a running clothesline special move. More of Harvey's art can be seen via his freshly redesigned portfolio site, where you'll also spot T-shirts and original silkscreened prints produced for upstart games culture web-shop Attract Mode.

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  1. Fantastic characters, and better looking than those in EA Returns. EA Returns is definitely worth seeking out and playing through if you’re a fan, almost as maddening and quarter-eating as Rolling Thunder but with better control. A shame Taito hasn’t cashed in on the Elevator Action series further.

  2. Not a certifiable classic? I pumped more quarters into Elevator Action than any other console in my arcade-haunting days. It was just as complex and challenging as it needed to be, and no more.

    This reimagining would have been three kinds of awesome.

  5. In the student lounge at my medical school (Penn State), we had one arcade game, and it was Elevator Action. I spent loads of time there, and I have always looked for retro-versions on current systems. Maybe one day…

  6. >and better looking than those in EA Returns.

    WOW! Man, I’m don’t wanna be a prick, but, unless you’re trying to be indulgent with Harvey James, you must be on drugs.

    I can’t imagine a EA revival with these designs, unless it’s a hipster centered game. Just look at these guys:

    http://insomnia.ac/commentary/untold_tales/episode_2/elevatoractionreturns.jpg

    They must look like your typical action videogame’s archetypes, but they perfectly fit for a game of this kind.

  7. Actually, I guess I was getting my EA Returns and EA Old & New mixed up, but I’d still say that at least Harvey’s characters have some style and soul to them than Returns’. Granted, Returns is rather old and those were the men (and women) for their time. I don’t think it’s that far a cry to imagine a Taito revival with these guys given their other revivals (Invaders, Bubble Bobble, etc), better this hipster crew than being robbed by some major license characters a la Dexter’s Lab, with all due respect.

  8. They really do have a gorillaz-esque feeling to them. But not close enough to be a rip-off.

    It’s a big shame.

  11. elevator action IS making a return but now its a light gun game ala “time crisis”

    the only cool feature is an actual elevator door in front of the screen!

    elevator action: Death Parade (WTF?)

  12. Sorry, I really don’t like the character design, I also was not a big fan of the character design in Elevator Action Returns. Returns was a great game, outside the girl, the male characters sucked! All you need is a James Bond type of character for Elevator Action, that’s all!

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