The Ignition Factor (SNES)

The Ignition Factor is a top-down firefighting video game for the Super Nintendo, and with those words you likely already have a good idea of what the game might be like. You push into burning buildings, put out blazes, save people and valuables, and get out before its too dangerous to stick around. The Ignition Factor does have more ideas it explores than just these basics, but when it comes to the story, what at first appears to be an incredibly grounded procession of firefighting missions starts taking some wild turns that make this game unusually fascinating.

 

The Ignition Factor is structured in a way where you receive a small set of missions you can tackle in whichever order you please, completion of all the available tasks causing the next set of missions to appear. While you only play as one of the firefighters on the force, your teammates give you mission briefings and appear in levels to refill your supplies or give pointers. At first everything seems to be going for raw realism, characters only speaking about the task at hand and discussing what needs to be done. The vaguest hint of drama appears when one firefighter is hurt on a mission, but this is shoved aside unceremoniously when the story starts to turn in a very unexpected direction when a new rookie fireman is introduced with line “Yes, that’s him. He’s from Video Games”.

 

This seemingly random out of place line actually shifts the game into a weird tonal mix where you can never tell if The Ignition Factor is going to be completely serious or crack goofy meta jokes. One mission might have everyone speaking functionally and only discussing the matter at hand, then another will have an older fireman balk at the cliche script as everyone urges him to stop talking so they can finish the scene. You might be rescuing trapped people in a building only for one of them to stand up and recommend a gaming magazine. There are even rants directed at the game’s design and the development company behind the game Jaleco. Positron’s interview with the translator Joe Sislow is an interesting look at how this absurd twist came together partly because of bad communication between the Japanese creators and the U.S. translation team, partly from an attempt to appeal to gaming magazines with shout outs to make up for the lack of a marketing budget, and partly just generally having fun filling in script gaps.

While the sometimes absurd writing is definitely what stands out about The Ignition Factor, the firefighting gameplay is played completely straight but has its ups and downs. When you enter a burning building, your firefighter controls in a somewhat awkward manner. Sprinting requires tapping the D Pad twice in a direction and can be hard to quickly stop, and your fireman’s rather rough jump can be used to clear gaps but might not execute properly, especially if you’re trying to execute a running jump. Falling down holes can hurt you or move you to another area in a building, and with the game’s surprisingly tight level timers and limited chances for healing, both outcomes can be painful. Putting out fires involves using a fire extinguisher that needs time to recharge to full between uses and can be completely drained for a few seconds if used carefully, leaving you standing there and waiting with nothing else to do. Since the fire is primarily an obstacle to navigation it is fairly likely you’ll have inevitable periods of waiting for that extinguisher refill to kick in, but there are at least some ways to speed up the firefighting process.

 

Before a mission begins you get to place your fire truck at one of four corners of the burning building, and while you are given a map with a layout of the upcoming location, you can’t really spot where the fire will be at its worse with it. However, whatever corner it is lingering near can get a quick burst of fire clearing spray from your item menu whenever you see fit, and the items in that menu can assist in a variety of ways. A C02 grenade is one of the most effective tools in that it can clear a small area of flames in an instant, certain fires are chemical or electrical in nature and require alternate extinguishers to put out, and the fire axe or explosives can be used to open new paths in levels despite the fact the game doesn’t always communicate where they can be used well and sometimes has small lies with the pre-level map’s layout. You can only bring in a set amount of items when a mission starts and have to seek refills or replacements from other firefighters within the building as you play, but there are other items you might pick up during the level that might be key to completing them.

In The Ignition Factor, you actually aren’t aiming to fight the blazes that have enveloped the game’s locations. Instead, you are often set in with an objective like rescuing a set amount of trapped individuals in a time limit. If you fail to complete the objective or don’t escape yourself you’ll need to do a full level retry, and these missions are often structured in a way where good strategy and level knowledge will be key to actually completing the objectives within the set amount of time. Leeway is often present such as not requiring you to save everybody who is trapped, and optional objectives not only lead to some diverse ideas entering play but can add to a point total required for unlocking the secret bonus mission. Unfortunately, while rescuing relics and important items can earn you these points, it’s very easy to accidentally damage them just during your regular work and thus be docked points instead. Still, doing unique side activities like protecting a man as he rescues a fossil from the dinosaur museum or having what is essentially a boss fight with an unruly furnace can spice up the sometimes aimless wandering about as you look for people and hope you have the time to do so.

 

While the dinosaur museum with its big displays is certainly the most visually impressive location you visit, there are other unique locations that make firefighting a bit more interesting. A mannequin factory is a fairly unexpected location to visit, although this is mostly used for hiding people amidst mannequins in a way that makes little sense. Sometimes if you don’t trigger the right dialogue, extra missions or certain people won’t appear yet, and in the mannequin factory you might spray one set looking for someone only for the fire chief to later send you a message that makes the people arbitrarily suddenly appear amidst the mannequins with no visual or story clue telling you they’re present now. The mine levels are definitely the biggest break away from the main game concept where you enter mines that are being filled with toxic gas. You need to rescue workers and manage your oxygen well to succeed here, and these again feature that aspect where it takes some figuring out where the objectives are and how to perform them under such tight conditions helps make them into strategic and sometimes tense experiences. There are definitely a lot of flaws in the game design when it comes to how things actually function, but even a straightforward skyscraper is often made into an interesting host for the action by the need to figure out how your limited options can be applied to overcome that stage’s particular obstacles and objective placement.

THE VERDICT: While a seemingly standard approach to firefighting action at first glace, the more you play The Ignition Factor, the more it reveals its stranger side. The unusual translation choices spice up an otherwise utilitarian approach to the story, and level concepts remain varied partly because putting out fires is never truly the main objective of a stage. The strategic play makes conquering a level satisfying, but a lot of the enjoyment is hampered by all the little gameplay flaws like odd movement controls, the approach to scoring and item management, and waiting on that extinguisher to be ready to go in a situation where you can’t do much else but wait. While it’s hard to play at times for the wrong reasons, it’s still easy to extract a bit of enjoyment from the bonkers script and tactical level exploration.

 

And so, I give The Ignition Factor for Super Nintendo…

An OKAY rating. The odd direction with the writing can be quite amusing and figuring out the best way to beat a level proves to be a rewarding test of your strategic intelligence, but gameplay is constantly hampering the fun because of all the little problems with even the most basic elements. While something like the mannequin problem is certainly irritating it is just a flaw with one level whereas wrangling your fireman’s odd sprint or waiting on the extinguisher to refill crop up consistently, and while these aren’t done so poorly they doom the experience, it still means you’re often pushing past some unruly element or rough mechanic to find the enjoyable moments. The margins for error baked into level goals and the retry system on top of passwords means that it can get away with some of its tighter requirements like the strict timers, but it still feels like the core firefighting just isn’t as fun as it should be due to flaws in the basics despite the introduction of new goals and locations that could have definitely played host to a better firefighting title with the right amount of care.

 

The Ignition Factor will always stand out for the fact it didn’t just settle on being as straightforward of a firefighting game that you could make on the SNES. While the translation is definitely the most fascinating aspect and what gives the otherwise generic chatter a new layer of unusual charm, even the regular game features some nice breaks from the norm like the dinosaur museum’s exhibits and the furnace working as something akin to a fight. It does seem that a lot of the basics weren’t ironed out properly so the foundation doesn’t really let the game’s better aspects shine, but there’s still a good enough layer of strategy and surreal charm to The Ignition Factor to mean it can be worth a look if the premise appeals to you.