Kevin Costner's Waterworld: An Arcade Game Based On The Most Expensive Film Ever Made

*This article is about 2022 freeware game.
For other Waterworld video games, see Waterworld (video games)*

***Kevin Costner's Waterworld: The Arcade Game of The Most Expensive Film Ever Made***, is an independently-developed, freeware video game for PC, released in October 2022.

The game was developed by Australian Twitch streamer Macaw45, and is animated in the style of *The Simpsons*, based on a 25-year-old joke from that television series.

## Production

### Inspiration

The game is inspired by a joke within the tenth episode of the eighth season *The Simpsons*, *The Springfield Files*, which originally aired on January 12, 1997. The joke involved Milhouse playing an arcade game at Noiseland Arcade, an arcade game which was based on the *Waterworld* film, and which required Milhouse to reinsert 40 quarters after the Mariner took a few steps. This was a cultural reference to how the film ran severely overbudget.

A less realised version of this game had appeared as an in-browser game in 2018 on the Gamaverse website.

### Release

On 3rd October 2022, Macaw45 wrote on Twitter that the new game is to be "*a real and full imagining of the 'fake' Waterworld arcade game seen in The Simpsons.*" It will feature: "*fleshed out mechanics, multiple stages, boss fights, and a huge quantity of secrets for extra replayability.*" Macaw45 announced that the game is set to release during a stream, which will be October 9 in their time zone, but October 8 in the US.

## Overview

### Gameplay

The player controls the Mariner and can move forwards, backwards, crouch down, and jump up a small height. Any damage to the Mariner will result in instant death. The Mariner essentially has infinite lives, but the player will have to input '40 quarters' of fictional money into the fictional arcade machine to respawn. A typical playthrough can result in players 'spending' several hundred dollars.

If the game is completed, the player is given a 'Mariner Rank' out of five stars, which is based on a number of factors. These include how many times the player has died and therefore how many quarters have been used; if the tomato plant was secured on the deck of the trimaran and therefore not lost in the water; if the parts were used to construct the water purifier; and how many collectibles were found, such as hidden pages, a necklace and Enola's music box.

The best rank needs to be achieved to get the 'secret ending'. The best rank requires beating the game on 80 quarters and finding all the secrets.

### Plot

The game only loosely follows the plot of the film, and massively deviates at the end.

The game begins as the Smokers raid Oasis Atoll. Enemies will be armed with bladed weapons and harpoons. At first, the Mariner can only attack back with fists, so is forced to be tactical and adapt to the routine of enemy attacks to evade them. Towards the end of this level, the Mariner ecounters Helen at her trading post, and trades a bag of dirt he has found for the tomato plant. At the end of this level is a boss in the form of The Nord. Upon defeating him, the Mariner leaves alone on his trimaran.

The trimaran must dodge rocks and debris in the water during the escape from the smokers. After resting for a short time, the Mariner is attacked by a whalephin. The Mariner then sails to *The Deez* to enact revenge on the Smokers at their own hideout. The Mariner defeats several enemies including 'bomber smokers', giants who launch explosives at the Mariner. During this point the Mariner acquires a flare gun and a shotgun. The Mariner ascends to the bridge, and after a lengthy battle, defeats the Deacon. Escaping *the Deez* on the dirigible, the Mariner must evade harpoons launched up at him by the smokers.

The Mariner finds Dryland, but falls through a hole and into an alien spaceship hidden beneath the surface. The Mariner must battle alien soldiers, and then the alien lord. After emerging victorious, the Mariner decides that Dryland isn't for him and he will leave to go back to open sea.

## Gallery

The game titleThe Mariner's trimaran passes by an atollThe Mariner is ambushed by a WhalephinThe Mariner battles the Deacon on *the Deez*The Mariner in the dirigibleThe Mariner on DrylandThe Mariner battles aliensThe Mariner battles the alien lord

## References

1. ↑ https://www.darkhorizons.com/simpsons-waterworld-game-joke-turns-real/
2. ↑ https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/Kevin\_Costner%27s\_Waterworld
3. ↑ https://simpsonswiki.com/wiki/Kevin\_Costner%27s\_Waterworld
4. ↑ https://gamaverse.com/kevin-costners-waterworld-game/
5. ↑ https://screenrant.com/simpsons-kevin-costner-waterworld-arcade-game-springfield-files/