Lester the Unlikely

Lester the Unlikely, known in Japan as Odekake Lester: Lelele no Le (おでかけレスターれれれのれ), is a platform game developed by Visual Concepts Entertainment for the Super NES. It was published in Japan by Asmik Ace Entertainment and in North America by DTMC in 1994.

Plot
In the beginning, a typical teenage boy name Lester, who is "kind of geeky" and "kind of sleepy" recently got a new issue of the Super Duper Hero Squad. He reads it while walking on a dock, until he fell asleep next to a cargo crate laying beside a cargo ship. After he and the cargo were loaded onto the ship by a crane and cruised off, the ship got hijacked by pirates and started sinking. Lester luckily found a life jacket and swam toward the most adjacent island while the cargo ship sank. Lester must find his way home by exploring the island for someone or something that can help him survive.

Gameplay
The game has a unique engine in which the protagonist, Lester, is easily frightened early in the game and will act reluctantly when faced with animals, heights, etc. For instance, when the player guides Lester towards a crab in the first stage, he will at first scream and run in the opposite direction; when the player makes him walk towards it a second time he will slowly creep towards it. This coincides with one of the major themes of the game being Lester facing his fears, and these instances happen less and less as the game goes on.

Also notable are the game's rotoscoped graphics, humorously referred to in the game's manual as "Filmed in Geek-O-Vision." The manual boasts that the Lester character has over 250 frames of animation, "about twice the number of an average game."

Character evolution
The first part of the game depicts Lester as a very cowardly character. Every time he encounters a new creature, he runs away in the opposite direction with a scream (temporarily removing the controls from the player's hand). Upon approaching the creature a second time, Lester walks slowly, protecting himself with his arms. Once a certain type of creature has been defeated, the player will be able to walk to this type of creature without any further sign of fear. At the beginning of the game, Lester walks in a very lazy, laid-back stance, suggesting weakness and lack of courage. However, after saving an indigent girl from a huge gorilla, the girl gives a kiss to the hero and he is suddenly changed. In the following levels, Lester has a very upright and courageous stance.