''Ed Hunter'' is a

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

album and

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

released in 1999 by English heavy metal band

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

and Synthetic Dimensions. The game objective consists of following Iron Maiden's mascot, Eddie, through various levels depicting the band's past album covers. The accompanying CDs have the group's most popular songs, as selected by fans on the band's official website. The album was released alongside a tour of the same name, in which the band only played songs which were featured in the compilation. The tour itself was also notable for marking the return of former guitarist Adrian Smith and vocalist

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who is best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Dickinson has performed in the band across two stints, from 1981 to 1993 and from 1999 to the present d ...

, who had left the band in 1990 and 1993, respectively.

Overview

The band's intention to release their own video game was announced in a sticker which appeared on the case of their 1996 compilation album, '' Best of the Beast'', which stated, "Available soon... ''Melt'', Eddie's own state-of-the-art 3D game." In September 1997, the band announced that the ''Melt'' project had been cancelled, with then vocalist Blaze Bayley commenting, "It was crap. Maiden want to give their fans something to blow them away. The new one will." The band also revealed that a different game would be released in its place, with Bayley commenting, "This game is nearly there. You've got to get to Eddie through time and space, heaven and hell..... the works ! It's a

shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs) are a Video game genre, subgenre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain typ ...

which we promise will out-shoot`em all." Prior to its release, bassist Steve Harris commented that "it's the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I don't get shocked very often, but ''Ed Hunter'' was so good. It's like walking into a 3D version of the '' Somewhere in Time'' album cover, like going into the bar at the Ruskin Arms, only full of aliens and stuff. You go in and we'll be, like, holograms playing in the corner, or sitting at a table gambling. And then you've actually got the game itself, which is, like, this big shoot-'em-up chase through space and time to catch Eddie. It's brilliant." Originally slated for release in the Spring of 1998, the game was then pushed back to Christmas 1998 and eventually July 1999 to tie in with The Ed Hunter Tour. The package includes three CDs. The first CD contains 14 songs, the second CD contains six songs and the installation program for the game, and the third CD contains the game data. The soundtrack consists of the top 20 songs voted for by Iron Maiden fans on the band's official website. The US version also contained a hidden bonus track of a new vocal version of "Wrathchild" with

. The game passes through various levels, starting in London's East End before progressing to a

psychiatric hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe Mental disorder, mental disorders. These institutions cater t ...

hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

, and other various locations, all of which are lifted from the covers of past Iron Maiden albums. While the gameplay itself consists of shooting the appearing enemies with the

mouse A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus'' ...

cursor, it acts as a

rail shooter Rail shooter, also known as on-rails shooter, is a subgenre of shoot 'em up video game. Beginning with arcade games such as the 1985 '' Space Harrier'', the gameplay locks the player character into a set path, only allowing for limited or no di ...

, meaning that the player has no control over movement apart from occasionally choosing the route he will take through the levels. In spite of this, the user can select which tracks play in the background, although only one song can be chosen for each level, which led to critics complaining about the soundtrack's repetitiveness. The Ed Hunter Tour was the tour supporting the

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

and was the first tour with

on vocal duties since 1993, and with Adrian Smith on guitar since 1988.

Levels

#London's East End (''

/ Killers'') #The Shady Pines Asylum ('' Piece of Mind'') #The Pits of Hell ('' The Number of the Beast'') #The Graveyard ('' Live After Death'') #The Pharaoh's Tomb ('' Powerslave'') #Blade Runner ('' Somewhere in Time'') # Futureal #Finale

Track listing

Personnel

Production credits are adapted from the album liner notes. ;Iron Maiden * Steve Harris – bass guitar, producer (disc 1: tracks 5–7 and 9; disc 2: track 2), keyboards (disc 1: track 11; disc 2: track 2) * Dave Murray –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

* Adrian Smith – guitar (all tracks excluding disc 1: tracks 5–7 & 9; disc 2: tracks 2, 3 & 6), keyboards (disc 1, track 11) *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

(all tracks excluding disc 1: tracks 4, 5 & 9; disc 2: tracks 2–4) * Nicko McBrain –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

(all tracks excluding disc 1: tracks 3, 4 & 14; disc 2: tracks 1, 3 & 4) * Paul Di'Anno – lead vocals (disc 1: track 4; disc 2: tracks 3 & 4) *

Clive Burr Clive Ronald Burr (8 March 1956 – 12 March 2013) was an English musician. He was the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1979 to 1982. Together with fellow Iron Maiden member Dennis Stratton, he joined Praying Mantis for the r ...

– drums (disc 1: tracks 3, 4 & 14; disc 2: tracks 1, 3 & 4) *

Janick Gers Janick Robert Gers (; born 27 January 1957) is an English musician who is best known as one of the three guitarists in Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1990. He initially joined to replace Adrian Smith (musician) , Adrian ...

– guitar (disc 1: tracks 5–7 & 9; disc 2: tracks 2 & 6) * Blaze Bayley – lead vocals (disc 1: tracks 5 & 9; disc 2: track 2) * Dennis Stratton – guitar (disc 2: track 3) ;Additional musicians *Michael Kenney – keyboards (disc 1: tracks 5–7 & 9; disc 2: track 6) ;Production * Martin Birch – producer (all tracks excluding disc 1: tracks 5 & 9; disc 2: tracks 2–3) *Nigel Green – producer (disc 1: tracks 5 & 9; disc 2: track 2) * Will Malone – producer (disc 2, track 3) *Simon Heyworth – mastering * Synthetic Dimensions – sleeve design and artwork * Ross Halfin – photography * Rod Smallwood – management *Andy Taylor – management *Merck Mercuriadis – management

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1999 video games Video games based on musicians Band-centric video games Iron Maiden compilation albums 1999 compilation albums EMI Records compilation albums Heavy metal compilation albums Rail shooters Video games developed in the United Kingdom Windows games Windows-only games Synthetic Dimensions games