About 15 years or so ago there was a pretty groundbreaking little game that took gamers by storm. It was called Another World, or in the US: Out of this World. It told the story of a scientist that whilst engaged in research into some form of acceleration using particles experiences a freak storm, the storm strikes the lab that our hero works in and transports him and a chunk of his machinery into an alien landscape.

The game (by today’s standards) is retro and archaic, but the game-play still (in my opinion) shines through. There have been many emulated versions for the PC and even some emulated versions for consoles and until now gamers who could only dream of Another World, had to make do with those.

Eric Chahi – the brain behind the game has recently released the 15th Anniversary edition. A re-mastered and quite simply put, Director’s cut of the game.

The graphics have been smoothed out (but don’t expect next gen PC graphics here folks – they are still true to the original, and that’s what lends the game its charm) and there is a totally re-orchestrated and re-mixed soundtrack to boot.

Another World has been called too simple or too hard by some gamers. I prefer to think of it as being a mix, there are some sections that require pixel-jump accuracy and preferably a shiny control pad for the best results and some sections that are just as easy as tapping a button repeatedly to shoot a laser beam at your enemies.

But that was the charm of the game. It had puzzles, fights and a pretty clever storyline that took the hero from bemused scientist on the run to scientist on the run with a blaster pistol and a big brutish alien sidekick, like one of those B-Movie sci-fi films that used to show in dingy old cinemas back before the days of HD TV and Popcorn gamer attention spans.

You can’t compare it to today’s games because frankly, well, there aren’t too many games that have the sheer adrenaline fuelled game experience that’s Another World. It had me kicking and screaming at my computer, when I died dozens of times. Thankfully you go back to a previously saved checkpoint (these were always created pretty intelligently and you didn’t need to backtrack too much) and try again.

Perseverance was the key to getting the best out of the game and as the story unfolded, Eric Chahi’s world came alive. You wanted to find out what was in the next room, you wanted to gun down the big cat-creature that was un-killable but you had to run from it, you wanted to get your own back on the alien overseers and blast them into tiny bits.

It made you laugh in places, cry in others and back in the day it had the power to sweep you along this story just like the original Tomb Raider did. I dreamed of a 3d remake of Another World from the moment I first laid eyes on Lara Croft. I could see the potential, but now I look back, I think it might have lost the feel of the original Another World so I’m glad that they didn’t go that route.

Unlike one of the Flashback games, but we won’t go into that.