News/Beavis and Butt-Head Do Hollywood

Presenting, another contribution from our friend Billscat-socks!

Beavis and Butt-Head Do Hollywood (Nov 10, 1998 prototype)
Beavis and Butt-Head Do Hollywood (Nov 1, 1998 prototype)
Beavis and Butt-Head Do Hollywood (Sep 2, 1998 prototype)
Beavis and Butt-Head Do Hollywood (Mar 4, 1998 prototype)
Special Bonus:
Spider-Man (New Level Soft) (July 27, 1998 prototype)
Spider-Man (New Level Soft) (Oct 8, 1998 prototype)
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First appearing in magazine previews around mid-1998, Beavis and Butt-Head Do Hollywood was intended to be the first platformer based on the duo since the series of games released in 1994 for the Sega Genesis, SNES, Game Boy, and Sega Game Gear. As its title suggests, the game was also meant to be a response to the 1996 film Beavis and Butt-Head Do America. The intended story was that Beavis and Butt-Head, having just finished their Hollywood film, find themselves broke, their paychecks already mailed back home before they could even cash them in. Now stranded in Hollywood, they decide to take on odd jobs across various movie sets while causing general mischief in an effort to make money.

Unfortunately, the game vanished entirely after a short preview in EGM’s February 1999 issue, leaving it unclear whether it was ever completed. That same preview stated the game was only 40% complete at the time. But how accurate was that assessment? Before answering that, it’s worth exploring how the game came to be in the first place, and what circumstances led to its eventual cancellation.

As it would turn out, "Get BIG in Hollywood" really was going to be the title of the game.

New Level Software, the developers behind the game, were founded in San Diego in 1994 by Russell Patterson, an accomplished programmer who began programming games in 1981 and had impressed Electronic Arts enough to be contracted for the Sega CD port of Road Rash. This work led to New Level being founded initially out of Patterson’s own living room. The company primarily operated as a contractor in its early years, doing work for EA, BMG, Activision, Midway, and Matsushita before developing their first original IP, Courier Crisis, for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn.

While the exact details of how New Level acquired the Beavis and Butt-Head license are somewhat murky, what is understood is that the game’s intended publisher, GT Interactive (GTI), played a significant role. GTI initially requested that New Level use their 2.5D engine from Courier Crisis. However, seeing that the industry had largely pivoted toward fully 3D experiences by that point, the New Level team eventually convinced GTI to allow the game to be developed as a full 3D platformer instead.

As development began, the team was provided with VHS tapes of every episode of the show that had aired up to that point, which they used as reference material to study the characters and the types of situations they might get into. Although Mike Judge is confirmed to have provided initial approval for storyboards and concepts, there was little meaningful involvement from MTV beyond that. In fact, some former developers have told us that they were once invited to MTV’s New York offices to pitch their ideas to the show’s writing staff only to receive a notably lukewarm response. As one source recalled: “They did not seem like a very happy bunch. They met with us during their lunch break and didn’t have a lot to say. They seemed happy just to be getting a free lunch.”

Regardless, development proceeded using the ideas that had received both Mike Judge’s and GTI’s initial approval. Based on the earliest build we’ve been provided, it appears the project likely reached its first milestone on March 4, 1998, marked by a tech demo showcasing an early 3D model of Butt-Head roaming a relatively sparse environment. It seems reasonable to conclude that full game design and implementation began in earnest from this point onward. However, given that the game appears to have been canceled by early 1999, this suggests the project may not have even received a full year of development. Could this point to a troubled production?

As it turns out, very much so. Even former staff we have reached out to have acknowledged that despite pushing for a 3D platformer over a 2.5D game, the team had limited experience with both 3D development and the PlayStation hardware. As a result, development was a constant uphill battle. Compounding these technical challenges, New Level was also experiencing financial difficulties since they weren't working on many projects at the time. One example of this stems back to Courier Crisis' development, during which time a Sega Saturn port of a Road Rash-style snowboarding game for EA called Shredfest was underway, only to ended getting cancelled despite
getting to the point that it was previewed in some magazines. Although it's difficult to speculate their exact finances, it seems likely that New Level was relying a lot on GTI’s payments for Beavis and Butt-Head Do Hollywood to keep themselves in business. However, GTI repeatedly moved development goalposts without offering additional compensation, further straining the studio’s situation.

In an effort to keep the company afloat, New Level shifted much of its focus in the summer of 1998 toward developing a Spider-Man demo. Activision had recently acquired the license, presenting an opportunity not only to work on another major franchise, but also to secure much-needed funding. As a result, work on Beavis and Butt-Head Do Hollywood largely stalled while the team attempted to retool their existing engine into something suitable for a Spider-Man game. Ultimately, the license went to Neversoft instead, New Level ran out of funds and shut down at the tail end of 1998, and the rest is history.

Given all of this, it may come as little surprise that Beavis and Butt-Head Do Hollywood never progressed very far. As former developers themselves have admitted, the gameplay remains highly incomplete. Most levels lack defined objectives, some with remnants showing that ideas were still being preliminarily laid down, performance slows to a crawl in many areas of later builds, and the game physics and control are generally in a primitive state that needed much more work. it seems fair to say that EGM’s assessment of the game being roughly 40% complete was pretty accurate.

As for whether the game could have been finished even with proper funding, some details seem to suggest the project was already on its way to cancellation regardless. For one, GTI apparently never was fully on-board with the idea of the game being 3D, not wanting the extra cost and risk involved in developing a whole new engine, which may have resulted in their constant goalpost moving that was difficult to keep up with. Furthermore, some staff have indicated that towards the end of the project, a number of storyboards that were originally approved by Mike Judge himself early on in production were later rejected by GTI due to concerns of copyright infringement. In particular, one stage is primarily set on the Hollywood sign, which actually is a trademarked property, meaning they could have possibly been on the hook for more than they were aware had it gotten out into a commercial product without the trademark holder's approval. Considering this is one of the more concept-complete levels that contains an event that directly ties into the game's whole Hollywood premise, it goes without saying this would have been a devastating blow to the whole concept behind the game.

Of special note is that since the game never got far enough to hire on a composer, a stand-in soundtrack meant to match the energy they were going for is also present across most builds, the vast majority of which is composed by the heavy metal group Cage. While no one we spoke to seems to recall how this band in particular was chosen, seeing as the group has their roots in San Diego, it's possible someone on the team was a fan. Since most of the music appears to be sourced from Cage's first album, Unveiled, that would be a good starting place for anyone that takes a liking to the game's music.

In addition to the builds of Beavis and Butt-Head Do Hollywood (or, as the last build we have calls it, Beavis and Butt-Head Get BIG in Hollywood), our gracious benefactor has also provided us with two builds of the Spiderman demo that New Level was working on. We cannot thank them enough for their permission to share these pieces of history with you.