This page is all about the comparisons between Blade Runner and Snatcher. Blade Runner was actually released before Snatcher  in 1982, while Snatcher was first released in 1988. Snatcher bases itself heavily from Blade Runner and has the same sort of atmosphere that Blade Runner had.

Title Font 

Blade Runner and Snatcher are similar in many ways, some are deliberate and others may not be. The titles of the two are similar being bold, capital, and slanted at an angle, but both have a different style of lettering.

Cult

Snatcher didn't sell well on the Mega-CD didn't sell well, which is probably why it wasn't released on the Saturn and Playstation in the UK or US. Many lucky people that have played it love it and it is certainly a cult game and Blade Runner is renouned as a cult movie. Similar to Snatcher when Blade Runner was released it was a box-office failure, but has grown in popularity and is even one of TIMEs all time top 100 films.

Different Versions/Cuts

There are many different versions of Snatcher which appeared on the following formats: MSX, PC Engine, Mega CD, Saturn and Playstation. These versions differ in image/sound quality, as well as other little things. The Mega-CD version of Snatcher was internationally released but had cuts from the original Japanese PC-Engine release of Snatcher, such as the twitching intestines of Alice cut to be just a still. What was cut was just done to make it more acceptable, though I don't think its justified as the game already has an 18 rating. But what this has to do with Blade Runner is the amount of versions of Blade Runner there are. The two main ones are the original and the directors cut versions, but there are six in total, which include two pre-release versions which were shown an audience to see what they thought of the film. The most recent version is the final cut which was released as a special edition in 2007.

Los Angeles / Neo Kobe City

One of the striking resemblances between Blade Runner and Snatcher is of Los Angeles and Neo Kobe City. They both are very similar, being dark, dull, high populated and lit up by neon (Blade Runner even has neon umbrellas). The pictures below show the similarities with some building giving off flames and if you look closely there are two triangular buildings in the Blade Runner image like the building in the center of the Snatcher image.

Police HQ / Junker HQ

The headquarters Deckard is taken to at the beginning of Blade Runner is very similar to that of Junker HQ. You can see a comparison in the two picture to the right. For a further comparison look at the bottom of the large Blade Runner picture above to see the headquarters more clearly.

Spinners / Turbocycles

The Spinner vehicles in Blade Runner are also very similar to the Turbocycles in Snatcher. They even seen to have the same propulsion take off method as can be seen from the images below:

Replicants / Snatchers

Replicants have a penchant for photographs, because it gives them a tie to their non-existent past. This is similar with what Snatchers do, as all of the Snatchers have photos linking back to Moscow, which gives them a tie to their origin. Also both Alien, Blade Runner (both directed by Ridley Scott) and Snatcher  have artificial persons, and there is ambiguity as to who is/was a real human.

There also is another similarity in the ways of finding out who is a replicant/snatcher. With replicants, they can be detected by their eyes, through studying their retina while asking them questions to obtain emotional responses. With snatchers, they are detected through defects of their skin, but this is though investigation. It would be much easier just to scan suspects, but this violates the "Snatchers and the Protection of Citizens' Rights" act, as sufficient evidence must be found to obtain a scanning warrant.

Bladerunners / Runners

The Junkers that have to hunt down and eliminate Snatchers are called runners. This may be a direct link to Blade Runner, as in Blade Runner it is the Blade runners who hunt down and eliminate the replicants.

Rick Deckard / Gillian Seed

To the left are pictures of Gillian Seed (left) and Rick Deckard, the similarities are very apparent. Gillian has very similar clothes to Deckard, and the pose very much resembles that of Deckard.

Snake Scale

While playing Snatcher you end up investigating a bath, and Metal Gear asks if you're looking for a snake scale. This is a direct link to Blade Runner, as Deckard found a snake skin in a bath where a replicant had been. This led to him tracking down and eliminating the replicant.

Ridley Scott

Another direct link to Blade Runner is the person's name who discovered Isabella Velvet, whose name is 'Ridley Scotty'. This directly refers to the director of Blade Runner, who is Ridley Scott.

Video-Phones

The videophones in Snatcher are very similar to the phones in Blade Runner, where you can talk to a person as well as see them. Also the number input of the phone in Blade Runner looked the same to that in Snatcher.

Elimination

You could also compare the killing of Freddie Neilson by Random in Snatcher, to that of the killing of Leon by Rachael in Blade Runner. In that they were both in the same sort of situation, and the killer was killing one of their own, with Rachael being a replicant and Random being a bio-riod.

Fear

And finally there is the question of fear, mentioned in both Snatcher and Blade Runner. In Blade Runner you have the phrase from the replicant leader, Roy: "Painful to live in fear - isn't it?" While in Snatcher you have the point mentioned by Chin Shu Oh, about fear being humans weak point.

If you have any further information that you think should be included in this page, then email me at: kokee2000@hotmail.com

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