Point-and-Click Adventure Review: Sam & Max Hit the Road

Sam & Max Hit the Road was the first video game to star everyone's favorite freelance police, Sam and Max. The game successfully brought Steve Purcell's comics into the interactive realm and remains a well-loved classic of the genre.  Like most of the other adventure games by LucasArts, it has withstood the test of time quite well.

The game is inspired by a comic titled On the Road and sees Sam & Max on a road trip across the United States searching for a missing bigfoot.  As the plot suggests, it is a silly, humorous tale, and has all of the humor that fans of the comic (or fans of Telltale's later Sam & Max games) expect of the series.  The voice cast does a splendid job, with Sam & Max themselves expertly voiced by Bill Farmer and Nick Jameson, respectively.  Sam's lines are delivered in a film noir-style voice, which fits the character perfectly.  Meanwhile, Max is voiced as somewhat high-pitched and sarcastic, which is a style that each actor would employ in all of Max's future appearances, minus the Brooklyn accent.  It really is a pleasure hearing these characters speak, which makes the CD talkie version the definitely preferred experience.  The music is also delightfully absurd, with a fantastically wacky musical number in the middle.  If you can get a hold of the CD version, you are in for a bonus, as the disc also includes CD audio versions of some of the game's most memorable music, which is a great treat, as these tracks are fun to listen to, even outside of the game.

The art design of the game is also great, as it manages to capture the look of the comic quite well.  It doesn't quite have the dirt or grit of New York city as portrayed in the comic pages, but it manages to look quite close, which is quite impressive, especially for the early 1990s.  This pleasing aesthetic makes it fun to play even today, as although it is pixelated, it still retains its great charm. 

The game has many wacky locations to visit, which are parodies of tacky tourist traps throughout the United States, and each location has wacky characters to meet as well.  New locations are added to your map only after you find a new inventory item that gives you a clue to go next.  This is a nice game feature, and gives the game an added feeling of scope, as it seems to expand as you progress.  The puzzles can get pretty wild, as should be expected, as Sam & Max's world was never grounded in reality, but for the most part, they stick to logic that can be worked out if you allow your mind to adapt to Sam & Max's crazy world.  There are one or two puzzles that go a bit into twisted adventure game logic territory, but for the most part, they are really well done.

Sam & Max: Hit the Road is Sam & Max's first video game outing, and it is still one of their best.  It's one of the fondest regarded games of the LucasArts adventure classics, and rightfully so.  The CD version is the version to get, as it has wonderful voice acting. In addition, its humourous story, funny, memorable dialog, a fantastic art style that closely mimics the source material, and excellent music really help to make this game still a blast to play today.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Sam & Max Save the World (Telltale Games sequel) Episode 1 Review

Duke Is 90% Funded, Dave Grossman Joins Team

There is some good news at the Kickstarter for Duke Grabowski: Mighty Swashbuckler! Dave Grossman, the co-designer of the first two Monkey Island games (and Tales of Monkey Island), has joined the team as a co-designer. Another LucasArts alumni, and the current co-writer of Teen Wolf at MTV, Alyssa Clark, has also joined up to write dialog for the game. In addition, Larry Ahern, the co-designer of The Curse of Monkey Island, will be joining Dave Grossman in voicing versions of themselves in the game.

Duke is now 90% funded, and new slots have been added to the sold out upper tiers as incentive for those who want to pledge that high but missed the chance.  There's just over two days left in the campaign, so there's still time to make the goal.  Oh, and if the goal is met, I promised the readers of The International House of Mojo that I'd perform all four parts of The Curse of Monkey Island pirate song.  So, if you want to watch a grown woman try to mimic four men in a pirate shanty, there's always that for incentive. ;)

Ben Jordan: Land of the Rising Dead Review

Ben's cases begin to get more dangerous as he teams up with the friends he met in London.  Luckily, the rising of the stakes also goes along with the rising of quality, as the Ben Jordan series continues to get better as it goes on.

At home after his experience at the Number 50 in London, Ben receives a conference call from the two people he got along best with on that trip.  Simon and Alice invite Ben to Osaka, Japan to investigate a series of murders that have been labeled the "ghost killings".  As he arrives, however, signs point to zombies being the culprit, and the case finds itself headed in directions that none of the three had expected.

The graphics are more refined here, and more closely resemble the deluxe editions of the first two cases.  It's still presented in a 320x240 resolution pixelated format, reminiscent of the Sierra and LucasArts games that inspired it, but everything is nicely detailed.  The portraits look more realistic than the last few cases, and the backgrounds are lovely, capturing the look of Japan quite well.  The music is also really nice, with a nice blend of spooky and Japanese inspired music that fits the atmosphere perfectly.  There is still no voice work, but the game's dialog makes up for it.  This is Ben Jordan's most intriguing case yet, which is saying something in a career that has seen him go up against skunkapes, witches, and ghosts.  There are many twists and turns in the plot here, as well as multiple paths to the ending.

As usual in this series, the puzzles are done quite well here.  Alice is the only one of her companions to speak Japanese, so there are instances where Alice must conduct the investigation while Ben looks on, in a situation reminiscent of Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.  The Gabriel Knight influence also shows heavily here, as Ben finds himself reading the daily newspaper to find clues for the day's investigation, as five days pass on their visit to Japan.  As usual, it is possible to die, but the danger is obvious when it comes, so it gives you plenty of time to save before hand (and, luckily time freezes once in the inventory, so you'll have plenty of leeway to think your way out of the situation).  There is one puzzle where the answers aren't given to you by the game, and only relies on your own knowledge (or luck).  However, even if you lose, you don't die, you just don't get as many of the game's arbitrary points, which shouldn't be a big deal for most gamers.

The Ben Jordan cases continue to improve as the series goes on.  As this case was released in the same year of the first deluxe edition, the graphics more closely resemble those versions, so there isn't as much of a clash for those who experienced first experienced the deluxe editions as there was the last two cases.  There still isn't voice over work, but the game's intriguing storyline, interesting characters, and excellent music make up for it.  Like the other cases, Land of the Rising Dead is one of the best freeware adventure games available.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Point-and-Click Adventure Review: The Curse of Monkey Island

The Curse of Monkey Island was the first game in the Monkey Island series that wasn't designed by the trio of Ron Gilbert, Tim Schafer, and Dave Grossman.  Like Day of the Tentacle before it, it also differed significantly in art style, and the game's tone took on a slightly more lighthearted tone.  However, it managed to carry on the legacy quite well, and became the standard that future games in the series would follow.

The game takes place after the events of the twist ending of Monkey Island 2, with Guybrush mysteriously floating in a carnival bumper car in the middle of the ocean.  Guybrush soon finds himself having to escape LeChuck's clutches, in an attempt to free himself and his on-again, off-again girlfriend Elaine from his ship.  Guybrush bungles the rescue however, and accidentally turns Elaine into a gold statue.  Now he must find a way to turn her back to her old self.  The game doesn't explain the ending of the second game until the end, as the storyline presented here comes first.  However, that ended up being a good thing, as it treaded new territory for the series, and managed to do so quite well.

The game's art style was vastly different from previous games, giving the characters an elongated, rubber armed, cartoon feel, with the backgrounds having a curvy, cartoony feel to match.  The game's tone differed slightly as well, with a slightly more lighthearded, silly feel, which matched the new game's art style.  The music, however, was quite familiar, featuring the same kind of Caribbean themed music by Michael Land that gamers have come to expect of the series.

Some other areas that the game treads are not new as well. The game sees itself returning to the sword fighting of the first game, with the new caveat that the insults have to rhyme.  This is done in the same way as the original, in which you have to fight pirates to learn more rhymes until you can win your ultimate fight and accomplish your goal.  This is the only part that feels like it's somewhat uncomfortably treading worn ground, but it's thankfully a short part of the game, and it livens things up a bit by adding the ship fighting duels that were cut from the first Monkey Island back into the mix.  The ship fighting has two options, an easy mode for people who don't like action, which only takes one hit to defeat a ship (as long as you upgrade to a powerful enough cannon), and a harder mode which requires you to fire cannons and avoid enemy cannon fire in order to win. 

Like the second game, the game also has two modes of difficulty for its puzzles, a normal mode, and a Mega Monkey mode, with the harder puzzles falling into the latter category.  The puzzles here are all quite good, and stay true to the logic of the game's world (which, in this case, is more cartoony than previous games, so some puzzles take that into consideration, but work well nonetheless). Of special note is an excellent interactive song puzzle at the middle of the game, which uses the iMuse interactive music system quite well, and is especially memorable.

Guybrush runs into several familiar faces in this game, and meets some new people as well.  Before the special editions were released, this was the first game in the series to feature voice acting.  Both the returning characters, and the new ones, are voiced excellently.  Guybrush, in particular, has a voice well suited to his personality, as performed admirably by Dominic Armato.  The new characters are all quite memorable, with great vocal performances and memorable eccentric personalities.  One in particular, Murray the demonic talking skull, as voiced by Denny Delk, has received a well earned cult following, and has appeared in both Monkey Island sequels that followed this game.

The Curse of Monkey Island is a departure from the tone and style of previous entries, and lacks the designers who made the originals.  However, it manages to carry the legacy quite well, with an engaging, funny storyline, memorable characters, excellent voice acting and music, and great puzzles.  The tone and style of The Curse of Monkey Island was used as a standard for the games in the series that followed it, and with good reason.  It has stood the test of time quite well as a true classic of the adventure genre.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Day of the Tentacle Mega Review

Note that in the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I was a beta tester for the Linux version of Day of the Tentacle Remastered.

Day of The Tentacle was the sequel to the first point and click adventure game by LucasArts, Maniac Mansion.  It differed significantly in tone and style from its predecessor, only sharing a few main characters between the games.  This is not a fault for this game, however, as its excellent game design has made it a classic in its own right.

Day of the Tentacle takes place several years after the teenagers broke into the Edison mansion in the first game.  One of the characters from the previous game, Bernard, is now living with his room mates, a roadie named Hoagie, and a medical student named Laverne.  Bernard soon finds himself having to go back to the mansion with his new friends in order to stop a mutated purple tentacle from taking over the world.  To do so, Dr. Edison sends them through time to stop the tentacle's plan before he starts it, however things don't go as planned, and the trio find themselves stuck in different time periods.

That's where the brilliance of the game design comes in.  Like the first game, objects can be shared between the three characters.  Here, this is facilitated by sending them through the time machine (or via the character's icon in the verb menu, to save time and ease the process).  Additionally, because the game takes place hundreds of years apart in the same mansion, it is sometimes necessary to manipulate an object in the past to have it change in the future.  This leads to some very clever, and humorous, puzzles.

The humor here is vastly different from the original Maniac Mansion, opting for a Saturday Morning cartoon style instead of the pastiche of B-movies, but it works well.  The art style has been changed to reflect this, going for a Chuck Jones style in the art and animation, and, as in a Chuck Jones cartoon, much of the humor comes from the animation of the characters.  The music style also differs to fit the change in styles, going for a zany circus style instrumentation.  The game's characters are also as wacky as their environments, with voice overs suitable to their personalities.   The game's sound effects are also memorable, also going for a cartoon sound, and fitting in perfectly.

Day of the Tentacle was a radical change from its predecessor, going from a rock-fueled pastiche of B-movie horror films to a Chuck Jones inspired send up of Saturday morning cartoons with a circus inspired soundtrack.  The radical shift in atmosphere between the first and second game in the Maniac Mansion series actually works, however, as the mad professor's machinations are well suited for either style.  This game doesn't have the multiple characters to choose from or the multiple endings of the original, but the characters and story presented here works quite well.  Additionally, it also benefits from the lack of dead ends and deaths that were present in its predecessor.  This game is considered a classic today, and it is well deserving of its title.  It has a whimsical art style, and has music and sound effects that help set the mood perfectly.  The CD version is the version to get, as the voice over work is excellent.  Day of the Tentacle also has a funny, memorable story, and some of the best puzzles of the classic era.  If you haven't played this game, you really owe it to yourself to track down a copy and give it a go.

Update: 6/25/18: There is one more option available since I first wrote this review. There is now a Remastered edition by Double Fine. I'd recommend this version, as the high definition art is respectful to the original art, it has speech with less compression than the original, it has options to switch between enabling the verb menu, having the classic or new music, and having the classic or new sound effects. The original version is also available to be enabled at any time, so even purists will find value in the Remastered edition.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Maniac Mansion Review

Book of Unwritten Tales 2 Chapter 2 Now On Steam

The Steam version of Book of Unwritten Tales 2 has been updated with Chapter 2 of King Art's adventure game.  It's currently in early access, and the chapters are being released as they're made.   Chapter 3 is scheduled for release in November, chapter 4 is scheduled for release in December, and chapter 5 (the full game) is scheduled for release in early 2015.

You can pick it up now for $29.99 if you want to support King Art before the full release while the game is released episodically.

The Perils of Man Chapter I Review

The Perils of Man Chapter 1 is the free introduction to the seven chapter adventure game, The Perils of Man.  It missed its original release window set last year, but it has proven to be well worth the wait.

Sixteen year old Ana Eberling is the latest in a line of scientific geniuses to bear the Eberling name.  All of her male ancestors have either died or disappeared, in mysterious circumstances, including her father, who she hasn't seen for ten years.  On her birthday, she mysteriously receives a gift from her long lost father, and is determined to discover its hidden meaning.

The first chapter tells just a small part of Ana's journey, and ends just as she starts making startling discoveries.  However, this small taste of the tale, is certainly sweet.  The puzzles have been designed by Bill Tiller and Gene Mocsy, the creators of A Vampyre Story and Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island, and are their best puzzle designs to date.  The puzzles here are among the best I have played in an adventure game since the 1990's classics.  The puzzle difficulty increases as the game goes on, but even the most challenging puzzles remain logical, and true to the game's world.

The game is by IF Games, which is a joint venture of the animation studio boutiq, so the art is bound to be good.  The game's atmosphere is quite interesting, as it aims for an old world feel, with a steampunk undercurrent.  As this is just the first chapter, we just get a tease of the steam powered machinations of Ana's great, great, great grandfather, but what is here is certainly interesting.  The game's voice cast and music also fit the world well, although the voice of Ana's mother, who goes for a stereotypical aristocratic style of speaking, can get a bit grating.

The Perils of Man Chapter One is just a small taste of the great adventure, but it serves as an excellent introduction to the game.  The music fits the game's world, and the voice of Ana is done well.  Ana's mother can come off as a bit grating, but this doesn't detract from the game's charm.  The puzzles presented here are already excellent, and the game's art design and atmosphere is fantastic.  The story is intriguing, although it ends just as it starts to get exciting.  Chapter one certainly makes you want to learn more about the Eberling family's secrets, so in the end, it serves its role as an introduction to the game's world quite well.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Episode I review