Posts Tagged ‘1994’

August 13th, 2015 Featured, PC, Reviews No Comments »

The Residents: Freak Show Review

The Residents: Freak Show Boxart

Developer: The Cryptic Corporation
Publisher: The Voyager Company
Platform: PC

The Residents are a band which have been around since the 70s crafting seriously unique music and mixed media experiences. As a fan, I’ve hungered for years to pick up the multimedia CDs they produced in the early 90s. The Residents: Freak Show is the very first of these experiments and came out alongside a music CD of the same name.

At first, I feared this would be a seriously lackluster product. The adventure title certainly seems that way at first. You simply click between a few screens which take place inside a, well, “freak show” and get a little CG representation of a performance. The graphics definitely look a bit lumpy and weird, but somehow that enhances the charm over 20 years later. Search a little deeper and you’ll uncover a whole other, and far longer, segment of gameplay beyond the easily accessible exhibits.

The Residents: Freak Show Featured

Hidden behind the Mole Man’s exhibit, as well as behind a “no admittance” sign you’ll find hours of extra content. For the Mole Man in particular, you actually get to hear (and watch) the story of how he became a member of the troupe. Unfortunately, it seems the other characters don’t get the same treatment. With that said, every main character has basically a music video which includes their entire song from the Freak Show album. It also feels like each character is given a believable edge which wasn’t present through the song lyrics alone.

Seeing one of my favorite The Residents albums in action was a stunning event. This CD-ROM absolutely exceeded my expectations with the huge amount of care given to each character’s video as well as the level of interactivity. It could have easily been a slideshow, but Easter eggs and additional story content make it an enjoyable exploration of an album. If you’re a fan of The Residents then at some point you need to play The Residents: Freak Show.

Score: 4

4 out of 5 alpacas

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January 8th, 2015 Featured, PC, Reviews No Comments »

Are You Afraid of the Dark? The Tale of Orpheo’s Curse Review

Are You Afraid of the Dark? The Tale of Orpheo's Curse Boxart

Developer: Viacom New Media
Publisher: Viacom New Media
Platform: PC – DOS, Macintosh

Are You Afraid of the Dark? was one show on Nickelodeon that both enticed and frightened me during its run. Until recently I’d never realized any games existed for the series. Yet, a lone point and click adventure was released! Are You Afraid of the Dark? The Tale of Orpheo’s Curse places you in the shoes of the newest storyteller hoping to join the Midnight Society. Depending on how you “tell” the tale determines whether they let you in or not.

It’s actually a really cool framing for a digital episode of the show. Of course, you can only tell “The Tale of Orpheo’s Curse” but it changes depending how you play. Screw up and the other kids become excited or disappointed over the turn of events and give you hints on how to get things back on track. Of course, this framing is at the sidelines and most of your time is spent with the stars of this story: Terry and Alex.

Are You Afraid of the Dark? The Tale of Orpheo's Curse

These two siblings have somehow found themselves at Orpheo’s Palace – a run down theater which used to show magic performances. Of course, somehow they get in and discover that Orpheo is apparently alive and well and wants to use them in his sinister trick. As you explore you’ll discover hidden rooms, a variety of different, but mostly simplistic puzzles, and a surprising amount of danger. With that said, as a game targeted to Nickelodeon’s audience it’s not tremendously challenging.

What impressed me most about The Tale of Orpheo’s Curse was not its mix of FMV and CG animation (as that was suddenly quite hip at the time) but simply how user-friendly it is. Whenever you lose the game offers an immediate return to where you had just been. In fact, if you complete it in one sitting you’d never have to save once. This surprising convenience helped lessen the pain of a final chase sequence and other little flubs. If you like Are You Afraid of the Dark? or even just the early era of 3D adventure games then definitely find a copy of Are You Afraid of the Dark? The Tale of Orpheo’s Curse.

Score: 4

4 out of 5 alpacas

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December 31st, 2013 Featured, PC, Reviews No Comments »

Theme Park Review

Theme Park Boxart

Developer: Bullfrog Productions
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platform: PC – Amiga, Amiga CD32, DOS, GOG*

Many 90s children grew up with a little game called Roller Coaster Tycoon. However, it was not the first great theme park-related tycoon out there. That honor should be attributed to Bullfrog’s wonderful Theme Park. This title gets overlooked at times due to Theme Hospital, which they developed a few years later. In any case, let’s take a look back at this classic simulation game.

Theme Park, as the name implies, has the player take on the role of a theme park entrepreneur. Starting from scratch, it is your duty to design the layout, hire staff, pay attention to visitors, and keep track of new park technology. Basically anything that you might expect to have to do when managing a theme park is in this game.

It’s a bit tough to comprehend at first. Laying out park attractions, restaurants, bathrooms, and foliage is fun – until you realize you must think ahead. Spend all your money creating a massive park and staff get left out in the cold. Similarly, if you make your park cramped by design it will be harder to expand later without demolishing buildings. Your staff also happens to be ridiculously incompetent. Janitors in particular like to run laps in the cleanest corners of a park, leaving visitors to experience a yucky walkway. Be absolutely sure to institute patrols for each of them!

Theme Park Featured

Even after roughing out the park, there is more to do. Restaurants require food supplies which don’t replenish on their own. Sometimes, union workers try to increase their wages. On other occasions, one poor visitor may become sick and cause a chain reaction of vomiting. You simply must be prepared for anything. Unfortunately, the map’s default zoom is quite close making it hard to know exactly what is happening at all times.

Although Theme Park is over twenty years old it has an art style that still holds up. The pixelated landscape has a really nice style to it. Buildings are also depicted in fun ways, such as burger stands being shaped like gigantic cartoon hamburgers. Everything looks wonderfully charming and inviting. Of course, it’s actually a pretty tough title, but at least it looks cute!

Theme Park is the kind of game that never ages. Even though many new tycoon games have come and gone, there’s something innately special about this one. It grants the player complete control but balances it with strategic elements. Making your park the best around is tough, but very much worth it.

Score: 4

4 out of 5 alpacas

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December 6th, 2013 Featured, PC, Reviews 1 Comment »

Dragon Lore: The Legend Begins Review

Dragon Lore: The Legend Begins Boxart

Developer: Cryo Interactive
Publisher: Mindscape / Anuman Interactive
Platform: 3DO PC – DOS, GOG*

The early ’90s were an incredible time of change for gaming. It was in these years that developers began taking 3D art animation seriously and creating full 3D games. Of course, many of the earliest were crude, but full of exciting ideas that would eventually work out. Dragon Lore: The Legend Begins is one of these formative titles, although it doesn’t get nearly as much credit as The 7th Guest. Dragon Lore shares the tale of a young man named Werner Von Wallenrod on a quest to become a Dragon Knight.

Things aren’t so easy for the fellow, as his birthright was stolen from him when his father was betrayed by another Knight. Because of it, Werner spent his youth being raised by one of the castle’s men, completely unaware of his lineage, until his 18th birthday. From there, you must figure out the pertinent parts of Werner’s past and also try to convince the warriors of the Valley to allow you to join their ranks.

Dragon Lore plays out as a first person point and click game. Players move through the 3D environments by clicking areas of the screen they wish to move toward. Along the way, there are many items to pick up and use as weapons or for completing puzzles. Unfortunately, Werner’s pockets are not infinite, so there is a limit to the inventory. This causes issue when you’re not sure if certain items will be needed later. Here’s a hint: Keep non-weapon objects. Weapons are usually just needed for fights, and therefore a huge stack of them isn’t required.

Dragon Lore: The Legend Begins Featured

The world is surprisingly expansive, even though it is mostly empty aside from warriors and a few enemies. When talking to the council members, they discuss what they are looking for in the next Dragon Knight. Some favor wisdom while others favor bloodshed. This means that no matter what you do, some of them simply won’t vote for you. It’s a pretty neat concept and makes the final vote at the end a nail-biting experience.

Of course, Dragon Lore is also a product of the time. The point and click interface is incredibly rough, making it more of a chore to use than most. Then there are the graphics themselves which are silly to today’s eyes. Weirdly, some characters have faces fully sculpted in 3D, while others have flat faces with digital images overlaying them. Voice acting is average, and the music is mostly forgettable. As for sound effects, they are completely laughable. Still, the gameplay is mostly solid if you can handle the rest of it. The sequel, Dragon Lore II: The Heart of the Dragon Man, is currently not available on GOG or Steam.

Score: 2
2 out of 5 alpacas

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October 24th, 2013 Featured, PC, Reviews No Comments »

Legend of Kyrandia Book 3: Malcolm’s Revenge Review

The Legend of Kyrandia Book 3: Malcolm's Revenge Boxart

Developer: Westwood Studios
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platform: PC – GOG*

Over the span of three years, Westwood Studios produced an adventure game trilogy titled The Legend of Kyrandia. The first game was a novel start, the second refined the formula, and then finally came the third title. The Legend of Kyrandia Book 3: Malcolm’s Revenge is meant to serve as the culmination of everything, but does it prove to be a fitting end?

Malcolm’s Revenge picks up primarily after the first game. Yes, there is a connection to it and the end of The Hand of Fate, but that’s so minimal it hardly counts. In any case, this time around you play as Malcolm. In the first game, he was the royal court jester who murdered the king! It’s likely no players really wanted to “see his side of the story” but that’s exactly what Malcolm’s Revenge revolves around. Players get a taste for Malcolm’s self-centered mindset but also see that he might not be completely horrible after all.

Each game coming from a different character’s perspective was basically expected though, as all previous games featured different protagonists. What is far less easy to swallow is the distinct shift in art direction and style. This seems due to the sudden discovery of fancy 3D graphics and polygons. Now there are CGI scenes interspersed throughout the game and backdrop elements from time to time. Most of these scenes look entirely ridiculous today. Even if they didn’t, it harms the charming pixel art that once seemed a hallmark of the Kyrandia name.

The Legend of Kyrandia Book 3: Malcolm's Revenge Featured

Even though most scenes do not employ CGI, the effort on those fronts must have taxed the art team. Pixellated backdrops don’t stand up in the least to Book 1 and 2. They’re uninspired, and at times even ugly. Because of this there’s no longer a way or reason to praise what had previously been very cool fairy tale visuals. At least we have the first two games to return to.

That’s not the only despicable part of the game, though. The worst offender is the writing which seems far less interesting than anything else the Kyrandia series has to offer. Despite being a court jester, Malcolm isn’t very funny. This is made worse by a laugh track that is prompted to play at completely inane moments. It’s rare that anything humorous ever happens to cue the laughter. It’s not even like Book 3 is meant to be a sitcom! On the plus side, the soundtrack is probably the best of the trilogy.

Malcolm’s Revenge is not a complete failure since the puzzles are still interesting, with only some aspects being annoyingly challenging. But when you compare it to the other two games it just feels like the least exciting one. If anything, most Kyrandia players would probably be best served by playing Book 1 and 2 and pretending this concluding volume never existed.

Score: 1.5

1 1/2 out of 5 alpacas

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