New Games Tagged 'puzzle, adventure, Ron' on The Great Games Experiment New Games on The Great Games Experiment http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/css/logo.jpg New Games Tagged 'puzzle, adventure, Ron' on The Great Games Experiment en-us Frogs in Love
]]> 05 Sep 2008 11:55:18 Professor Layton and the Curious Village
]]> 19 Jan 2008 05:14:29 Haunting Ground
]]> 03 Dec 2007 06:00:47 Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure
]]> 15 Nov 2007 09:52:10 Nanomite: The Battle Begins
]]> 10 Oct 2007 10:27:00 Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy!
]]> 04 Oct 2007 06:09:28 Seven Deadly Sins
]]> 28 Sep 2007 03:17:21 Teaminator: Brew Isles
]]> 14 Aug 2007 03:36:36 The 7th Guest
]]> 19 Jul 2007 02:55:15 Atlantis Quest Are you ready for an exciting quest of adventure and discovery? Embark on a journey around the ancient lands of the Mediterranean in the search for one of the greatest mysteries of all time - the lost city of Atlantis. In this classic style matching game with a dazzling new twist you will discover pieces of ancient artifacts that will guide in your travels. A great storyline with an extremely addictive new gameplay will keep you up at night!
]]> 11 Jul 2007 05:07:47 The Rise of Atlantis Find a way to bring the legendary continent of Atlantis back to the surface and restore it to its might. In this extraordinary puzzle game with spectacular new features, handy bonuses and explosive power-ups you set out on an adventurous quest around the ancient lands of Greece, Troy, Phoenicia, Babylon, Egypt, Carthage and Rome to gather the seven greatest powers of the patron god of the Atlanteans - Poseidon. With 77 captivating levels of fantastic game play, truly unique twists never seen before and the ability of continuous replay this game will keep you entertained for weeks!
]]> 29 Jun 2007 04:11:27 Onimusha - Warlords Onimusha: Warlords is the first game of the Onimusha series.

The game features samurai Samanosuke Akechi, modeled after actor Takeshi Kaneshiro, determined to save Princess Yuki of the Saito clan and defeat Nobunaga, resurrected after signing a pact with demons. The game also features Kaede, an expert female ninja who provides Samanosuke with information. Kaede was originally sent to assassinate Samanosuke by the Iga clan of ninja, but had a change of heart and develops trust and deep feelings of love (as shown in Onimusha Blade Warriors) for the samurai and agrees to join him as his confidant. Samansosuke travels throughout all of Inabayama Castle where he searches for clues of Princess Yuki's whereabouts, finds special weapons, and solves various puzzles.
]]> 24 Jun 2007 06:10:37 Koudelka Koudelka is a console role-playing game for the PlayStation. It is the first game in the series that would become Shadow Hearts.

Hiroki Kikuta, most known for composing the music to Secret of Mana and Seiken Densetsu III (also known as Secret of Mana II) while working at Squaresoft, created Sacnoth in 1997 with funding from the video game company SNK. Unhappy with what he considered as the disjointed, juvenile, and stagnant nature of most RPGs, Kikuta had intended to take the genre in a whole new direction. Koudelka was to be his magnum opus, the game that would show the world just how far RPGs could go.

The initial plot of the game centered around 3 investigators coming to Nemeton Monastery in Wales in the year 1899: Koudelka Iasant, a young girl with supernatural powers arrives at the Monastery after receiving troubling visions. She quickly runs into Edward Plunkett, an adventurer, and Father James O'Flaherty, a priest, who are also investigating the Monastery for various reasons. It is likely that Edward Plunkett in the game is modeled after the historical Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany. The monastery was used as a prison in the 1700s, and more recently as the site of dark rituals.

Now you play as the group of three people- Koudelka, Edward and James, as you are drawn further and further into the darkness of Nemeton monasterys old stories and secrets. Now find what lies beyond the hidden doors and all of Nemetons dark history.

Source Wikipedia
]]> 18 Jun 2007 08:13:13 Diggers Diggers is a unique and orginal game in which you control 5 different "diggers" from one out of four different alien races. The gameplay is about setting of the diggers in the different directions in the ground to search for differend diamonds. You compete against other diggers-teams, and will have to avoid them and different monsters in the caves you dig since you cant attack them yourself. Instead you buy items to overcome obstacles. Once a team reach a set amount of gold generated from selling diamonds, that team wins.
]]> 03 Jun 2007 12:57:14 Nick Bounty: A Case of the Crabs
Something stinks and it smells like crab, only there's something funny about these crustaceans. You play as Detective Nick Bounty, who despite his ability to solve the most tangled cases, has yet to work for a paying client. This time it's up to you to discover who knocked off a local seafood salesman and get to the bottom of a diabolical counterfeiting operation!
]]> 24 May 2007 06:43:45 Nearly Departed Nearly Departed is a graphic adventure that puts you in control of a guy who has recently become a zombie. Having no idea how you became a zombie, you must explore the city and find out who you were and what happened. The game is reminiscent of old Lucas Arts cartoon adventure games. Nearly Departed is still in development and does not yet have a set release date.
]]> 24 May 2007 06:01:43 Submachine 4: The Lab Submachine 4: The Lab is the fourth installment of the popular Submachine Flash Puzzle/Adventure game. Created by Mateusz Skutnik, Submachine is a compelling mystery that only gets more intriguing as time goes on. Scraps of paper, words etched into walls, and archaic computers leave clues as to what the Submachine is, and how you must escape it. All of the (so far) 5 Submachine games tie into one another, and references to previous ones are riddled throughout.
]]> 10 May 2007 02:38:54 Shadowgate Adventure in Castle Shadowgate and solve the many puzzles to defeat the evil Warlock Lord. Some puzzles if not done correctly lead to your death.
]]> 19 Apr 2007 11:14:43 Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh In 1996, Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh by Lorelei Shannon was released. Though still enormous in size coming on five separate CDs it was in no way as large as its predecessor.

Dropping the unique adventure game style interaction in favor of an interactive movie format, A Puzzle of Flesh was more expensive to produce and less popular with audiences tiring of video clip-driven games. Though some concluded that it was a substantial improvement over the original in several areas, others dismissed the game, criticizing it for its completely different atmosphere, lack of creativity, interactivity and excessive violence.

The plot of the second game in the series revolves around the character of Curtis Craig, a 30-year-old man working in a company managed by the enigmatic Paul Warner. Curtis' mysterious and traumatic past is a key element in the plot, as he pieces together his experience to form a picture of his soul, one whose discovery might lead to his demise. Harassed by quasi-delusions which seem all too real, Curtis aims to uncover the truth about his family, co-workers and most importantly, his own existence. As his delusions become more and more real and begin to have an enormous, terrible impact on his surroundings, Curtis must confront his fears or risk getting devoured by what lives within him.

A Puzzle of Flesh has a fairly standard interface, with the cursor shaped into the distinctive logo of WynTech

Source: Wikipedia entry
]]> 14 Apr 2007 12:48:40 Phantasmagoria Made during the height of the "interactive movie" boom in the computer game industry, Phantasmagoria is notable for being one of the first adventure games to use a human being as an on-screen avatar. Actress Victoria Morsell spent months in front of a bluescreen filming the hundreds of actions players could direct her character to perform. The game was released on seven CDs to accommodate the massive amount of video generated by this process. Today it still stands as a record of sorts for the largest number of media cuts used in a game, though several other games including an adventure game based on The X-Files television series have matched it in the sheer number of CDs used. However, if it were to use modern day video compression codecs while keeping the same resolution, the game could probably have shipped on as little as one or two discs. On the other hand, however, the seven discs were used to highlight the seven days, during which the story takes place - the game could easily fit about five discs, even without the advanced video compression. Also, it is worth mentioning that large portions of data were repeated on each CD, to avoid disk swapping when playing the game.

The game script was about 400 pages long, four times the size of a regular movie script, and an additional 100 pages of storyboards set the style for the over 800 scenes in the game. The game required four months of filming alone and over 200 persons were involved in the production, not counting the Gregorian choir of 135 persons that was used for parts of the music in the game.

Source: Wikipedia Article
]]> 14 Apr 2007 12:45:09 Pirate Poppers Sail the seas of swashbucklin', pirate-popping fun! Fire your colored cannonballs at advancing balls to make groups of three or more. Collect the trinkets and jewels that fall and stash them away in the Treasure Cove. You'll begin as Lowly Landlubber, but as you plunder you'll rise up in rank. Do you have what it takes to be named a Living Legend? Featuring addictive gameplay, gorgeous graphics, and sparkling surprises, Pirate Poppers is an action-puzzle adventure for the entire family. Aargh!
]]> 05 Apr 2007 12:42:18 Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare is the fourth installment of 1992 survival horror video game series Alone in the Dark created by Atari. The game was released on several platforms including PC, PlayStation, Game Boy Color, Sega Dreamcast and PlayStation 2.

Edward Carnby's best friend, Charles Fiske, has been found dead off Shadow Island, a mysterious island near the coast of Maine. Carnby's investigation quickly leads him to Fred Johnson, who informs him of Fiske's search for three ancient tablets with the ability to unlock an incredible and dangerous power. Johnson pleads with Carnby to take the place of Fiske and reopen the investigation in order to recover the tablets. Carnby accepts the mission making it his life's goal to avenge Fiske's death and find the tablets.

Carnby isn't alone on his quest. Aline Cedrac, an intelligent, determined young archaeologist joins Carnby on the mission to Shadow Island. This high-spirited adventurer has taken it upon herself to find the missing tablets, but is there another reason she was so determined to come to Shadow Island? Time will surely reveal the secrets and the intentions, so on October 30, 2001 they approach Shadow Island.

From their first steps on Shadow Island in the cold winter night, Carnby and Aline are immediately confronted by terrifying, evil creatures that are determined to halt their progress. Throughout the course of their investigations, every step they take, every corner they turn, they are met with suspense, intrigue and a sense of impending doom. Relying only on their instincts and limited resources, Carnby and Aline must destroy this sinister evil and uncover the truth.

The player takes the role of either Edward Carnby (a rugged paranormal investigator) or Aline Cedrac (a feisty scholarly type), and find themselves marooned on Shadow Island, a haunted place where the shadows are rumored to come alive. The player soon comes under attack from "Creatures of Darkness" that appear out of nowhere and seem to be living shadows. These "Creatures of Darkness" are eventually revealed to be reptilian, silicon-based life forms from the center of the Earth, an enormous world of dark caverns known as the "World of Darkness". Shadow Island apparently contains one of the many entrances to this underground world. True to their name, the game's enemies are averse to light (which apparently turns them into sand), and this figures heavily in gameplay. Players can use their flashlight to repel certain creatures, and killing them is accomplished with such light-producing ammunition as "magnesium bullets" and "phosphorus shells."

Light plays a significant role in this game. One of the game's main gimmicks is the use of a flashlight that players can use to light up the game's darkened pre-rendered screens, revealing hidden details and uncovering items.
]]> 11 Mar 2007 06:23:46 Alone in the Dark 3 Alone in the Dark 3 is the third installment of the Alone in the Dark survival horror video game series created by Infogrames (now Atari).

After Edward's success in his previous two investigations a journalist has nicknamed him the "Supernatural Private Eye." This time, he is called to investigate the disappearance of a film crew at a two-bit ghost town known by the name of Slaughter Gulch located in the Mojave Desert in California. Among the disappeared crew is the heroine of the story, Emily Hartwood. Edward soon discovers that a curse has gripped the town, and an evil cowboy from the Badlands named Jed Stone is the villain who is responsible for the crew's disappearance. Lurking around town are many trigger-happy sharpshooters, deranged prospectors, and bloodthirsty lost souls whom Edward must ward off with both his strength and his wit.

Although the primary enemies are still human-like characters with firearms, combat has been de-emphasized a bit and isn't quite as hard. Carnby is often presented with opportunities to flee from enemies or defeat them using non-combat means, and there is a greater emphasis on solving puzzles. Also, because enemies are armed with six-shooters rather than tommyguns, the player ends up being shot less frequently than in Alone in the Dark 2.

The main theme of this game is the Wild West, as Carnby is pitted against a town filled with "zombie cowboys" who attack him with six-shooters and lever-action rifles. More traditionally mindless, shambling zombies begin to appear about mid-way through the game. Towards the end of the game, the concept of radioactive mutation plays a significant role in the story, and the player ends up fighting a few monstrous creatures created from such radiation.

Alone in the Dark 3 features a greater variety of gameplay, including sequences in which you play as a mountain lion that Carnby has been transformed into.
]]> 11 Mar 2007 06:14:23 Buried Alive You wake up in the darkness and have no idea where you are. Point and click to solve the puzzles and escape your terrible situation. Buried Alive is an "epic point and click adventure" that only the brave and cunning will be able to solve.
]]> 09 Mar 2007 05:44:04 Goof Troop Goof Troop is an action-adventure game, developed and released by Capcom in 1993 for the Super NES and based on the TV series by the same name. The game can be played in multiplayer mode, wherein one player controls Goofy and the other Max.

On a great day for fishing in Spoonerville, Goofy and his son Max go out to the sea. While fishing, they see a huge pirate boat, captained by Keelhaul Pete, heading towards Spoonerville with Pete and P.J. kidnapped. Goofy tries to catch up with the boat, but doesn't succeed until the boat lands on the pirate's island.

Playing as Goofy or Max, the player works through 5 worlds: Spoonerville Island, a destroyed farm, a castle, a hazy maze cavern, and finally the pirate's ship where Pete and PJ are rescued.

To defend against enemies, players can throw flowerpots, barrels or vases. There exist several items in the game; for example, a bell to bait the pirates. In the multiplayer game, players can bait enemies into positions where the other player can easily kill them. A grappling hook can be used to stun enemies or for collecting health points, represented as bananas and cherries; only one item can be carried by each player. Platers get an extra life for collecting a white diamond, and an extra continue for a red one.

The game is very puzzle-oriented. By kicking stones which roll until they are stopped by a barrier, Goofy and Max place stones on switches to open doors. They also search for grappling hooks, with which they can stretch a line over an abyss or to wooden shelves to repair a destroyed bridge. In this situation, the items are lost afterwards. In addition, they must search for keys to open the path to the levels' bosses.
]]> 07 Mar 2007 06:39:59 Space Station Silicon Valley pace Station Silicon Valley is a platform game released on October 01, 1998 by Scottish developer DMA Design (now known as Rockstar North, creator of the Grand Theft Auto series). It was initially released for the Nintendo 64, and later in a version for the Game Boy Color.

The game's storyline revolves around a space station, home to numerous animals (the station was intended by the designer to be a "technologically advanced amusement park"), which was launched and subsequently lost in the year 2001. Thought to have disappeared forever, it reappears in the year 3000, and its designer, Professor Cheese, mysteriously vanishes upon an excursion to the station. Following this, A duo of "Heroes for Hire", namely Danger Dan and his partner Evo, are dispatched to the station in order to investigate this disappearance. They arrive to find that over 1000 years, the animal cargo had evolved and merged with technology; examples including an electronically-powered fox with motorized wheels and a steam-powered hippopotamus. Throughout the course of the game, the space station is on a collision course with Earth, and it is the player's mission to save all of humanity.

Within the game, the player controls Evo, a robot who is reduced to no more than a microchip during the crash into the station and must enter the bodies of the animals therein (who each possess their own abilities), in order to solve puzzles and defeat enemies in each level. As this progresses, Dan is trapped in the team's destroyed spaceship and does nothing but assign Evo his missions and watch the player's actions.
]]> 04 Mar 2007 05:25:47 Midnight Mansion Midnight Mansion is a retro platformer based on games like Montezuma's Revenge, Prince of Persia, and Dark Castle. You play Jack Malone, an adventure hunter, who explores several huge mansions in search of gold at the end. You can't kill anything; you simply avoid the bad guys, while you search for keys that allow you to open doors that lead to new areas. Mansions are filled with traps, puzzles, and secrets.
]]> 03 Mar 2007 12:28:38 Space Quest V: The Next Mutation Roger Wilco is a cadet and janitor at the Starfleet Academy. However, he cheats his way through the aptitude test and becomes the captain of his own ship. He is the newest captain of the SCS Eureka, a garbage scow. Roger explores space looking for trash, and eventually comes across a toxic disease that is spreading through the galaxy. You need to help roger save the galaxy and get the girl in the end.

Space Quest V was not designed by the full "Two Guys from Andromeda" team who did the original four games. Instead, only one of the two, Mark Crowe, was involved. The humor in this episode was different than that of the past games.
]]> 22 Feb 2007 06:47:34 The Da Vinci Code - The Quest Begins Race against time to uncover the biggest conspiracy in the history of mankind in The Da Vinci Code - The Quest Begins action-adventure. Play the role of either Robert Langdon or Sophie Neveu as you follow the mystery of The Da Vinci Code.

Race through multiple, stunning, locations collecting clues and unlocking puzzles; all the while being pursued at every turn. A top down, isometric view gives you a clear view of the action while giving you the maximum control for puzzle solving.
]]> 11 Feb 2007 12:32:08 The Da Vinci Code 3D The Da Vinci Code 3D is a massive adventure game, with a depth and detail never before seen in a mobile game. As Robert Langdon, join this quest to prove your innocence and to solve the murder of Jacques Saunière.

The game takes you through six different locations, including the Louvre, the Zurich Bank, Teabing’s Mansion, Temple Church, and Westminster Abbey. Each location is loaded with detail, characters to talk to, and puzzles to solve.
]]> 11 Feb 2007 08:43:09 What Linus Bruckman Sees When His Eyes Are Closed A samurai is summoned to the land of the dead to rescue a fallen god. A young sassy alien finds out that his father's gambling addiction has placed the family's fortune and fast food chain at risk. In this unique adventure, you'll control both characters at once. Your actions are mirrored in both worlds, so think carefully before you make each move!
]]> 10 Feb 2007 05:27:45 1213 A man lies in a darkened cell, consumed by pain and sickness. He does not know where he is. He does not know how he came to be there. He does not even know his own name. All he knows is that he is being tortured by a bizarre, bespectacled man, who addresses him only as a number - Twelve-Thirteen.

Every day, Twelve-Thirteen is taken out of his cell and goaded into running a dangerous hazard course, apparently for the sole amusement of the bespectacled man. Today seems to be no different. But while Twelve-Thirteen sits brooding in his darkened prison, the door suddenly falls open with no apparent cause. To discover the answers to all of his questions, Twelve-Thirteen must adventure into the unknown world beyond the cell...

It plays as an adventure game with a light mix of action thrown in. The health system is an interesting take on a typically HP-saturated market: as you take damage, the beating heart in the corner pumps faster, threatening death, and adding to the atmosphere. With a gripping storyline that far exceeds its meager graphical offerings, you'll find yourself entirely immersed in a game that alternates between terror, confusion, and an overarching ending that will haunt you.
]]> 10 Feb 2007 01:18:25 Spy Fox in 'Dry Cereal' William the Kid is attempting to steal the whole world's milk supply, and it is Spy Fox's job to stop him. How will children eat their cereal if there is no milk to pour on it? SPY Corps has outfitted Spy Fox with the latest gadgets and he is ready to go. Spy Fox is a Junior Adventure for kids that have grown out of Freddi Fish and Pajama Sam. Like the other Junior Adventure games from Humongous, there are different puzzles for multiple plays through the game. Also, there are mini games for kids to play such as go fish, and Happy Fun Sub which can be played on Fox's spy watch.
]]> 09 Feb 2007 06:05:05 In Memoriam In Memoriam was developed by French developer Lexis Numerique. It was released in October 2003 throughout Europe, published by Ubisoft. It saw release under the title of Missing: Since January in the US in June 2004, published by The Adventure Company.

The game presents alternate-reality style gameplay, requiring the player to browse for both fake and real websites on the Internet in order to solve puzzles. The player is also required to receive e-mail to their account from in-game characters. In Memoriam presents itself via a series of puzzles created using Macromedia (now Adobe) Shockwave, which is notably unusual for a retail product.

The player is tasked by fictional media company SKL Networks to "decode" a CD-ROM they have received from the games antagonist, The Phoenix. An SKL Networks employee by the name of Jack Lorski is missing along with his girlfriend Karen Gijman. The player must "decode" the CD-ROM by solving a series of puzzles, progressively unlocking video clips from a video diary created by the missing characters. Quickly, the player learns that the pair have become tangled in a web of secret religious sects and ritualistic serial killings.
]]> 08 Feb 2007 11:20:03 Ico The player of the game takes on the role of Ico, a young boy born with a pair of horns, who must escort a princess named Yorda safely out of a castle without her being captured by the shadowy figures that prowl the castle or being killed by the castle's numerous environmental hazards. Despite selling only 650,000 copies worldwide, Ico received strong reviews, and has become a cult hit among video game enthusiasts.

Ico is noted for its highly individual artistic style. Key factors contributing to the game's absorbing atmosphere include the absence of any HUD; a bleak and washed-out use of color; low key use of in-game music, played only in selected scenes of the game; and atmospheric, ambient sound effects in the background. It makes effective use of minimal dialogue and story to forge strong emotional connections with the characters and environments in the game. It includes action, adventure and puzzle elements. The game also has a notable fictional language which has been theorized to be backwards Japanese.
]]> 08 Feb 2007 09:19:24 Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise It's Kayla's birthday tomorrow, and her stuffed animal Fatty Bear wants to throw a surprise party for her. Guide Fatty Bear around the house to help him get everything ready. He has to find ingredients for a cake to make it, get presents, and set up party decorations. In addition to the adventure and puzzles, there are games to be played as well. These games include bowling, piano playing, and dress up with Fatty Bear.
]]> 08 Feb 2007 05:13:00 Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside Pajama Sam is a kid like any other his age. He reads comic books and is afraid of the darkness. He loves to read about his favorite comicbook hero, Pajama Man. In order to defeat the darkness and not be afraid, he becomes Pajama Sam and travels into his closet. However, once he gets there, some trees take his flashlight, mask, and Pajama Man lunchbox. You must help Pajama Sam get his stuff back in order to defeat Darkness.

Pajama Sam is a Junior Adventure for kids ages 3-8. It helps them experience adventure games, explore, and solve puzzles. On every screen there are things to find and click that cause funny animations. Also, the game has some different puzzles when it is played through again.
]]> 08 Feb 2007 04:31:07 The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening Link, after setting sail for new experiences and adventures, finds himself caught in a squall at sea. Helpless in spite of his valiant efforts to last through the storm, he is overwhelmed by vicious waves and lightning...

Some time later, a gentle girl named Marin discovers him washed up on Toronbo Shores.. the beach of Koholint Island. She finds a way to get him home and takes care of him until he finally awakens. Marin and her father, Tarin, explain to him where he is, and after he sets out to reclaim his sword, he encounters a mysterious owl... The owl cryptically warns Link about the perils this island faces should the Wind Fish be disturbed from his slumber, and thus Link decides he must do something to save them.

This owl guides him throughout the rest of his journey, slowly helping him uncover just what exactly is going on. Link learns that, unfortunately, in order to save the islanders he had grown to love, and to set himself free, he must also end a dream, a romance that he might not want to... To save all those people he had come to know and cherish from the Wind Fish's Nightmares, he would also have to end the illusion that caused them to exist in the first place.

It's a heart wrenching choice to confront, one that Link no doubt regrets with every deep ache of his very soul.. but the only alternative was to let the Nightmare take over and destroy everything.. This was the only fate he could offer them...

A tragic, touching tale that is told in the simplest way, Link's Awakening is a dream that I'll always hold dear to my heart...
]]> 08 Feb 2007 11:34:05 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure roughly follows the same plot as the movie it is based upon. Certain scenes are omitted, but it sticks close to the original plot for the most part. The game uses the SCUMM system that was used in Maniac Mansion before it. This system involves choosing certain verbs to interact with objects and people in the game. However, this game features something that no other adventure games of the time had. The "Indy Quotient" system gives the players points based on how they solve certain puzzles. This gives puzzles multiple solutions and adds replay value to the game. Also included in the game are action sequences where Indy must fight to get by guards.
]]> 06 Feb 2007 06:09:19 Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders Can one hack writer, two Yale coeds, and a stale loaf of French bread save the world from a galactic conspiracy? Not without your help.
]]> 06 Feb 2007 05:46:54 Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
I thought I'd killed the Ghost Pirate LeChuck for good. Wrong. How many times can that bloated old fool die? Other pirates tell me there's no escape. "When LeChuck wants you dead, you're dead", they say. Legend has it that the treasure of Big Whoop holds the key to great power... I must find it before LeChuck finds me.

-The Memoirs of Guybrush Threepwood: The Monkey Island Years
]]> 06 Feb 2007 04:45:44 The Secret of Monkey Island
I cursed my luck again as I slid down the monkey's throat. Have my dreams of guzzling grog and plundering galleons been reduced to this. "Three small trials and you're a pirate like us." Fair enough. If only I could stomach the foul brew these scurvy seadogs swilled, the rest would be easy. How could I have known I'd meet a powerful and beautiful woman with a jealous suitor too stupid to realize he'd been dead for years? And how can I crawl through this great stone monkey to find a man who walks three inches above the ground and sets fire to his beard every morning?

-The Memoirs of Guybrush Threepwood: The Monkey Island Years
]]> 06 Feb 2007 04:24:31 Kastle Kumquat Kastle Kumquat has always been a long standing favourite of mine from the Amiga days and for the 2006 Retro Remakes competition i helped develop this remake with my skilled partner (the code guru) Edgar M Vigdal. The gfx are by me, the sounds are by me (including the grunts and oofs) and we got some very nice music made for us by the talented "infamous". The tough part is all by Edgar though, without him these games wouldn't happen.

Collect fruits, find keys, press switches and open doors to make your way through the kastle. Dodge the twizzly boxes of doom, jump the lava and watch out for the traps. The remake did ok in the competition but the game turned out as great as i hoped. Its a joy to play, in fact only yesterday i played it through once again.

We are now working on a version which includes the room editor for a collaborative project. A whole new set of user made rooms with some new twists and traps. Hopefully that'll be underway soon.
]]> 06 Feb 2007 12:27:11 Fade to Black Fade to Black is the sequel to Flashback, again letting the player control Conrad B., the hero from Flashback. Instead of the side view that Flashback had, Fade to Black features third person 3d gameplay, not unlike Tomb Raider (and in fact, this game predated Tomb Raider by a year).
]]> 06 Feb 2007 04:35:08 Myst IV: Revelation
Within the visually awe-inspiring world of Myst, a gripping family drama will slowly unfold. In Myst IV Revelation, players finally learn the fate of Sirrus and Achenar, two villains first introduced in the original Myst. The brothers have remained trapped in separate prison worlds, abandoned by their father for crimes they had committed. Players are engaged in uncovering the mystery surrounding a little girl's disappearance, daring to venture deep inside the intense worlds of the villainous brothers. Understanding their motives is key to the success of the investigation and will be a true "revelation."

Myst IV: Revelation uses the same 360 degree panorama view as Myst III: Exile, but with even more impressively rendered environments.
]]> 29 Jan 2007 08:42:19 Shadowgate 64:Trials of the Four Towers Shadowgate. Undoubtably many of us played that classic adventure game on our first consoles and computers. Well, many of you may not know that it also had a sequal: Shadowgate 64: Trials of the Four Towers. Released on the N64 in 1999, it was sadly overlooked by many gamers, and garnered wildly different reviews. For good reason.

Shadowgate 64 is set a century after the lord jair (hero of the first game) defeated the warlock lord and climbed onto the throne of the kingdom. You play a young halfling named Dell, whose caravan is attacked by bandits while crossing the plains near Castle Shadowgate. It appears that in a century the castle has fallen to being a den of thieves instead of a home of magic. The game then follows Dells tribulations as he tries to escape the castle, and solve the mystery behind it.

Gamplay is the same as the original Shadowgate: a mix of adventure & puzzles. The differnece being that Shadowgate 64 gives you a fully 3D world to explore, from a first-person perspective. The controls are a bit hard to grasp at first, and remain rather touchy throughout the game. Not a good thing, given as there are hundreds of ways for Dell to die in this world, all accompanied by (often) gruesome descriptions. There is a very deep storyline behind the game, delivered both through a large amount of readable books, and through conversations with various NPC's. The world is dark and gloomy, and as you wander through the ruins of castle shadowgate, you will no doubt feel...something...in your heart. A wondering of what happened there? A sadness at glory lost? A thirst to delve into the past of this place?

In the end, the game is really a forgotten masterpiece, often overlooked both for it's rather low-end graphics and for its quirky gameplay scheme.
]]> 28 Jan 2007 01:44:46 Lexico Crash landing on an alien planet you must navigate your way through an ancient factory by learning a mysterious alien language with careful observation of the functions of a variety of computer panels scattered across the building.
]]> 28 Jan 2007 12:40:20 Clock Tower Note: This is the second of the Clock Tower series, and is called "Clock Tower 2" in Japan. The first release was simply "Clock Tower" a Japanese-only realease for the SNES/Famicom, but was eventually renamed "Clock Tower: The First Fear" when later ported to Playstation (also Japanese only) and Windows 95.

Because the Japanese Famicom/SNES edition remained "Clock Tower", this next installment became "Clock Tower 2" in Japan, but simply "Clock Tower" to North America. These titles would be followed by Clock Tower 2: The Struggle Within (Clock Tower: Ghost Head in Japan), and then Clock Tower 3, the latest installment to date.

Playing Clock Tower is like watching an intense slasher film, with one heart-stopping sequence after the next.
In the mountains of Romsdaaren, Norway, stands the Barrows Family Mansion, an unwholesome, brooding manor perched atop a large cliff. Home to the Barrows family for generations, locals grew to depend on the clock tower of this once peaceful family. They would tend their flocks of sheep in surrounding fields by the dependable tones of the great tower. It was for this reason that the local people began to call the mansion the Clock Tower.

In 1986, however, the mistress of the Barrows Mansion gave birth to twins, and from the day they were born it was obvious the twins were not normal and were of evil nature.

The twins were given the names Bobby and Dan. Their unwary parents knew that there was a foreboding evil about them, but who could have possibly known that the two were later to become the most feared and malicious murderers of our century - the infamous giant scissors with which their murders were committed became their namesake - they were called, simply, the Scissormen.

In 1995, a young girl from the Granite Orphanage, her parents died when she was quite small, was lured into the Barrows Mansion where she was attacked by a monster wielding a giant pair of scissors - yet no one wanted to believe the orphan girl when she returned to town, terrified and alone, claiming to have been attacked by the infamous killer.

That monster had, in fact, been Bobby Barrow, the Scissorman. She managed to escape from the terrible horrors, destroy the monster, and flee the mansion, yet she simply could not manage to convince anyone of authority of what had happened - in part because they could never find a body.

For the next year, all of Norway was caught up with the sensationalized Scissorman Murderer. Everyone was enthralled and completely relieved that he was dead - though authorities denied his existence.

That is, until the brutal murders started again...

(from the original ASCII press release for Clock Tower)




Additional Game Features:

  • Evade the insane psycho killer Bobby "The Scissorman" Barrows in the Barrows Family Mansion, solving a mystery while he continues to stalk you.

  • Navigate your way through the game's story and around Scissorman's blade in a direct continuation of the original story.

  • 3 major scenarios follow a prologue in which main characters are selected, seperated by interludes in which you can explore the town and search for further clues.

  • Single player point and click horror-survival adventure in chilling 3D settings.

  • 5 playable characters interact with a varied ensemble of other characters who might help you unravel the mystery.

  • When Bobby attacks find a hiding place or a useful object to fend him off. If he directly confronts only the "panic button" can save you from death by scissors!

  • Player actions result in various outcomes and numerous endings.

Developer: Human Entertainment
Publisher: ASCII Entertainment Software, Inc.
Released: December 13, 1996 (Japan), September 30, 1997 (North America)
]]> 25 Jan 2007 03:55:31 Sam & Max: Culture Shock Sam & Max - a 6 foot dog in a 3 piece suit, and his hyperkinetic rabbity-type-thing pal - are self-dubbed "Freelance Police" who scour the globe for odd mal-formed versions of evil to defeat, though usually by accident.

Culture Shock, the first episode in a six-episode "season" of Sam & Max games that Telltale is putting out, centers largely around the neighborhood surroundingSam & Max's office. Three washed up former child stars have been seen defacing the streets with propaganda for a self-help tape called "Brady Culture's 'Eye-Bo' Occular Fitness," and Sam & Max decide to put a stop to it.
]]> 23 Jan 2007 04:50:54 Metroid prime: Hunters Samus is on yet another mission. This time, to investigate strange mental transmissions coming from the Alymbic Cluster.
Along the way, Samus will do battle with 6 other dangerous hunters, who are all out to obtain the "ultimate power" for themselves.
]]> 23 Jan 2007 01:33:08