Assorted gems of retro gaming nostalgia
by Will Moczarski Special thanks to the Museum of Computer Adventure Game History! (mocagh.org) It’s time for the third OtherVenture and our second Jyym Pearson game Escape from Traam. This one has a 1980 copyright date and it may possibly be the earlier game of the two. It is usually […]
[Admin note: Since there’s still so much left of the last game of 1992, Consulting Detective 2, we’ve decided to already start playing the first game of 1993. Enjoy!]Written by Alfred n’ the Fettuc So here we are, the first game on our list for 1993, and another French adventure […]
by Will Moczarski Introduction: Who was Jyym Pearson? The sixth adventure game in our Med Systems marathon is the last one released in 1981, and it’s a rather famous one. The Institute is also the first game I’ve played before (albeit in the later port for the Commodore 64), and […]
by Will Moczarski Med Systems Marathon Overview:(a) 1980 Summary(b) Reality Ends (1980)(c) Rat’s Revenge / Deathmaze 5000 (1980)(d) Labyrinth (1980)(e) Asylum (1981) The confusing ad (thanks to Ira Goldklang at trs-80.com) Introduction In the context of our current marathon, Microworld is a notable game in many ways. It’s the first […]
Written by Joe Pranevich The blurb on the back of the box tells us, “What they said about Sherlock I, you’ll say about Sherlock II.” I am fairly certain that there have never been truer words in advertising because that is exactly how I feel opening up Sherlock Holmes: Consulting […]
Written by Reiko The last game I played through for the blog was Dune (let’s pretend Rome never happened), which was more or less based on the famous science fiction novel, and before that was Gateway. Up next, I have the opportunity to present another game based on a famous […]
By Ilmari Every family has its weird uncle, and mine was no exception. I’d really like to know, if anyone can guess the relevance of this beginning with the game I am supposed to be playing I was probably ten or eleven, when my parents were forced to visit the […]
By Ilmari As far as national anthems go, God Save the Queen is one of the most monotone, dreary and depressing. It is no wonder that a movement, started by the comedian Billy Connely, has long spoken for a jollier and more spirited song, which you could well imagine humming, […]
Written by Joe Pranevich I grew up loving comic books. My parents wouldn’t let me buy them, but I still had a tiny little suitcase of issues that I had managed to snag at flea markets with my own money. Looking back on it now, it’s adorable just how much […]
Written by Joe Pranevich If you are like me, sometimes research takes you places that you don’t expect. When I started into Batman Returns, I expected to find that it was a half-assed game produced by a no-name little software outlet who won the minimum bid to make the ninth […]
By Will Moczarski A general rule seems to be that the more work you put into thorough research, the more work you create for yourself as a result. Does that make sense? Well, I had ambitiously planned to write a short connecting blog post to describe the non-adventure games Med […]
Written by Torch Doesn’t look very safe to me Two years after my first ever playthrough for The Adventure Gamer, I’m finally up for another. Quite the gap, but – surprise! – we’re still doing games from 1992! We sure are taking our time here, or perhaps 1992 was just […]
Written by Joe Pranevich Infocom careened into 1986 on the backs of two contradictory pieces of information. Sales had been up in 1985 for an all-time high of $11.5 million, and yet the company was falling apart. The Cornerstone flop was a distant memory, but the winter layoffs that followed […]
By Ilmari “I have decided to be a poet. My father said that there isn’t a suitable career structure for poets and no pensions and other boring things, but I am quite decided. He tried to interest me in becoming a computer operator, but I said, ‘I need to put […]
Written by Alfred n’ the Fettuc The English game development studio Core Design is first and foremost known for the Tomb Raider series, being the creator of one of the biggest franchises in video game history (and solely responsible for the rise of Eidos Interactive, their parent company, that would […]
By Ilmari Best thing about democracies is that you won’t have to worry too long about raving rulers You probably expected another Rome-post from Reiko, but unfortunately she has had to take a break from playing the game. Rome is now on hiatus, and we’ll return to it later, when […]
Written by Joe Pranevich From the earliest days of the company, Infocom had one tradition: a new Zork title released every fall. After Zork III, the baton was passed to the Enchanter series which, as patient and dedicated readers know was just the second Zork trilogy. October of 1985 was […]
Written by Reiko Rome: Pathway to Power is a bit of an odd duck. It’s a historical adventure set in Rome, of course, in AD 92, which was also its other sub-title. But its main screen uses an isometric perspective, and at least one level involves controlling whole armies rather […]
Written by TBD Rex is regretting his third wish, which seemed like such a fun idea in theory. Much like a previous game I’ve played, Leather Goddesses of Phobos, the title of this game has me forming an opinion on the type of experience I’ll be having before I even […]
by Will Moczarski Introduction A belated ho ho ho to you all! It‘s time to resume my Med Systems Software marathon that already brought us the goodness that was Deathmaze 5000. We‘re still in territory uncharted by Moby Games (their Med Systems list starts with The Institute which is two […]