Assorted gems of retro gaming nostalgia
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 […]
Written by Joe Pranevich Merry Christmas! Can you believe it’s been another year? This one feels like it passed quite quickly. We have an especially good Christmas treat this year: Humbug by Graham Cluley. While previous years holiday adventures have been little more than vignettes, Humbug is a full-length shareware […]
By Ilmari In 1937, a young person, known only as a Junior, got into a fight with his mother over his future career choice. Like all mothers, she wanted him to get a proper education, grow up into a respectable citizen and follow in his father’s footsteps. But pleasures of […]
Written by Joe Pranevich I keep just missing all of the possible holiday tie-ins. Wishbringer, as it turns out, would have been absolutely perfect for Halloween with its child-friendly monsters and campy darkness. A Mind Forever Voyaging could have been an “Election Day Special” to connect with the recent midterm […]
Written by Reiko Who’s ready for another Dr. Brain puzzler? It’s been almost three years since I played Castle of Dr. Brain, and now it’s time to hit the Island! If the cover is anything to go by, the second game promises to be even crazier than the first. An […]
Written by Deimar I am starting to think I am the place adventure game sagas go to die. This is the fourth saga I am closing and this time we can even add the company behind it to the list of casualties. Well, it was more like a rebranding. But […]
Written by Joe Pranevich When Wishbringer launched, the writing was already on the wall for Infocom. Cornerstone had been thrashing in the marketplace for five months and a successful game launch– or two or three– was the injection the company needed to keep its feet on the ground and its […]
Written by Joe Pranevich A funny thing happened on the way to Wishbringer… As we start into 1985 in our Infocom marathon, we need to bring one new and influential game designer into focus: Brian Moriarty. Mr. Moriarty is the designer behind Wishbringer, as well as Trinity (which I know […]
Written by Will Moczarski One of the creepiest gaming experiences of my childhood was called Asylum, a downright crazy text adventure with graphics scaring the hell out of me back then. As I never actually managed to complete the game it has kind of stuck with me over the years […]
Written by TBD If not for the title, I wouldn’t be sure if it was a jungle adventure game or a pirate game? Continuing my self-appointed position as official “Access Software” player, despite the previous three Access Software games all being played by different reviewers, I’m playing through a game […]