Inspector Gadget - Final Rating

Written by Joe Pranevich

The evil Dr. Claw has escaped and the Earth is saved from an environmental catastrophe for a few years. We have recovered Uncle Gadget’s gadgets, at least most of them, and need to go buy a new TV. Most importantly, we have reached the end of our Inspector Gadget coverage and now it is time to rate the game. I am always uneasy rating a kids’ game, but actually I think this one will do okay. I enjoyed the game much more than I expected. I did get bored for a bit in the middle, but the high-quality of the writing kept me exploring even as I knew how the plot beats would play out.

Let’s see how the game does by the numbers!

B.A.T. II - Won!

Written by Tornado

Hello, I’m Tornado, and I'm a relatively new reader of this wonderful blog. Through it, I've been able to relive games I played years ago and learn about those I missed. And so, I’m grateful for this opportunity to write this final post on B.A.T. II (aka, The Koshan Conspiracy).

At the outset of this guest post, let me express my deep thanks to Ilmari for pushing through 99.99% of the game. I played Koshan Conspiracy as a kid and never got very far. Over the years I’ve wondered what I’d missed, and so I’m grateful that he took over 33 hours of gameplay time to flesh it out here at The Adventure Gamer.

My main motive behind this post is to set the record straight regarding the game’s final puzzle, which Ilmari couldn’t quite solve.

This is where we left poor Ilmari.

Inspector Gadget - Won!

Written by Joe Pranevich

We made it! After madcap (get it?) adventures across four continents and rescuing all of the U.N. environmental ambassadors, we finally arrive back in New York. For acclaim and fanfare? For fortune and glory? No! It’s time for our final confrontation with M.A.D. inside the hallowed halls of the U.N. building itself. This is exciting and I am eager to see how (and if) all of the various plot threads come together. Will we be able to avert an environmental catastrophe? Will we have the same plot beats in New York as we have in all of the other episodes? There’s only one way to find out!

Unlike the previous time that I came to New York, it’s light outside and it’s a nice detail that they actually changed the little airplane animation to show blue skies. We don’t have to navigate an airport this time; we arrive directly at the U.N. building, guarded by an Officer O’Malley. Penny expresses disbelief that M.A.D. could ever infiltrate an organization as important as the U.N., but there seems to be something going on inside. When we talk to the officer about it, he can tell us only that Dr. Claw is here and hatching a “twisted plot”, although he doesn’t know specifics. (“I don’t know exactly, but it’s wrong. That’s for sure.”) He says that the police do not plan on doing anything about the situation except to hand it off to the world-famous Inspector Gadget. Uncle Gadget agrees and the police officer lets him in, but Brain and Penny have to remain outside where it is safe. How will we help Gadget if we’re trapped outside?

B.A.T. II - Final Rating

By Ilmari

For game developer, a hybrid appears to a lucrative possibility. Why satisfy yourself with selling a game to adventure game fans, when CRPG fans might also be a potential target of marketing? Yet, making a hybrid is also a risky endeavour, since you might end up alienating both target groups. And indeed, the risk seems quite real, since for every Quest for Glory we have a game like B.A.T. and its successor.

If only I had been playing this game

Discussion point: What kind of game deserves a high score in Dialogue and Acting?

By The TAG Team

Dialogue and Acting

(No, we haven’t forgotten E, we are just leaving it as the last category.)