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.)

B.A.T. II - Lost!

By Ilmari

Will they ever release me from this torment?

Inspector Gadget - Home of the Shiny Green Suit

Written by Joe Pranevich

Here we are at last, Hong Kong! In my west-to-east tour of the world of Inspector Gadget, this is the last stop. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ready for the game to be over at this point, but it’s actually been a fun ride. I am curious to see how well (and if they bother) to adapt Hong Kong as part of the game. Will it be culturally accurate like our recent trip to Moscow? Or as generic and white-washed as Nairobi? The opening screen both terrifies me and gives me hope: the airport screen is identical to the one in Rio de Janeiro! The “Portuguese” signs are now in Spanish and there are no Gadget-clones running around, but otherwise it is the same. But in all that there is a glimmer of hope: I had a Chinese friend check out the signs and he claims they are all accurate! The yellow sign is for the Hong Kong Airport while the red sign really does say “No Parking” in Chinese! That represents a surprising amount of effort for the designers and I am eager to see if the same level of detail is applied throughout the rest of the adventure.

We talk to Gadget and the conversation has me puzzled. He tells Penny that Hong Kong is the home of the “shiny green suit”. Penny replies that Hong Kong is a free port where you can buy just about anything, but he insists that he wants a “shiny green suit”. What is up with that? Is this a dated cultural reference that I am missing? CAPs for anyone that can figure out what the heck they are talking about.