Missed Classic: Oo-Topos - No Place, And Not Like Home

Written by Voltgloss

Explaining the title, courtesy of an 8th grade school project.
Also, “eu-topos” sounds similar but means “good place.” Thomas More was a punny guy.

When we last left off exploring our space prison/complex on Oo-Topos, we’d found an airlock to the surface and a decidedly non-breathable atmosphere; we’d found our spacesuit in the trash disposal but couldn’t escape the deadly garbage fumes; and we had no idea how to parse “taka ela leva.” There’s also the continuing oddity of the mirror room, from which I still haven’t been able to find any escape once trapped inside. Wandering around the rest of the complex didn’t come up with any other exits, so some of these problems are going to have to give. Onward!

First, I returned to the “taka ele leva” room. Maybe there’s more to this than just suggesting we “take the elevator?” In the spirit of Adventure’s “xyzzy” I try typing “taka ele leva” and…

Game 89: The Dagger of Amon Ra - Introduction

Written by Deimar

Deimar, there is a game that falls right up your alley, they said. And so I have come back to you, ready with my insatiable love for death animations and low budget unipersonal projects. And what is this game that will suit my tastes? A murder mystery that promises to mix the intense thriller of Hugo II: Whodunit with the gruesome deaths of any Elvira game: The Dagger of Amon Ra.

Where Laura needs to investigate her own murder!! Who saw that coming?

Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 - WON!

Lydia Sandler, Zeke Zarmen and Barthgub el Nikki-Nikki son of Jelgobar el Zayda-Zayda Journal Entry #3: The three of us went on our mission to Phobos to stop the Leather Goddesses' evil plans. To stop them we'll have to sabotage their plans both on their home planet and Earth. It'll be hard, but that's how we like it.

Zeke Zarmen Journal Entry Addendum: That's what she said!

In this episode we'll finally rescue the tanned annoyances from the peril they face at the thighs of the vile Leather Goddesses of Phobos

We're coming to save you. You are in great peril!

Game 88: Lure of the Temptress (1992) – Introduction

by Alex

Lure of the Temptress, the debut game from British developer Revolution Software—founded in 1990 and still making games—promises to be an interesting piece of adventure gaming history. If Revolution Software sounds familiar to you, that’s because these fine chaps (that’s what they like to be called in England, I’ve heard) went on to create the acclaimed Beneath a Steel Sky, as well as the Broken Sword series. Having played none of these games, I am very excited to embark upon something for The Adventure Gamer that is not a Police Quest game, is not a Leisure Suit Larry game, and is not a Robin Hood game.

Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 - The X Trials

Written by TBD

When we last met our heroine, Lydia, she had just explored the town of Atom City, and had found a spaceship (that she really could have found straight away, because she saw where it landed, and that was where she was told to go)

Lydia Sandler Journal Entry 2: Today was the most exciting day of my life. I met an alien and rode on a spaceship! It was amazing!

I checked out the spaceship, but it needed repairs and I had no idea how to do that, so I moved on. Just past the spaceship is an old dried out canal.

Oh. okay then. I caused a rainstorm. Why do I not remember causing a rainstorm?

I checked out my old screenshots, thinking maybe turning on Dad's machine caused a rainstorm and found out that it did, although it wasn't clear at the time.

Ah. I get it now. By turning on the strange machine, I created a rainstorm that flooded the dry canal that for some reason had a moored boat waiting.

Missed Classic 44: Oo-Topos - Introduction (1981 original; 1986 re-release)

Written by Voltgloss

The Great Zork Marathon has graced this blog with many (and, in the future, many more) adventures crafted by the Implementors - Infocom’s cadre of game designers. With Oo-Topos, we’re taking a semi-detour to explore an Implementor’s work before he became an Implementor. That Implementor is Mike Berlyn, whose work we’ve seen showcased in Joe Pranevich’s playthrough of Suspended and will shortly be coming up again in Infidel. But those were not Mr. Berlyn’s first adventure games. Those honors go to Oo-Topos and Cyborg.

According to his Infocom bio, by 1979 Berlyn had completed two tasks keenly suited to a future career in adventure game writing: (i) he had written two novels; and (ii) he had purchased an Apple II and, like so many other game designers, found and enjoyed the original Adventure. By 1981 Berlyn converged those interests to found his own company, Sentient Software, and publish his first two, pure text adventure games: Oo-Topos (co-written with his wife, Muffy Berlyn) and Cyborg. What about those offerings may have appealed to the folks at Infocom to offer Berlyn a job? Let’s find out!...

Police Quest 1 (VGA Remake): Final Rating

Written by Alex

Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel is an interesting piece of adventure-gaming history. It might not have been the first to simulate a more realistic occupation in the sea of dragon-slayers, space-farers, and superheroes it found itself in when it first arrived on the scene in 1987, but it was the most successful, famous, and arguably unique. Say what you want about Jim Walls’ and company’s approach to game design, especially in later titles like Police Quest III and Codename: Iceman, but he and Sierra truly captured magic.

However, Mr. Walls had left Sierra at some point after the release of Police Quest III, and as such was not involved with this remake. Given that Walls was the father of Police Quest, and his experiences on the force helped give the original game, and the series as a whole, its realistic tone, it’s interesting to note that the remake does not mess with what made the original so groundbreaking. Other than the obvious cosmetic changes and the new interface which necessitates new ways to perform the same puzzle solutions, Police Quest remains intact.

Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2 - From A Time when Men were Real Men, Women were Real Women and Small Pulsating Creatures from Planet X were Real Small Pulsating Creatures From Planet X

Written by TBD.

The decision is made – YOU voted, and Lydia beat both Barth and Zeke as protagonist for this playthrough. You chose the character with the most boring thing to say in all you've read about so far, just giving us her name and planet of origin. Let's see if that lack of anything interesting to say continues throughout the game. If it does, I know who to blame. On with the show...

Lydia Sandler journal entry 1: Nothing much interesting ever happens in the sleepy town of Atom City, Nevada. Maybe tonight will change all that. My father, an astronomer (or possibly just a telescope enthusiast) asked me to check out a meteor that hit the ground near here. I seek help from my friend Zeke, as well as his employees at the gas station, and do some exploring. While checking out near a dried up canal, you won't believe what I found...

Missed Classic: Enchanter - Won! and Final Rating

Written by Joe Pranevich

Last time out, I inched closer to discovering the Warlock’s inner sanctum and figuring out how to defeat him. In the process, I survived being sacrificed, watched a turtle be a ninja a full year before that would become a thing, and completely screwed up the Zork timeline by teleporting my character from the first games into an adventure that he wasn’t expecting. It’s been a great ride, if a bit frustrating at times. I’m not sure how I should think of a Warlock who leaves so many useful scrolls hidden all around his castle for a novice adventurer to come and defeat him with…

The first thing that I did in this session is to experiment with “melbor”, the protection from evil spell that I picked up at the end of last week. It doesn’t help one iota getting through the guarded door, but it does seem to prevent the cultists from finding me. With that, I have been finally able to access the eastern exit from the Junction… yay! This leads me to a landing and then a winding stairwell going infinitely up and down in both directions. I try to see if it repeats by dropping an object and seeing if I see it again later, but it really does seem to go on forever. With nothing up and nothing down and no spells that seem right for this occasion, I’ll have to come back later.

Kyrandia - Final Rating

Written by Alfred n the Fettuc

It is time for King Brandon’s adventures to be tested and thoroughly examined through the PISSED rating system. Will the beautiful universe crafted by Westwood be enough to forgive some lacklustre puzzle design or will Kyrandia disappear into the depths of our leaderboard? Let’s find out!

Police Quest 1 (VGA Remake): Won!

Written by Alex

The reign of the Death Angel is at an end. The city of Lytton is safe once more. And Sonny Bonds—Detective Sonny Bonds—is the most beloved man in the city.

How did we get here? What happened in between Sonny disguising himself *snort* as a gangster *snicker* in order to infiltrate the illegal gambling ring at the Hotel Delphoria?

Missed Classic: Enchanter - The Terror that Flaps in the Night

Written by Joe Pranevich

Last week, I finished exploring nearly all of the Warlock’s castle but left many mysteries unsolved. We found a deathtrap with hammers and spears, a mysterious rainbow turtle, a man in a mirror, an excessively guarded door, and many other little mysteries. I’m going to have to put some of these puzzles to bed if I want to fight my way to the Warlock. You may have noticed that this isn’t a “Won!” post. Except for the original Dungeon (which was enormous), this is the first game in our marathon to require a fourth post. I’m still going to push to have each game done in three or less, but it seemed better to let this game breathe as much as it needed to. There are a lot of puzzles!

Just as with last week, my big break happened almost immediately after I stopped scrawling my notes for the last section. I put the game down, came back, and figured out a huge trick: napping. I have said this before, but when I write about these games, sometimes I sound smarter than I am. For every correct choice, I can spend enormous amounts of time wandering around or trying randomly stupid things which I do not always mention. Keep in mind that for every solved problem there is a strange man yelling at his computer screen about a thirty-four-year old game. Finding the clue I needed while napping was one example of said screaming.

Game 86: Leather Goddesses of Phobos 2: Gas Pump Girls Meet the Pulsating Inconvenience from Planet X - Introduction (1992)

Written by TBD

Since Maniac Mansion, Green Tentacle's become hungry for something else

After completing the original Leather Goddesses of Phobos, I was very much looking forward to the sequel, not so much for the opportunity of seeing the aforementioned goddesses in all their VGA graphical glory (Mmmmm, pixelated boobies...), but because of a point-and-click mouse interface - no more parser problems

{I don't understand the word 'point-and-click'}

Screw you, 1980s Intercom.

{I don't see any 'you' here}