Game 54: Space Quest IV - Final Rating

By: Joe Pranevich

Now here we are: the end of the line. It’s time to stop procrastinating by reviewing “hint books” and having “interviews”; we have to get down to the business of giving this game a final rating. And honestly, this is much more difficult than the six other games that I have reviewed for this site. This is a game that meant a great deal to me at one time, and while I can see its flaws now, I still might be wearing some of those rose-tinted glasses. But the only way out is forward, so let’s see how Space Quest IV does in the PISSED rating!

After some debate, I have decided to review both the 1991 floppy disk edition of the game and the 1992 CD-ROM version. The games have enough differences that they will get different scores, but the official score for the spreadsheet and contest will be the floppy score. The lucky reader that guesses the score will not only get a fine collection of CAPs, but also a Ace Hardway tee-shirt thanks to a donation from our friends at SpaceVenture! We will also give out some CAPs to the person guessing closest to the CD-ROM score, but we only have one shirt.

With that out of the way, let’s begin!

Space Quest IV - Interview with the Two Guys from Andromeda

By The TAG team

The galaxy or the constellation? We forgot to ask.

I know I speak for all of the contributors here when I say that we love adventure games. We love to play adventure games, write about adventure games, but most importantly learn about adventure games. These games are an important part of our digital heritage and the work that we do here preserves and promotes the memory of some absolutely fantastic games.

That is why we have been so excited that, just over a month ago, Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe (better known as the “Two Guys from Andromeda”) agreed to a special interview with The Adventure Gamer to coincide with our playthrough of Space Quest IV. These questions wouldn’t come from the admins or writers for TAG, but rather all of our contributors. We quickly pulled together a call for questions and sent them off to Scott and Mark for their answers. Today, we can finally share with you the answers to our burning questions!

Game 54: Space Quest IV - Epilogue: Marmota Monax Die

By Joe Pranevich

“Oh God. Another Space Quest IV post…”

When I was a young boy, I fell in love with the “Prydain Chronicles”, a series of young-audience fantasy novels by Lloyd Alexander. Most people only remember this series for “The Black Cauldron” which became a Disney animated film in 1985, as well as a game that the Trickster reviewed on this very blog. But while most kids would read a series they loved from beginning to end as quickly as possible, I did just the opposite: I made the books take forever. I read and re-read each in the series, savoring each one. I delayed reading the final book in the series, “The High King” for years because I did not want the series to end. Until I got to that last page, Taran and his friends could always have new adventures. But once I read it, that would be “the end”.

Space Quest IV isn’t quite that kind of high-art, and I am a long way from being a ten-year old, but we have a few exciting things to share as we close out this game, arguably the best of the Space Quest series, and one of my personal favorites. I have enjoyed this game and I hope you do mind that I take some time this week to savor the experience and share a few things I’ve learned before we move onto the next one.

Game 54: Space Quest IV - WON!

By: Joe Pranevich

Roger Wilco’s Janitorial Log #5 - At long last, Vohaul’s evil reign of terror has ended! Or, perhaps it never started? All this time traveling has made me very confused and somewhat hungry. In any event, I infiltrated Vohaul’s fortress, passed a laser trap, purchased a computer accessory, broke into his mainframe, and rescued my son. I didn’t even know that I had a son until right before I rescued him, so that has to count for something when Father's Day comes around. The guy tells me that I won’t remember this later, but that’s why I have this spiffy Janitorial Log.

And now, I’m back! From outer space!

Where we left off last week, Roger had successfully traveled back in time to Space Quest I, but found almost nothing to do there except pick up a book of matches and dodge a couple of under-colored motorcyclists. Without having any better ideas, I traveled back to Space Quest XII, where we started the game, to see if anything had changed. Well, it had! For no readily apparent reason, the Sequel Police guards were not manning their posts when I arrived and I could start to re-explore the future. Is this where I need to go or another dead end? I guess I will find out soon enough!

Game 54: Space Quest IV - Back to the Sequel

By Joe Pranevich

Roger Wilco’s Janitorial Log #4 - I have finally escaped the shopping mall! Vohaul’s Sequel Police eventually caught up with me there, but I gave them the slip and nicked one of their time pods to travel back to Space Quest I. There I managed to avoid a biker gang, but not do all that much else. Now I’m on my way back to Space Quest XII to see if there is anything new I can do there. I might be stuck.

This place looks familiar...

At the conclusion of our last post, Roger had just completed a full circuit of the Galaxy Galleria mall, solving a number of puzzles along the way. We had managed to get new pants, get and lose a job at Monolith Burger, and even pick up half-a set of time coordinates hidden in a copy of the Space Quest IV Hintbook. The biggest loose end in the mall (that I know of) is the ATM card as I received a hint that I did not look enough like a woman to use it. With luck, that will make what to do next clear as I am running out of ideas.

Game 54: Space Quest IV - Outlet Shopping on the Edge of Forever

By Joe Pranevich

Roger Wilco’s Janitorial Log #3 - Shopping! Seriously, guys? The Latex Babes have left me in the Galaxy Galleria mall, one of the foremost shopping establishments of the near future, without even a decent pair of pants. Well, I managed to buy myself some pants, make a few bucks, and even buy a Space Quest IV hintbook, but I have not yet found a way to escape my mercantile prison. As Jean-Paul Sartre once said, “Hell is other people shopping.” Something like that, anyway.

The walls in the mall are totally, totally tall. Also round

Where we last left our janitorial hero, Roger had just managed to escape from torture at the hands of the Latex Babes of Estros, one of whom is his future ex-girlfriend, and then rescued them from a giant sea slug. Roger’s reward for this heroism was not make-up sex, but rather a one-way trip with the ladies to do a bit of shopping. Awesome! But before we can continue with our events in Space Quest X, we have a brief look at what’s been going on back in Space Quest XII:

Game 54: Space Quest IV - The Time Traveler’s Ex-Girlfriend

By Joe Pranevich

Roger Wilco’s Janitorial Log #2 - After escaping from the destroyed city, I managed to snag myself one of Sludge Vohaul’s time pods. With a bit of luck, I found myself in Space Quest XII, a strange aquatic world filled with dinosaurs, sea slugs, and very attractive women. Me-from-the-future used to date one of them (go me!), but I seem to be stuck in the friend zone now. I saved her life and now she wants to go shopping? Perhaps my leaving makes sense after all...

Roger admires the view while we have a little chat...

A Change in Plans: SQ4 Bugs

In my last post on Space Quest IV, I died a lot. More than a lot, actually. It was pretty much wall-to-wall death there for a while and that wasn’t very fun for me and also probably not all that much fun to read. Several posters commented on that as being part of a “timer” issue with the specific version of SQ4 that I am playing, the GOG.com version which is based on the CD-ROM version from 1992. There was some debate whether this problem was real or just because of faster computers, so I decided to get to the bottom of the situation through experimentation.

Searching the seedier corners of the internet, I located a download of the original floppy version of Space Quest IV and spent a few minutes playing it up to the beginning of my wall-to-wall deaths, to the point where I emerged from the manhole to try to sneak into the policemen’s aircraft.

Memories... I saw this screen a lot last post.

Game 54: Space Quest IV - Roger Wilco’s Bogus Journey

By Joe Pranevich

Roger Wilco’s Janitorial Log #1 - Time: the final frontier. These are the thoughts that were running through my head as I jumped through a “rip” in time to flee some murderous-looking robots. Who was that handsome young lad that pushed me into the rip? I have no idea, but some day I will have to thank him. I landed back home, Xenon, but not the Xenon I remember. This one has been destroyed by an evil AI hidden inside a copy of Leisure Suit Larry. Judging by the subtitle, this must be the work of my arch nemesis, Sludge Vohaul. With a bit of can-do Wilco attitude, I snuck into a patrol ship and nicked my very own time pod. Time to begin my long voyage home.

Reminds me of a certain cantina I could name.

We begin our story right where Space Quest III left off, albeit with better music and a more expansive color pallet. Roger dropped the Two Guys from Andromeda off on Earth to design adventure games for Sierra On-Line and now he’s returning to Xenon. Of course, there’s no hurry right? He has plenty of time to stop off at a neighborhood space-bar and throw back a few. What Roger doesn’t realize is that we’ve now started Space Quest IV and a group of unknown villains are tracking his whereabouts. They have found him at his dive bar and are ordered by their mysterious boss to go after Wilco

Is that space-Gandalf in the corner?

Game 54: Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers - Introduction (1991)

By Joe Pranevich

Nearly six months ago, I was asked by this blog about my “favorite” adventure game. I remember thinking about that for a long time and answering that Quest for Glory IV was my favorite game now, but that as a kid I absolutely would have picked Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers. I played the hell out of this game as a youngster. I bought the floppy version shortly after it came out, loved it, then bought it again when it came out on CD. I must have played this game through a dozen times before I left for college. So why is it that I can remember almost nothing about it now?