Twinsen's Little Big Adventure Classic

While LBA aged quite well in terms of graphics (released one year after Alone In The Dark 3) and sound, there have been made some very nasty gameplay decisions. Movement doesn't feel fluid- every (well made) animation is fully executed, no matter if there's a giant deadly log on your heels or an enemy shooting bullets in your face (due to pointless zoom IN, but no zoom OUT, often the only way of locating enemies is walking until they spot you with their infinite ammo weapons- and then you're most likely screwed) Combat can feel awful at times: you strike with a ball that shoots in a straight line from you. Getting killed because you missed the enemy by 1 inch (OVER and OVER... enemies don't halt to wait for you aiming at them) can be a PITA. Jumping challenges are NOT funny or entertaining. They weren't in AitD, and here they are neither. I called guiltless Twinsen some bad bad things while playing this game. It's not bad at all, in fact it's quite funny at times. But don't say I didn't warn you. Without the glasses of nostalgia I gotta give it very solid 3 stars.

This game has poor controls and frustrating moments of game play. But it cant be stated enough that this is a game that should inspire you. This is a game that lives up to its title of being a little big adventure. In a world that has been created to be so much more than you think it could be. People ragged on it for being just rose tinted goggles but after playing it and coming back to it on almost a yearly bases it still has not lost any of its joy. The characters, the positively breathtaking music design hide away the lack lustre controls. Little Big Adventure feels like a game that was made with love a far cry from games of today. If anything the difficulty of the game means all the more the reward when you finally get to the end. Please do yourself a favour and have an adventure.

LBA2 was a game I played in my youth and greatly enjoyed. I had lots of fun and remember it as a great adventure with amazing freedom, great story and a huge and interesting world. I had never played the first one and now I've tried. The controls are the same, clunky but workable tankcontrols in an isometric view with different stances for moving and interacting in various ways. However playing this game is very tedious. The beginning section will repeat endlessly until you get it right and get your first weapon. And the last bit of it requires you to do one very specific thing that is not specifically told to you in a limited amount of time or you will die and go back. To make it worse, it locked the game in an unwinnable state for me because a door I entered through a cutscene was suddenly bricked up and the cutscene wouldn't trigger again. Getting past that, the combat is much more frequent than in the second game, enemies are everywhere (which knowing the story makes sense). Running past is often an option and recommended but it will make actually exploring more difficult and you will quickly get lost. Characters rarely have names, you just talk to everybody and do what they tell you. If you can even find your way since the map is pretty useless and the directions, if you are given any, are of location names which are only discernible if you take the time to read signs on the streets. Finally I got past the terrible first two islands only to be greeted by a platforming section while under fire followed by a bit of combat and more platforming. Then a block pushing puzzle while avoiding traps, more combat, you get the drift. The final nail in the coffin for me was a platforming section while avoiding traps and being followed by a rolling log where falling would not kill you but send you around a room with further traps, combat and platforming only to get to try the log bit again. My recommendation, watch a let's play and skip this but play the second game.

I can still hear that line in my head as if it was yesterday. It's the line that kicks off this wonderful adventure, rich in character, soul and well... epicness! The game takes place on the planet of Twinsun, where we find our hero Twinsen imprisoned in the tyrannic Funfrock's high security prison for his rebellious acts. But not only is he a rebel, he is also sort of a priest, or guardian if you will- of the god of the people in the game -Sendell. Funfrock has by military force siezed and occupied pretty much the whole planet, he has an army of so called robo-clones which he uses to oppress the people of Twinsun. The only thing that stands against him are the rebels, made up from the various unique people inhabiting the planet - and Twinsen of course, with the powers he lends from his godess. Of of these powers is the main weapon you will be using throughout the game - the ball of sendell. It's kind of like a ball shaped boomerang the returns to your hand once it strikes an enemy - just one of many examples of elements in this game that are funny and quirky but not enough to be outright silly. This is truly a game that fits any type of player of any age, and I enjoy it just as much everytime I play through it, even now, fifteen years later. I guess you could compare the gameplay to that of the Zelda games - it's an adventure game which includes platforming, combat, puzzle-solving and detective work. Twinsen gathers several gadgets and other parts of equipment to help him in his journey. Apart from the ball I already mentioned we have the "protopack" -a jetpack that seems more like a powerful fart-machine. What differs this game from The Legend of Zelda is it's unieqeness, it's personality and the feeling you get while playing it. It's not like any other game you will ever play. And don't get me started on the music. The soundtrack by Philippe Vachey is absolutely brilliant the fits the game excellently. The sheer amount of nostalgia the music induces in me is awe-inspiring. This is a real highlight of my childhood and there's no way I can be completely objective in reviewing it. But I can tell you this much: this along with it's sequel are the best of their kind. Don't take my word for it though, play it naow! And if you have children this is an excellent indroduction to video games, it suits any age of players really. So stop squirming, and escape from that damn prison right now! :)

This game was a pain back then and its even worse today. From horrible save points to save files constantly being overwritten, your 1st "weapon" [a ball] that can barely hit a target (which you must use btw), getting hurt from running into things (even worse since you have limited lives then you have to start over at the very bloody beginning), and even more. It truly is relentless and a major pain to play. It'll give you frustration like you've never known! There's nothing like all the 5 star reviews, "my fav childhood game" bah! That's not why you give a game 5 stars! If your the type that can't even muster to finish a 10 hour game (which I've finished a 90 hour game before) then this game is DEFINITELY NOT for you. I'm not even finishing this one! Its too frikin frustrating! Lasers will come out of my eye balls first!