Tex Murphy: Mean Streets + Martian Memorandum

Faced bug in Mean Streets when game doesn't "see" some objects for interaction like shelfs, ladder etc. For test I grab floppy version from Old-Games and run it with D-Fend and it work's faster, colours are slightly better and without these bug with object interactions. So, if you want to buy these bundle, be aware of possible technicle troubles.

Thought I'd give this one a go. I remember trying to play it back when I was 12, but it was too advanced for me at that time. Bought it again, 16 years later and- possibly spoiled by today's standards- it just didn't match up. The navigation... oh the navigation.. was at times extremely tedious, even for the mid-nineties. Frequently walking into some imaginary obstacle, hence screwing up your timing when you have to quickly hide, or get to a door on time. This is a short game. Finished it in around 8 hours, more or less. It just wasn't nearly as fun to play as the following Tex games, but I convinced myself I needed it to complete the chain. Should've bought Torin's Passage instead, it maybe a shorter game but I'm sure it would be more entertaining!

- Mean Streets - 3/5 The game is a mix of adventure games (that was really strong back then) a side shooter (a bit crappy at it) and a flying simulator (that fake 3d was also a thing in the early 90s): I really don't know why they had to put the flying and shooting sequences in, to artificially make the game longer? Doh!? THE BAD: Those sections are what drive the score down for me, shooting is boring (you just keep doing the same thing over and over any time a shooting sections comes up) and the flying is even worse it takes 10 seconds to cover some big distances (eg 400 miles) but as you get near your target it gets slower and slower, so it takes minutes to travel the last few miles and land. You can fail a timed event by the end just because the game didn't properly get your keyboard input (don't know if it's a dosbox emu thing). THE GOOD: While the background story and the NPCs are never explored enough, the narration is good enough and the ending is satisfying (not always the case for adventure games), the interaction with the NPCs is what you should expect from a 1989 game and I can't complain, I liked the exploration sections, and that's where the game is at his best. The controls are full keyboard and eveything feels a bit slow, by today's standards the game couldn't go over a 2 stars, but I remember playing it back then and I like it, but absolutely not blown by it. - Martian Memorandum - 4.5/5 THE GOOD: The story is much much better than the previous game, there's a lot more interaction with the NPCs and there's more depth to them, the controls are on par with the first point and click adventure games with some nice minigames. The graphics are great for a '91 real-like adventure game! THE BAD: I hated the music and the fact you couldn't control its volume. Some cheap deaths. While using dosbox the game's window takes full control of your mouse, while in fullscreen it's a nightmare to get back to the desktop.

Mean Streets is an unconventional adventure game that combines multiple 'genres' into a playable detective novel. As other reviews have highlighted, there are elements of a flight simulator, action game, and adventure game bundled into one package. Not all of those components are as well executed. The flight simulator mode is required to move between locations; after figuring out how the manual controls work, I figured out that there's an autopilot. Alas, "automatic" means you still have to watch several clunky polygons crawl through coloured planes. They must have been very proud of this feature. What many people consider unplayable relates to the interface. In the dialogue option, you must type out the full (and correctly-spelled) name of the individual you want to ask about rather than selecting the name from a drop-down list. And let me tell you--there are like a gajillion names in this game. Keep pen and paper ready. Interacting with environments--particularly seeing and picking up objects--is an art form. Rooms are split into broad, searchable areas; as the game is fully keyboard operated, it is impossible to directly interact with objects via a cursor highlight. Because it takes so much manual labour, this game is very satisfying to complete, however. Martian Memorandum is certainly a step up from the previous part in terms of interface. It is more of a "pure" adventure game, as the shooting and flight components were eliminated. The game is certainly easier to play, as interacting with environments was much more nuanced and straight forward. As in the previous part, the graphics could at times be really impressive... yet at other times lazily implemented or rushed. Despite the cool world created in the game, it didn't draw me in as well as Mean Streets. Both games craft a unique world with history and lore. In both it is essential that you look before you leap: you cannot observe items in your inventory! Invest in early observation or you will be stuck.

This game is _very_ dated though not completely dumb. The story is not very original but the game has its kind of humour. The biggest flaw is its interface which is keyboard only and rather clunky. Most of the time you try to get new location codes by speaking to various people. Some locations are "searchable" - that means you can use about 5 commands. Things in your inventory are used automatically once you´ve acquired them. Moving between locations is done using a flying car "speeder" which can hopefully be set to autopilot at all times. When talking to people you can only ask about 8 keywords listed in the game manual or other people (by typing their full names). That´s it - rather disappointing. The bright side is that puzzles are quite logical and the game itself is not very long. A die hard adventure genre fans can probably appreciate this game, others should probably avoid it...