For some reason, I don't remember much about the first time I played 'Grim Fandango'. I remember bits and pieces of it, especially the first and second acts, but much of third and fourth acts were a blur. What I remembered most from playing 'Grim Fandango' was how frustrated I was with the tank controls and running into invisible walls. My unremarkable experience of playing 'Grim Fandango' made me very hesitant about buying 'Grim Fandango Remastered', even though I’ve really enjoyed Double Fine Production's remastering of 'Day of the Tentacle'. I'm glad I took a chance on this game because it is much better than I remembered it to be. First of all, the tank controls are now optional because you can now play the game using only the mouse, making navigation and giving action commands simpler. The inclusion of the mouse control was so seamless that it feels like it was there all along. I've also come to appreciate the creativity, cinematic homage and dry humour in 'Grim Fandango Remastered' now that I'm older and wiser. The writing was sharp, and voice acting was spot-on and natural. (The only voice acting performance that stood out like a sore thumb for me was that by Pamela Segall, who used the same voice for one character as she did for Bobby in 'King of the Hill'.) The remastering of graphics was subtle, mostly on the lighting of characters, character modelling, and textures. The score was also redone, making the jazzy soundtrack more sonically appealing. It's too bad that Double Fine couldn't go back and re-render the backgrounds so they will look sharper to achieve that full remastered look. 'Grim Fandango' is truly the last of LucasArts' great adventure games, and I'm glad Double Fine has remastered it to run on this generation of PCs and gaming consoles. Great games such as this need to be preserved and updated, so that the next generation of gamers can easily play and appreciate them in the years to come.
Playing 'Leisure Suit Larry' for the first time is very much like reading your first 'Playboy' magazine. It's a coming-of-age experience that you won't forget. 'LSL' is a highly misunderstood game series, but thematically, it is no different than the 'Porky's' and 'American Pie' movies. LSL1: Funny, but with lot less places to explore than 'Police Quest', 'King's Quest' and 'Space Quest'. I prefer 'Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded' because of the visual update and voice acting, but the original and VGA version still play well. (Score: 3/5; Sexy Level: 3/5) LSL2: My least favourite of Al Lowe's 'LSL' games as this one was more like a spy game than a sexy, adult adventure game. (Score: 1/5; Sexy Level: 0/5) LSL3: Larry's return to form was made better by the fact that you can play as Passionate Patti. (Score: 4/5; Sexy Level: 4/5) LSL4: I couldn't find the missing floppies. LSL5: The one that defined the modern 'LSL' visual style. The story and puzzles were okay, but I enjoyed the sexy and satirical humour. (Score: 3.5/5; Sexy Level: 4/5) LSL6: The one with the most logical puzzles. The VGA version looked good, but the SVGA version looked atrocious due to bad mix of photorealistic and cartoonish art styles. The SVGA close-ups looked great though. (Score: 4/5; Sexy Level: 4/5)
The original EGA version of 'Police Quest' was one of, if not the first, Sierra adventure games I played. Back then, I was astounded by the graphics and openness of the game world (i.e. City of Lytton) in the original 'PQ1'. Sure, I would crash my vehicle frequently, but I enjoyed seeing actual traffic on the roads! The VGA remake is more aesthetically pleasing by today's standard, but its graphics just don't seem to reflect the rising crime in Lytton well. Good thing this game collection has both versions so you can judge for yourself. The strictness with which players have to follow police procedures can be somewhat unforgiving in 'PQ1'. Seemingly in response, 'PQ2' was made to have a more Hollywood action movie feel. Player-controlled driving portion was also removed, which happened to improve the game's pacing. The changes that were made to 'PQ2' must have ruffled some feathers because 'PQ3' ended up being more like VGA version of 'PQ1', but with a Hollywood movie-esque storyline like in 'PQ2'. Then there is ‘Police Quest: Open Season’, designed by Tammy Dargen of 'America's Most Wanted' fame, and Daryl Gates, former police chief of the LAPD. Dargen and Gates' experience did not translate into good game design. 'OS' features more stringent police procedures to follow, which may provide a realistic look into police work, but not fun for players. The protagonist of 'OS' was also boring from the get-go, and became unlikeable very quickly. The digitized photos and videos of real locations and actors in 'OS' did not age well, making it the worst looking game in the collection. Mismatch in lighting, drab colour palette, and awful (physical and voice) acting made it look like a B-movie. Ironically, the pixelated and handrawn graphics in Jim Wall's trilogy made the first three games look more timeless. This game collection is a must-get for 'PQ' fans despite my dislike for 'OS'. It's great bargain especially when both EGA and VGA versions of 'PQ1' are included!
Ingredients: * Pixelly in-game aesthetics of Commodore games * 16-bit colours of Super Nintendo games * Modern sidescrolling action game design, with matching intensity * An awesome collection of characters parodying the action movie heroes and heroines from the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s Direction: Add ingredients together, give it a good BROtastic shake and we get 'Broforce', the video game that children of the '70s and '80s wish they had when they were kids. The action in 'Broforce' is so outrageous that it will get your adrenaline pumping from the get-go. It's challenging, especially a few boss fights, but not too hard to make you feel less of a Bro. Despite dying often, you'll rarely find the levels tiresome because each time you restart a level or rescue a prisoner, you'll get to play as a new Bro. This means you'll need to readjust your combat tactics to push forward. Gameplay gets more fun when you unlock a new Bro and get to try out new combat moves. Each bro is a parody of famous action heroes or heroines. Some play better than others in general, and by the end of the game, you'll definitely have a few favourite Bros to play as. But, don't count the other Bros out because each of them can surprise you and be extremely helpful in some boss fights. Although I feel that the last level drags on a bit too long for me at times, 'Broforce' gets an enthusiastic perfect score of 5 stars out of 5 from me. It has brought me so much joy not only because it's a fun game, but it's pretty much my childhood dream video game come to life! (Personal favourite Bros: Brommando, Bro Hard, Bro Dredd, Snake Broskin, Brobocop, The Boondock Bros, Brochete, Ellen Ripbro, and Bro Max.)
Replaying 'Star Trek: 25th Anniversary' on the actual day of 'Star Trek''s 50th anniversary brought back many memories. I remember seeing the great looking graphics on screenshots, noticing how it looks different from the Sierra and LucasArts adventure games at the time, and coveting it after reading an article about it in Compute! Magazine. I eventually got a copy of the game a year or two later, but was not fortunate enough to enjoy the Enhanced CD-ROM version. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the game immensely. Thanks to GoG, I finally got the chance to play the Enhanced CD-ROM version, with great voice acting from the original cast. Hearing the spoken dialogue was particularly bittersweet considering the passing of DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, and Leonard Nimoy. For the most part, 'Star Trek: 25th Anniversary' withstood the test of time rather well. The adventure part of the game is still solid despite some cryptic puzzles. The space battle part, however, now feels more inferior than ever as it had bad controls and poor visual readings essential to success to begin with, as compared to its contemporary like 'Wing Commander'. It's unfortunate that the game lacks an option to skip battles -- and they are plenty -- because I just wanted to resume adventuring. To me, adventuring and exploring is what 'Star Trek' is mainly about. If I wanted to engage in space battles and dogfights, I would be playing 'Star Wars' and 'Wing Commander' instead. Still, 'Star Trek: 25th Anniversary' is a must-have and a must-play for adventure gamers, whether or not they are fans of 'Star Trek'. It reminds us of the more hopeful and optimistic times of the original series, and that future 'Star Trek' games should be more about adventures than action.
Of all the quest games released by Sierra, the 'Space Quest' series was definitely among the top three. 'Space Quest 4' was easily one of the best looking adventure games of the 1990s, with imaginative puzzles and time-rippingly good premise. Sierra then outdid themselves with 'Space Quest 5', which featured even better graphics, a funnier story, and challenging puzzles with clearer objectives. As a parody of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation', 'SQ5' was pretty much Space Quest at its best. If 'SQ4' and 'SQ5' are the 'Batman Begins' and 'The Dark Knight' of the second 'SQ' trilogy, then 'Space Quest 6' is still not good enough to be 'The Dark Knight Rises'. No, 'SQ6' is the 'Batman & Robin' of the 'SQ' saga because: * the story is ridiculously bad and unfunny * the game has monotonous pacing, lacking intense moments that made 'SQ4' and 'SQ5' exciting * the user interface is a major step backward from the one in 'SQ4' and 'SQ5', as it dedicates one-third of the screen to command buttons and dialogue transcript * the graphics lack personality and depth, and look awkward with the unnecessary computer generated 3D graphics typical of the mid-1990s My negativity aside, 'SQ4' and 'SQ5' are enough reasons to buy this game package. Just don't touch 'SQ6'. Trust me, you're likely to thank me for this advice.
About 23 years ago, I played this beautiful games called 'Day of the Tentacle'. It was one of my favourite adventure games, alongside 'Sam & Max Hit the Road' and 'The Secret of Monkey Island'. I replayed the latter two recently and was surprised by how well these game held up over two decades later. Now, 'DotD' finally got remastered, and it played better than ever. True, the 90s adventure game mechanics are getting dated, but the story, characters, voice acting, and humour are still great and vibrant by today's standard. The bonus features of production artwork and developers' commentary are a nice touch to an already appealing game.
While 'Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas', Rockstar took the 'GTA' series in a more serious direction, Volition took 'Saints Row' did the opposite with 'Saints Row: The Third'. Doing so freed the 'Saints Row' series from being labeled as a "GTA clone" and developed a style all on its own. 'Saints Row: The Third' is an absurdly stupid, fun game. By not trying to be realistic, the game got away with dialling the action, humour and overt sexualisation of both male and female characters to 11. The result of that was a game that was actually enjoyable, albeit lacking an evenly strong story to motivate the player through the missions. I highly recommend 'Saints Row: The Third' to players who suffer from 'GTA' fatigue like me, especially after the mediocre single-player campaign in 'GTA V' and the chaotic 'GTA Online'. You may just find yourself enjoy the absurdity, fun, and humour that we have not seen in 'GTA' since 'GTA: San Andreas'.
'Sam & Max Hit the Road' is one of the iconic titles in the LucasArts' adventure game repertoire. Even with all the advances made in computer graphics and game design over the past two decades , 'Sam & Max' still looks and plays great, and remains very funny to this day. (But, a few of Steve Purcell's jokes start to show their age.) The good balance of humour, puzzle solving and non-penalizing freedom to explore in 'Sam & Max' make the game a fun diversion from the more intensive, modern day game titles.
