Do you miss adventure games?
 

This, to me, was the golden age of computer gaming. The games did not depend on your reflexes -- just your ability to solve problems. But companies like LucasArts or Sierra are now minor players, and adventure games have almost disappeared altogether.

<img src="http://users.otenet.gr/~charral/dott/shot08.gif" width="300"> <img src="http://www.mrbillsadventureland.com/reviews/s-t/samnmaxR/snuckeys.jpg">
<img src="http://www.mrbillsadventureland.com/reviews/i-j/indyjonesR/indy2villa.jpg"> <img src="http://www.mrbillsadventureland.com/reviews/k-l/loomR/loom.jpg">
<img src="http://www.640kb.net/jeux/classique/kingsquest/kq5_4max.jpg" width="300"> <img src="http://kaboca.aut.bme.hu/adhof/pic/mon308.jpg" width="300">

They are still being made. There are a few titles on the PC, and some are even trickling over to the consoles. For example, Broken Sword has just been ported over to the GBA, and the Gamecube has something coming out called Galleon.

<img src=http://www.mrbillsadventureland.com/reviews/m-n/monkeyR/spitsigns2.jpg>

*sniff*

yeah, I remember buying kings quest 3 and having to buy a new pc to play it on. I think I bought a Tandy 1000SL for that. :) Anyway, when I was growing up I loved those games like KQ, Police Quest, Leisure Suit Larry.

I loved these on the PC. I really wish more were being made. Broken Sword is very good and I think there was a rumor about a new version being made soon.

Yes, but it's nowhere near what it used to be. I mean, 2 games?

And anyway, I was primarily talking about computer adventure games. I'm not sure what Galleon is (don't have a GC) but I'm sure it will be 3D. I hate 3D adventure games. ;)

I used to love adventure games. But I must admit, this article hit the nail on the head, and it's damn funny, too.

http://www.oldmanmurray.com/features/doa/page1.shtml

I remember being, like, 5 years old and watching my parents die repeatedly as they try to figure out how to prevent the hooker from giving Larry an STD in LSL 1...

I kind of think that the loss of parser interface games screwed general adventure gaming over.

I mean, you go from being able to type /anything/ in King's Quest 1 (not that most of it would be understood...), to being stuck with one frigging cursor that'll sparkle if something's happening in KQ7. It stops being as much fun, after a while.

rotfl

That's a great article, but not all adventure games were so bizarre. I do admit, though, that sometimes instead of going through some elaborate steps to get the key from the bird's nest, I could just toss a rock at it and knock the nest out of the tree.

I think the only adventure games I ever actually beat were Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade (3 or 4x), and Loom - sweet game, absolutely brilliant puzzle system. Then The Longest Journey came along last year and I beat that too. It was pretty cool, but there was so much stinking dialog while you just sat around and twiddled your thumbs that it started getting boring -- even with the good VAs.

Tuan Jim

I used to love adventure games. I played through pretty much all of the Sierra adventures that were in EGA (that's 16-color graphics in case you forgot). Console games didn't interest me at all, and PC gaming was where it was at.

These days I've pretty much given up on PC games. I played through all of Grim Fandango and The Longest Journey, and thought both were very boring. I now own an Xbox and PS2 and spend most of my gaming time on those systems rather than my PC.

The thing that really killed adventure games for me was, like Jlbkwrm said, the conversion from the parser interface to the point-and-click interface. Adventure games went from using your imagination and typing in an idea to clicking repeatedly all over the screeen: from thinking games to brainless games. Sad.

Those old games were a blast! My favorite was Sam and Max. One of the funniest games I have ever played. I used to be big into the old Infocom games too, which were text only. Some great games that would keep you playing for hours at a stretch.

The many people that think Lucas Art's adventure games were vastly superior to Sierra's would probably disagree with you.

man, I remember all the hassles in Indiana Jones -- trying to figure out if I need to look at the skull or pick it up, push it or pull it. Trial and error, but fun.

I oughta check out the bargain bins for Gabriel Knight 3. The demo was pretty fun.

Tuan Jim

I still dust off <B>"Grim Fandango"</B> from time to time... one of my all time favs!

-k
###

Space Quest.
:)

Primo PC Gaming.

play some mini adventures here. Some are pretty entertaining.
http://ron.the-underdogs.org/

a sequel to Sam & Max is in the works, but it may be a console only release. )-:

There are some good ones there, unfortunately some of the ones I'd like most to play are unavailable (copyright issues) despite being off the shelf for over 15 years. I mean seriously. I'd pay money for a collection of OLD sierra/Lucasarts games or Microprose (airborne ranger, X-com -- the first one, etc).

I did get Wasteland and a couple other ones off their site, but I just haven't had any time to try getting into them. Has anyone tried the thing with slowing down your machine so they play smoothly?

Tuan Jim

I started out playing The Curse of Monkey Island (this game got me into PC games), EMI, and Grim Fandango and then went back to play these earlier games. I loved them...but once I figured out how to solve all the puzzles I haven't touched them. I did go through a grim and Curse awhile back again just to hear some of the dialogue, its hilarious!

The first adventure game I ever played was this one by Sierra called Quest for Camelot. It was one of those ones where you can type in commands to control King Arther and find the Holy Grail, it rocked!!! I was really young at the time and it took me the entire summer vacation to beat it. It was worth it though, and a blast even though the music was the PC speaker bleeps :D. Of course back then I had a 486 and it was new!

I'm thinking of picking up leisure suit larry, I never did play that game. The creator of it, Al Lowe, was on the screensavers a few days ago and mentioned that the game isn't being printed anymore. It looked like a funny game.

Also looking to track down Day of the Tentacle. Do I miss adventure games? Kinda, but I'm a mixed bag gamer, I like all sorts of genres.

A couple years ago they gave away Day of the Tentacle free with some cereal. I played it and it was quite fun...well written and entertaining. Certainly not bad for free.

When I think adventure games I think of games like Zelda, so no I don't miss them as there are still a good bit of these type of games on the various consoles.

I never cared for PC Adventure game like Day of the Tentacle and what not, but then again I've never cared for gaming on the PC period.

Infocom games were a blast. I have a CD somewhere with a ton of them on it. I can still remember sitting at the old C64 playing Hitchhikers Quide to the Galaxy, graphing out the map on paper, then sending the entire game text to the printer for safekeeping.

I likes LucasArts games a little more then Sierra's. Zach McKracken ruled. I'll have to search for the link, but there is a group of programmers somewhere redoing Zach for todays PC's. Looked pretty good a couple of months back.

This isn't a link to theunderdogs. It is a link to a game series that theunderdogs host. It is called reality of the Norm (ron), and each episode is a mini adventure. The cool thing is that each game takes place in the same town, but every episode you are a different player, and each episode is by a different creator, so the humor of each is slightly different.

What was the last big adventure game to be made? I know lucasart is still making monkey islands, but the new ones are so bad they don't count. I think lucas arts did full throttle a few years ago, and sierra did one called the dig. Were they the last? Also, remember the one about the trip to the amazon, or the indiana jones trip to atlantis? That was quality gaming.