For someone who had had the pleasure of gaming for more years than id care to admit, you get to playing a fair share of games across many platforms, so much so if this was a paying job i could sit and type reviews for 8 hours a day 5 days a week, but its not a paying job, its passion, its history, its nostalgia, my memories, our memories as gamers, a loading screen, intro music, that first glimpse of those 8/16 bit graphics and so on.
I have recently stumbled across a very random website whereby i can type in a console/computer, even a genre of game and as many game as i want numerically and hit generate it boom up pops a list, and i thought to myself, this is good, this is great in fact, there are probably hundred of games I've completely forgotten about, i wonder if this is a way to delve into this gamers archive and see what initial memories are pulled out from it, review if from recollection as well as going back and having a go again to see how it measures up to those memories.
To my surprise quite a few titles i recognised popped up on screen, some way too easy, Bubble Bobble, Lemmings, Outrun and Prince of Persia, but there was one that just stirred up all kinds of childhood memories and nostalgia for me....Indiana Jones and the last crusade from Lucas Arts or perhaps known as Lucasfilm games, i forget, but man seeing the screen shots of this game brought it all home, really just how excellent the point and click genre was and still perhaps is, i feel they are a little harder to find in modern gaming.
Now i can recall playing this for the first time in perhaps 1st year of high school around the age of 12 so 1994, the game had been out for 3-4 years by that point, i had seen Dr jones in all 3 films so knew what i was getting into with the game, the feels when the Indiana Jones theme start in all its block like glory on the Atart St (1 Mb may i add 😉) was great, even makes me feel warm inside going back.
Now i had played games from Lucas previously notably Zack McKracken versus the Alien Mind Benders and probably my most loved point and click The secret of Monkey Island, but this one was special, it tied to the big screen, my chance to play through the actual film in all be it reduced quality graphics.
The interface of the game very much following the trend from Lucas games with all command at the bottom of the screen (talk too, pick up, push, pull etc) you get the picture all on the basis of puzzle solving to move on or open the next dialogue with the characters of the game. The game itself follows the movie quite closely in all honesty, from the scene with mass gathering of students outside Dr Jones office at university, to Henry Jones ransacked house, pretty much all the iconic scenes are there, If i can say one thing about Lucas games is how much i love their use of colour in the games, all quite sharp, just draws you in to the experience.
Point and click certainly is niche and not everyone's cup of tea, but i would like to think that perhaps because this title is tied so closely to the film, it may have brought across your more non point and click fan.
An absolute hit for me and if you have not played it, fan of the genre or not i urge you to fire it up on whatever you can and give it the once over. In fact i think i may well do too seeing as its been considerable years since.
Happy gaming people, retro or not, if your gaming your gaming.
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