Tag: point-and-click
Return of the point-and-click adventure game – Wish-list for the future
After lending you my thoughts over the past few days on the return of the point-and-click adventure genre via Sam & Max, Monkey Island™, and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, I now offer my hopes for the future…
Future Point-and-Click Adventure Release Wish-List
If I had my say in what point-and-click adventure games to re-release next, my top choice would easily be Day of the Tentacle. Screenshots:
This sequel to Maniac Mansion (which would also make for a fantastic remake) epitomizes everything that is great about the point-and-click adventure game genre. The artistic style is completely off the wall and is just begging for a talented artist to come and and redraw it all in HD.
Day of the Tentacle’s original voice acting is superb and would not need to be touched. Hopefully the original recording masters are still lying around a hard drive somwhere.
I still have my original Day of the Tentacle game discs and I’m regularly tempted to pop them in and play through the whole story again. However, I’ll hold off with the hope of a remake emerging some day.
In a close second place, I’d love to see Telltale Games take on Grim Fandango and bring Manny Calavera back to life… er, death. Screenshot:
This was LucasArts’ entry into the world of 3-D adventures and it closely resembles what Telltale Games is doing now with Sam & Max and Monkey Island™. It seems like it would be a no-brainer for Telltale to pick up where LucasArts left off and continue this unique story.
But until these come to a console near you, those of you who want to enjoy these classic point-and-click adventure games should check out ScummVM. It’s an emulator that allows you to play any of these old LucasArts games that use the “SCUMM” engine. Of course, you have to have a copy of the game too.
That wraps up my series of posts about point-and-click adventure games. Weigh in with your thoughts on this genre by commenting!
TweetReturn of the point-and-click adventure game – Sam & Max
When the Nintendo Wii was announced to have a mouse-like controller/remote several years ago, my initial reaction was hope for the return of point-and-click adventures. Out of all game genres, this comedy-filled play-at-your-own pace style of gameplay suits me best. These games are simply fun. There’s no dying or game over screen. You simply navigate through endlessly-detailed locales, talking to zany characters via amusing conversation trees, and even occasionally use your brain to solve puzzles using inventory items in inventive ways.
The best point-and-click adventures came from LucasArts. Classic titles like Sam & Max Hit the Road, The Secret of Monkey Island™, Day of the Tentacle, and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis really embodied everything that the genre is all about. Unfortunately, likely do the increasing popularity of gaming consoles, the genre faded away toward the end of the ’90s.
But now, point-and-click adventures are finally making a comeback, not only on the Nintendo Wii, which allows for traditional point-and-click interaction using its Wiimote, but also on the XBox 360. One-by-one, classic characters are finding new life off of the computer and onto televisions everywhere.
In a series of posts over the next few days, I will explore this return of the point-and-click adventure beginning with…
Sam & Max
Sam & Max Hit the Road was a hilariously bizarre point-and-click adventure computer game from LucasArts that followed an anthropomorphic dog and rabbity-thing through various capers in a film noir meets Saturday morning cartoon kind of way. Screenshot:
Now, Telltale Games has released two volumes of new “episodes” featuring the duo, rendered in 3-D that still holds mostly true to the 2-D style of the original. The first volume (Sam & Max Save the World) is available on PC, Nintendo Wii, and XBox 360 (via XBox Live Arcade). The second volume (Sam & Max Beyond Time & Space) is currently only available on PC but is coming to the other two platforms “soon.” Screenshot:
I believe Telltale Games can be credited for the resurrection of point-and-click adventures. Prior to the release of Sam & Max Save the World, gamers were completely without any interesting or worthwhile additions to the genre.
I’ve played through the entire first volume of this new Sam & Max series and found it to be about 95% accurate to what the original LucasArts games were all about. It was full of inane comedy that often makes no sense, crazy characters, and a bizarre array of inventory items that ultimately come in handy.
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