Old Adventure Games

Join me as I embark a trip down gaming memory lane, and talk about my favorite genre of all time - Adventure / Point and Click Games! Do you remember those good old pixelated 2D games? The ones that Lucas Arts used to make before they decided to devote all their time to Star Wars? If you don't remember (shame on you!), or you were too young to play those games, allow me to refresh your memory, and let me discuss some of the best old adventure games by Lucas Arts!

Aside from Lucas Arts adventure games, a whole gamut of other adventure point and click games were made, notably Discworld, the King's Quest series, Myst, Willy Beamish, Simon the Sorcerer, and Nancy Drew (which is actually still making new games till this day). Tell me what your favorite old adventure game was! Did I miss any? Please click here to post the name of the game!

Click here to buy some of these old games! :)

Maniac Mansion was the first SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) point and click game published by Lucas Arts, and it was (and actually continues to be) a groundbreaking concept in adventure games. For one thing, you had the option of choosing 3 characters from a set of 6 very colorful, interesting characters. For another, there were multiple ways to finish the game and this, along with your characters (and who survived) determined the end result. Yes, you heard me - survived. Sometimes you get locked in a dungeon or get killed by the mad scientist and his equally mad family. Lastly, the game was a tasteful mix of action, suspense, and comedy, a combination which Lucas Arts will skillfully carry over to their other games in the Adventure franchise.

But before I get ahead of myself, let me explain the plot. You're basically a group of youngsters trying to get into this maniac mansion, to rescue Sandy Pantz, who supposedly was abducted by this strange family. You stand outside the eerie mansion and you're left figuring out how to get in. Beware when you go in and make sure you don't get caught! Some of the family members will appear in some rooms and try to catch you and if you don't escape, then it's your demise. I played this game again just last year and I tell you, it's still as interesting and gripping as it were years back.

The game play is a bit clunky, as you would expect. There are a selection of commands on the bottom of the screen like "push, pull, open, close, etc." and you need to click one action and then go back to the main screen and click on the object you want to apply the object to. Your inventory is also at the bottom of the screen and is a simple text-based inventory. None the less, this is one game I'd play over and over again.

Indiana Jones, charming explorer / adventurer extraordinaire, was a PERFECT fit to the genre for obvious reasons. It was definitely not difficult to whip up a good plot that involves traveling to different parts of the globe and thwarting evil baddies. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis was notable in that you had three ways to solve the game - by brawn, by brain, or by team. Brawn means India Jones uses his fisticuffs to get past certain obstacles, and you actually get to control him. By brain is the usual way puzzles are solved in point and click games. By team means you get the assistance of your beautiful partner, Sophia.

This is arguably one of the most popular series of the Lucas Arts adventure games. I guess everyone really loves pirates. The game revolves around Guybrush Threepwood, a wannabe pirate who must defeat the formidable Le Chuck and win the heart of (and later on save) the governor, Elaine Marley. This game is a whole lot of fun, which includes spitting contests, insult sword fighting, some voodoo magic, and an occasional tongue twister or two.

There are five games to this series. The latest one is in 3D and was developed by Telltale and Lucas Arts. By the third game in the series, The Curse of Monkey Island, the interface was improved considerably. Instead of showing all these actions, they condensed it into 3 main actions - Use/Pick Up, Talk, and Look. Also, the inventory was now graphical, so you can see all the shiny (and sometimes gruesome) objects you received. It was a step in a very good direction because it simplified things and made the interface look cleaner.

Because of the popularity of the series, Lucas Arts just came out with a special edition of Monkey Island 1 and 2, where the graphics are refined 2D versions of the old game! It looks very very awesome.

I've also included digital downloads of the latest game, Tales of Monkey Island, which is now in 3D. Very awesome and the game is separated into chapters like an awesome movie!

Sam and Max is another popular point and click game and the characters have been so memorable that they have inspired web comics and a television series. The game focuses on an unlikely freelance police / detective duo - a dog by the name of Sam, and an anthropomorphic "hyperkinetic, three-foot rabbity thing" called Max. The game already uses the refined interface where there are only three main actions (Use, Talk, See).

It's a very unique and memorable game that features a lot of unusual characters, plot twists, and places, including bungee jumping on the nose of Mount Rushmore, an ENORMOUS ball of twine, a Big Foot, a vortex inside a snow globe, a celebrity vegetable museum, a whole lot of hair, and other very funny and crazy elements.

Telltale has also published a 3D version of Sam and Max and it is available on PC, Playstation, Wii, and X-Box. Like Monkey Island, the format of the game is episodic. I also included a DVD of the Sam and Max series

Day of the Tentacle is set after Maniac Mansion. The mad scientist family has turned good, and now the threat is in the form of green things that look like traffic cones - tentacles. It's another breakthrough game because you again control more than one character in the game and there's TIME TRAVEL involved. TIME TRAVEL! Who can say no to that??

You control 3 characters - one has traveled back in time, in an era of outhouses and long before Washington cut down an apple tree. The other has gone to the future, where the tentacles are now ruling the Earth and humans are being entered into dog shows. The other one is in the present. Using these three characters, you are supposed to prevent the demise of the human race in the hands of the pesky tentacles. What makes it even cooler is that you get to transfer items from one character to another, and there is even a portion where you need to use cryogenics ;)

If you want to relive the genre (good for you!), or you want to try it out for the first time (good for you too!), then good news! Lucas Arts has released these legacy games and in CD version too!

With the Wii, iPod Touch, Nintendo DS and other gizmos that allow for more user interaction, the adventure point and click genre is experiencing a comeback. It's a slow comeback, and it hasn't caught on like wild fire, but it's a feat to celebrate nonetheless. At the forefront is TellTale Games Company who has made it their mission to help us relive and reconnect with the best adventure game franchises of the olden days (ex. Sam and Max and Monkey Island). All the new games they make have been created in 3D - the norm of games today.

On the other hand, Lucas Arts recently gave their old Monkey Island series games (particularly game 1 and 2) a very breathtaking face lift while still retaining it in 2D. Whether they are testing the adventure game waters to see if they should get back to the business of making games in this genre, their choice of sticking to a 2D look is an interesting one, and one I particularly salute them for. I don't have to think twice to decide that I prefer polished 2D games vs. 3D games.

What is your stand on the matter?

2D adventure games (refined graphics) or 3D adventure games?

Did I forget to mention your favorite adventure point and click game? Do you want to share your thoughts? Your gaming stories? Do you simply want to sigh and talk about the good old days? I'd love to hear them all! Please post below, no need to log in or register :)