Publisher: Sierra
Developer: Sierra
Year: 1990
Platform: DOS; Amiga

Score: 4

I bought this version off eBay by accident and played it only because I felt like getting my money’s worth. I was pleasantly surprised.

The plot and puzzles are virtually unchanged from the original; the improvements mostly lie in the controls and the graphics. You still type in your commands, so the game does not become any easier (not that it was terribly difficult in the first place). The graphics are actually pleasant to look at and the sound is not excruciating like it was in the original.

The scenery has changed for the better in my opinion. Some of the screens were graphically enhanced, a spooky forest was added, and a few items now show up in different locations. There is also an introduction which lays out the plot rather than starting you in media res as the original did.

They also fixed the gnome name guessing game, which was impossible to solve in the original game due to a bug.

Bravo. But it’s hard to improve too much on an already shoddy game with little plot or character development.