In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two, yet equally important, groups: the police who investigate crime, and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories.
This premise for a one-hour television show has produced countless episodes, many Emmy awards, and two spin-offs. It was only a matter of time before it was transported to the PC. The flow of each episode is fairly linear (i.e. almost never is there a subplot) and is divided into concise chunks of time with few locations, thus making a port fairly simple, as opposed to, say, L.A. Law.
Sierra spent a little more time creating the third installment in the Daventry series and it shows. The increase in difficulty is quite welcome as well as a larger map and complex characters. To top it off, there is a plot. A plot that develops.
Publisher: Sierra Developer: Sierra Year: 1984 Platform: DOS; Macintosh; Apple II; Amiga; Sega Master System
Sierra’s first colored adventure game in its most successful series ever, King’s Quest was a fascinating game when it came out. Unfortunately, it doesn’t hold up too much over time.
Publisher: Brøderbund Developer: Brøderbund Year: 1995 Platform: Windows, Macintosh
While I have yet to see an excellent game based in the courtroom (and, from the looks of things, I’m not optimistic), Brøderbund has at least provided us with an entertaining, user-friendly drama in this underrepresented genre. You play D.A. Granger, attempting to convict an artist of murdering his friend and business partner, an affluent San Francisco museum curator. The detective on the case has provided you with relevant documents and videos of her interrogations of the witnesses. Afterwards you must interview the witnesses and then go to court, hoping they won’t change their stories once you get there. Your goal, of course, is a 1st degree murder conviction.
Publisher: Sierra Developer: Sierra Year: 1999 Platform: Windows
Once again Jane Jensen and Sierra decide to completely overhaul the game’s design for the third adventure in this popular series. This time around we are given 3-D rendered graphics and gameplay from the first person perspective, and an increased difficulty level that doesn’t rely solely on finding the correct hotspot to click.
Publisher: Sierra Developer: Sierra Year: 1993 Platform: Windows, DOS, Macintosh
In the midst of creating two less than stellar Leisure Suit Larry games, Al Lowe decided to top it off with a crappy wild west story. The game starts out promising with a hilarious introduction, sung by Al Lowe himself, about Freddy Pharkas’ history and how he came to be a pharmacist in the western town of Coarsegold, California. But it doesn’t take long for the game to sink into tedium and endless babble intended to be humorous. Many of the jokes pay homage to Blazing Saddles, an obvious inspiration for the game, but aren’t delivered near as well. And the material isn’t fresh any longer.
Publisher: Dreamcatcher Developer: index+ Year: 2000 Platform: Windows; Mac; Playstation
Taking place seven years after the events in Bram Stoker’s novel, Jonathan Harker must travel to Transylvania to rescue Mina (who has been bitten by Dracula, apparently reincarnated) and defeat the vampire once and for all. An incredibly easy game that can be won in a day or two, Dracula: The Resurrection is intriguing but ultimately unsatisfying.
Publisher: Strategy First Developer: Momentum AS Year: 2007 Platform: Windows
Many in the adventure game community fall all over themselves praising ambitious new games (see: Syberia), seemingly regardless of the quality. Culpa Innata is no exception, an incredibly ambitious game, that while excellent at times, needs to be held to a higher standard if the genre has any hope of reviving.
Publisher: Sierra Developer: Sierra Year: 1989 Platform: DOS; Amiga; Atari ST
Sadly, The Colonel’s Bequest is one of the best adventures Roberta Williams created. Returning to the roots she laid down in her first game, Mystery House, Roberta attempts to create a murder mystery that not only spooks but befuddles the player. It is befuddling, but not in the way Williams intended.
Death By Troggles 
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