Publisher: Sierra
Developer: Sierra
Year: 1987
Platform: DOS; Mac; Apple II; Amiga
Based on Chuck Benton’s text game “Softporn Adventure”, Leisure Suit Larry was the first popular adult game on the market.
Continue reading Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards
Publisher: Legacy Interactive
Developer: Legacy Interactive
Year: 2004
Platform: Windows
The final installment by Legacy using the original Law & Order series, they finally cleaned up all of the annoying little design problems present throughout the first two games in the series. Sadly, they failed to clean up all of the glaringly large design problems I outlined in my reviews of Dead On The Money and Double Or Nothing. In fact, they managed to get worse.
Publisher: Legacy Interactive
Developer: Legacy Interactive
Year: 2003
Platform: Windows
I can nearly copy and paste my review from Dead On The Money.
Only two things were essentially changed in the second episode. One, there is blissfully no longer a time limit, giving you ample time to search the environment without the nagging (and unrealistically fast) clock. And, of course, the plot has changed. We’re still dealing with a murder, but this time it’s over a scientist and his breakthrough research and various interest groups involved with him.
The story line is slightly more engaging than that in the prequel, but the remaining flaws are still present. There are still lock-and-key puzzles that shouldn’t exist in a cop’s world. And, if it’s possible, this adventure is even easier, giving the beginner only a few obstacles over what amounts to a couple of days of play.
If you like the show or the first game, you’ll likely enjoy Double Or Nothing as well. But don’t look for any breakthroughs. At least the money on the actors wasn’t wasted.
Publisher: Legacy Interactive
Developer: Legacy Interactive
Year: 2002
Platform: Windows; Mac
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.
Publisher: Sierra
Developer: Sierra
Year: 1986
Platform: DOS; Amiga
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: 1990
Platform: DOS; Amiga
I bought this version off E-Bay by accident and played it only because I felt like getting my money’s worth. I was pleasantly surprised.
Continue reading King’s Quest I: Quest For The Crown (SCI Remake)
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.
Continue reading Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned
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.
Death By Troggles 
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