Download issue cgw_37 - Computer Gaming World Museum

through a series of fantastic mazes improves gameplay
immeasurably. The C-64 version loses a bit of
the arcade game's graphic finesse in the translation,
but this is more than made up for by the addition
of an extra level which isn't found on any other
version.
Amnesia: As a New Yorker, I found the idea of
wandering through a computerized version of the
Big Apple very appealing, but even if that appeal
doesn't carry through to gamers in other parts of
the world, Amnesia is an excellent adventure. The
game elements aren't very complex, but the text is
so rich and the story so interesting that one hardly
notices that this is probably the least interactive
piece of interactive fiction ever made. [Ed.: I don't
know. Have you ever seen Portal, reviewed in this
issue.]
Make Your Own Murder Party: Hot on the heels
of the nation's newest fad, this program helps you
set up a whodunnit party in which you and your
guests play the parts of suspects in a murder mystery.
The mysteries are fun and there are worse
ways to spend a few hours than playing through
them, but the computer hardly does anything except
print your guests' names on their invitations
and clues. You won't do any better, but you'd do
just as well to pick up a non-computer murder
party game at a toy store.
Mind Mirror: Timothy Leary had an interesting
notion in mind when he wrote this program and he
deserves credit for making a valiant effort to bring
it to the home computer screen. His technique of
using numerical scales to make comparisons between
a number of people, items or concepts is
flawed, however, and this flaw spoils the whole
game. Instead of making a revolutionary program,
he has made one that is self-indulgent and highly
repetitive. The role-playing portion is entertaining
and contains a witty spoof of Infocom's Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy, but it isn't extensive enough
to offset the statistical analysis portion.
Bard's Tale II: A fine sequel to Bard's Tale
which introduces several new features: dungeons,
magic spells, and a new character class for magicians
called the Archmage. Compatibility the Ultima,
Wizardry and the first game is what really
makes this game, subtitled "The Destiny Knight,"
especially good.
Robot Rascals: A charming blend of strategy and
luck makes this part card, part computer game
(covered in detail in issue 34 of CGW) unusually
enjoyable. Depending on the company you're with,
this zany scavenger hunt might be a better choice
for a party game than Murder Party.
Chapter Five
Some final thoughts about Electronic Arts.
There is little that can be said about professionalism
that does not apply to Electronic Arts and
this comes through in the skill for programming,
fine-tuning, packaging and marketing software that
has allowed EA to succeed where so many others
have failed. Beyond this, however, EA knows what
it takes to make a good game and it puts this
knowledge into each product it releases — and it is
because of this that Electronic Arts has become the
biggest of the computer gaming titans.
Next Month: Part Three of Five: Ardai on Activision