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The
packaging certainly looks promising. You get two cassettes
neatly slotted into one of the new-style double cassette
boxes, together with an attractively designed foldout
leaflet with instructions on how to play the game. One
thing that slightly annoyed me is that the screenshot
on the inlay looks as if it must be the one you are
greeted with when you've completed the game -- pity
they couldn't have saved the surprise for the end of
the adventure.
The
instructions are pretty brief -- the vocabulary is miniscule
(only about 25 verbs and not including direction commands)
and the plot is pretty simple -- rescue Esmeralda from
the wicked Cardinal or remain forever single. The word
EXAMINE is absent and during the game I found the gameplay
rather restricted as a result of this and other omissions.
However,
it sure LOOKS good. Like it's predecessor, Never
Ending Story, Hunchback has an attention-grabbing
backdrop across the top half of the screen, showing
a suitably grandiose specimen of gothic architecture
and an attractively redesigned character set scrolling
below. The location descriptions are quite lengthy and
to my mind a definite improvement on NES, where
they were often rather too skimpy for my liking.
Hunchback
is split into three separate parts (again like NES)
and the first part, in the Cathedral, generates a considerable
sense of atmosphere from the descriptions alone. Atmosphere,
however, isn't everything. The Wiz was dismayed to find
himself entering Part 2 after only a few minutes of
play. There is in fact only one real puzzle in part
one and it isn't exactly tough to figure out. There
are other distractions -- fighting with guards, for
example; but even when I was equipped with just my bare
hands I found them easy prey.
Throughout
the game the graphics continue to impress. The backdrop
doesn't change, but each time you pick something up
a small icon depicting the object is pasted onto the
display. On the left of the screen at the top there
is a constant procession of changing cameos, showing
either a glimpse of your current location or some aspect
of it -- a guard, perhaps, or a snapshot of your ugly
mug.
Hunchback
is a very attractive game, no doubt about it. The
features -- attacking guards, helpful parser telling
you which words it doesn't understand, pretty pictures
and text -- all bear the hallmarks of professional programming
at its best.
Unfortunately,
as an adventure, it doesn't challenge the player sufficiently
to warrant its price tag. Three separate loads and 100K
of program may sound like a lot, but too much has gone
into the presentation and too little into the game.
Things get a little harder later on, but even in the
second part I found little opposition, and by the time
I'd reached the Cardinal's mansion I was already thinking
about what to play next. For children and inexperienced
adventurers this would make a beautiful present, but
if you're accustomed to the likes of Level 9 and Infocom
it's not going to keep you busy for long.
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