Lucky Luke - the man who draws faster than his own shadow. If you don't know this guy, leave this site now. Seriously - we don't want you here! Stop reading and go away!
So now that we've got rid of those non-cultured morons, let's talk about the game. It's about Lucky Luke helping a railroad to be built. Not sure whether this is supposed to be based on a particular comic. Could either be Des Rails Sur La Prairie (using the original titles here, because I'm not sure about English ones) or Nitroglycerine, with the latter being the more likely candidate, because the first ones predates the introduction of the Dalton brothers into the line. Then again, the similarities with the latter are fairly limited.
[Mr Creosote] Lure of the Temptress is the first game made by the British development studio Revolution Software. They later became quite popular, especially with the Broken Sword series of games which they update and market to this very day. Their older games, including this one, have been released as freeware in the meantime.
A phone call – some friend tells me about gems which can be found in your home town. Arriving there, everything seems to be deserted or destroyed. The only character I meet is the sheriff's deputy whom I clobber to death with a letter. His body disappears. Leaving the police station, the same deputy arrests me (though not because of murdering him). I break out of prison, because the idiot has left the cell's key lying around inside. He's still dead. I find a gem which magically transports me to another location. I meet a swordsman who attacks me. Of course, I defend myself with my deadly letter, but I fail. I wake up again in a temple of Poseidon...
What is a M.U.L.E.? It stands for Multiple Use Labor Element, the robotic backbone of the economy on planet Irata which is about to be colonized by members of different alien races. And, well, from human history, we all know what 'colonisation' implies: Grabbing land before anyone else does, exploiting it for profit and when you've milked it dry, move on – leaving political and economical chaos behind.
In 'M1 Tank Platoon' you're leading a platoon of four mighty M1 Abrams main battle tanks through various missions. Your objectives range from defending important positions to meeting engagements or frontal assaults. You're up against Red Army troops who have invaded into Western Europe.
You, being a rich venetian trader, do what you are better at, sending ships and caravans to commerce, buying at low prices for selling at higher ones wherever the best deals are and fight for the power against the other merchant families.
Who would have thought that, of all things, Curse of Enchantia would become the role model for the future of the Adventure genre? Maybe the general idea wasn't so horrible after all, just the older game's execution? Or maybe tastes have changed? Thinking back a little more in detail, it may not be such a huge surprise after all. The short trend of embedding puzzles into a narrative, i.e. them originating organically from the world and the progress of the plot, was squashed by the huge success of Myst. A formula to combine sweeping, complex plots with sensible gameplay elements was never truly found, either; resulting in ridiculous 'interactive movies'. So, going back to brazen puzzle fests only thinly veiled by only halfway discernable motivations and only semi-believable locations might have been a logical step.
We have this Crocodile Dundee wannabee, who is actually an action hero, and a kidnapped woman, who we will try to rescue, but... who cares? What you want to know is that this is considered as one of the worst games of the console, but is that true? Or is there more behind this genre-mixing game?
I must admit I'm a sucker for classic horror movies and novels. I'm also one of these people who cheer for the bad guys and abhore the wimpy do-gooders. For all those with similarly sick minds, the 80s produced the computer game of our dreams: Mad Doctor.
Mad TV's success virtually begged for a sequel. Rainbow Arts announced Mad Burger, a fast-food chain simulator. Ralph Stock, designer of the first part, had left the company, though, and he was working in Mad News which was published by Ikarion. Mad Burger never made it, but two years later, Mad TV 2 (the only 'official' sequel) appeared - and it sucked. This review is about Mad News, however. The game which should probably be called the only rightful successor of the original game.
