[review] the rest
Adam Cadre
Some people write more or less equally long reviews about each game
in the comp; I, on the other hand, found myself with lots to say
about some games and next to nothing about others. So here are my
scores for the games I didn't cover in any of my Comp98 essays.
(Warning: I'm a way harsh grader. It's nothing personal.)
[7.9] Downtown Tokyo: This was a hell of a lot of fun, and the way
you played two characters at once was innovative and extremely
well done. This game also features what may well be the best XYZZY
response ever. Thumbs up on this one.
[6.9] The Arrival: The graphics were clever, the writing was fun,
but about halfway through I found myself thinking, "You know,
I've enjoyed this, and it's an admirable program, but I think I'm
gonna stop now." So I did.
[6.6] Mother Loose: This game flirted at times with getting just a
little too cutesy-pie and consigning itself into the 4 range,
but the list of all the things you can get yelled at for doing was
sufficiently cool that I decided to place this one on the near side
of the big gap. Though I was disappointed that it didn't recognize
my favorite knock-knock joke:
Knock knock!
Who's there?
Bob.
Bob who?
Bob Jimenez. (audience erupts in hysterical laughter)
[3.6] Purple: This game ranks tops among the have-nots primarily
because I was very much taken with the image of the purple
stain. Also, nuclear war interests me. (That may well be the most
frightening sentence I've ever written.) But this game didn't do
enough for me to give it a much higher score than this.
[3.5] The Plant: I'm never gonna like a game in which manipulating
machinery plays such a large role.
[3.3] The City: This is a game that really could have stood to be
fleshed out more -- I felt its promise was robbed by its
minimalism. Also, the overt Spider and Web lift at the end sort of
ruined it for me. Ah well.
[3.2] Informatory: Interesting gimmick -- or, rather, interesting to
someone else. This is a game that I recognized as being well
done while at the same time just not liking it.
[3.1] Acid Whiplash: Oh, this had so much potential. This could have
been IF's ED WOOD -- if we'd been given bits of a typical
Rybread game interspersed with real-life scenes of Rybread at work
on it, with the latter casting light on the former... this could have
been a masterpiece. As it is, it's just another Rybread game with
some Easter eggs. Sigh.
[3.0] Enlightenment: "So this game is just one big complex puzzle?"
I asked. "Yes," came the answer. I quit.
[2.8] Where Evil Dwells: There was some humor here, but some wonky
coding and a less than compelling plot led me to give up on it.
[2.6] Four in One: Not my thing at all.
[2.4] The Ritual of Purification: It made more sense than CC. I
reckon that'll get you about a 2.4.
[2.2] Research Dig: Never grabbed my interest, and was insulting to
children. Bleah.
[2.1] CC: When I was three years old, I had an imaginary friend named
ERW. The adventures I made up featuring him made about as much
sense as this game.
[2.0] Lightiana: Did nothing for me.
[1.9] In the Spotlight: Somehow I missed the part where the author
explained what on earth my goal was in this game. The only
thing that saved this from coming in last was the panoply of ranks
you can receive for killing yourself in different ways.
[1.9] Spacestation: Er, but you see, if Infocom had thought their
little transcript were worth turning into a game, they would've
done so.
[1.7] Fifteen: A game with no descriptions to speak of and prominently
featuring a sliding-block game. No thanks.
[1.6] I Didn't Know You Could Yodel: This game is just like Dragon
Town. Only not on purpose. Eeeagh.
[1.5] The Commute: "I enjoy toast in the morning. I enjoy just having
it with me." Ladies and gentlemen, the sole redeeming moment
in that portion of The Commute I was able to play before the parser
drove me insane. This game is practically an ad for TADS and Inform.
I enjoyed deleting this game. I enjoyed just having it off my hard
drive.
-----
Adam Cadre, Anaheim, CA
http://www.retina.net/~grignr
Irene Callaci
wrote:
>[6.6] Mother Loose: This game flirted at times with getting just a
> little too cutesy-pie and consigning itself into the 4 range,
>but the list of all the things you can get yelled at for doing was
>sufficiently cool that I decided to place this one on the near side
>of the big gap. Though I was disappointed that it didn't recognize
>my favorite knock-knock joke:
>
>Knock knock!
>Who's there?
>Bob.
>Bob who?
>Bob Jimenez. (audience erupts in hysterical laughter)
Bob Jimenez? Bob Jimenez? OK, you asked for it. The Bob Jimenez
knock knock joke is now a part of Mother Loose. But...would you
mind explaining it to me? Am I the only one who doesn't get it?
Bob Jimenez? I've been sitting here for 10 minutes, repeating
Bob Jimenez. BOB Jimenez. Bob JIMenez. Bob JiMENez. Nope. Don't
get it. <sigh> Dense. That's me.
irene
Adam Cadre
> Bob Jimenez? Bob Jimenez? OK, you asked for it. The Bob Jimenez
> knock knock joke is now a part of Mother Loose. But...would you
> mind explaining it to me? Am I the only one who doesn't get it?
Bob Jimenez is (or at least was, at one point) an anchor for the local
news on KCBS in Los Angeles. Now let me tell you a story.
I have a cousin -- not really, but explaining the actual tangle of
relationships involved would take longer than the story, so we'll just
call him a cousin -- named Zach. One day, when he was five, he decided
to tell a joke. It took close to half an hour, as five-year-olds' jokes
tend to do, and lacked a punch line. To break the awkward silence that
followed, my uncle said, "Guess you had to be there."
Zach looked confused. "But I *was* there!" he protested.
You'll note that I'm avoiding trying to justify the Bob Jimenez joke as
actual comedy. Take from that what you will. In any case, the fact that
it's actually been immortalized in someone else's game strikes me as
absolutely hilarious.
Fred M. Sloniker
wrote:
>Knock knock!
>Who's there?
>Bob.
>Bob who?
>Bob Jimenez. (audience erupts in hysterical laughter)
<valley>I don't get it.</valley>