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Indiana
Jones and the Last Crusade:
The Action Game
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Developer:
Tiertex Design Studios
Publisher: Lucasfilm
Games, U.S. Gold Ltd.
Release date: 1989
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Technical Info:
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Platforms:
Apple Macintosh
(1989), PC DOS (1989), Amstrad CPC (1989),
Atari ST (1989), Commodore 64 (1989), Commodore
Amiga (1989), Sinclaire ZX Spectrum 128 (1989),
Nintendo's NES (1990), Sega Master System
(1990), Sega Gamegear (1992), Sega Mega Drive/Genesis
(1993), Nintendo GameBoy (1993) |
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Genre:
Action, Platform Game |
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Mode(s):
Single-player |
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When Indy fans get
together and start talking about Indiana Jones
video games, Indiana
Jones and the Last Crusade is bound to
come up in the conversation. It is one of the
best video games ever made, let alone one of the
best Indiana Jones games. Challenging puzzles
and great dialogue with loads of humor and nice
graphics comprise this wonderful piece of software.
But that is not the game I am talking about. In
Indy gaming circles, Last
Crusade is synonymous with the Last
Crusade point and click adventure game
released in 1989 by LucasArts, then known as Lucasfilm
Games. What many people and many Indy fans forget,
is that there were actually two Last
Crusade games released in 1989 for the
PC. Both were packaged in gorgeous boxes with
"Indy" emblazoned across the covers
with stills from the film. The
Graphic Adventure, the one we all know and
love, had a photo of Indy and Henry Jones Sr.
from the film on the cover. The
Action Game had the famous "Indy on
the horse" photo on the front.
Amiga title
screen |
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The Action
Game was initially released for the PC
in 1989 in conjunction with the release of the
film, Indiana Jones and
the Last Crusade. At this point in the
late eighties, video gaming was in a certain "phase"
or "trend". Nintendo had long been established
as the leader of home video games, and therefore
led these trends. By this point, the NES had been
around for a number of years and was still riding
high, even in the face of Sega's recently released
16 bit Genesis. The gaming trend that it had set
(that would ultimately be its downfall in the
early 90s) was the "platform game".
Put simply, your character (whoever that may be)
runs on profile in the entire game that lacks
depth on the Z-axis. In other words, your hero
can move left, right, jump and possibly duck,
but that's it. Therefore, the game was comprised
usually of the hero running and jumping along
"platforms", be they treetops or window
ledges, while dodging baddies and collecting items
for points, be they coins or other strange floating
baubles.
Sega Master
System |
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Nintendo made a killing with these
platform games for years with the original NES.
The trend started with Super
Mario Bros. and almost every action game
after it was platform based. Anyone remember DuckTales,
Ninja Gaiden,
Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles, and Batman?
All of them were very successful platform games,
and that is just the tip of the iceberg. The NES
continued pumping out platform games all the way
up to its demise in the early nineties. One of
the last games made for the NES, Felix
the Cat, was a platform game like so many
others. By the NES' end, the biggest complaint
from gamers was the lack of variety in their game
library due to the massive quantities of platform
games, but in 1989, the trend was in full swing
and gamers had no complaints.
Sega Mega Drive/Genesis |
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Consequently it is no surprise that
Lucasfilm Games decided that it would be good
to make one of these "platformers" out
of Indiana Jones. The result was The
Action Game. In The
Action Game, the player takes control of
Indy (as if that was not obvious) running, jumping,
punching, whipping, climbing ropes, dodging traps,
and leaping pits to find the Holy Grail through
a series of film inspired levels. For example,
there is a circus train level and a Grail Temple
level and the like.
The game made it onto an amazing
number of systems over the next few years. In
fact, there was a new version on a new system
every year until 1993! The PC game was released
in '89. The same year, adaptations of the game
were released on the Amstrad CPC, Apple II computer,
Atari ST, Commodore 64, and the Sinclaire ZX Spectrum
128. In 1990, U.S. Gold put it on the Sega Master
System. The same year, UBI Soft put it on the
NES. In 1991 U.S. Gold dropped it on the Sega
Game Gear. In 1992, they adapted it for the Sega
Genesis. In 1993, it reached Nintendo's GameBoy
as well! It was like an epidemic on video game
consoles. It makes one wonder how the game made
it onto all of these different systems in light
of the fact that the game was sub par in every
way. Each version was unique in its own way, but
they were all essentially the same poor game.
Left to right:
Commodore Amiga, Amstrad CPC, and Spectrum
128 |
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Story and Gameplay
In the original PC game, Indy starts
as a young boy in a Boy Scout uniform and tries
to rescue the Cross of Coronado. He can run, jump,
punch, and climb ropes. The play control is terrible
(something akin to the NES game Spelunker
for any game aficionados who may be reading) and
it is difficult to navigate Indy on the many ropes
he must climb. Throughout the game frustration
abounds. Indy has to "earn" his ability
to use his whip by collecting whip icons. So,
if you collect a whip icon, you will get five
lashes and after you use up those, hit or miss,
you have to find another icon before you can use
the whip again.
At the same time, Indy gets wounded
when he jumps and hits his head on the ceiling!
What's worse, the game is full of low ceilings.
Indy does not take falls well either. At the same
time his mainstay weapon against villains, his
fists, are slow and weak. The enemies will usually
manage to shoot Indy before he can lay his dukes
on them. On top of that, the graphics are anything
but impressive. The 16 color EGA palette makes
Indy look like he fell into a bucket of red paint
and it is worse for his surroundings.
Left to right:
Commodore 64, Nintendo's NES, and Nintendo
GameBoy |
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Conclusion
Each subsequent version only improves
the game aesthetically with the exception of the
Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64,
and Spectrum. These five systems only make the
game look worse. The NES game only equals the
poor visuals of the PC, with Indy looking like
a pink, glow in the dark action figure. The rest
succeed in attaining some superior color palettes
and shading (except the GameBoy, which is monochrome
but more detailed). Most later versions were altered
slightly, removing the Boy Scout Indy sprite and
just using normal Indy for the whole game including
the first levels where Indy should be a young
boy, but it is still the same unendingly poor
fare of the original PC version.
In hindsight, it is understandable
that this game has been forgotten. Who wants to
remember it? The game has little to do with the
film. Indy runs through caves dodging axe throwing
natives (and I certainly do not remember any of
those in Venice) while trying to keep his head
from hitting the ceiling as he traverses all kinds
of ropes and tunnels. It is like "Indiana
Jones Meets Pitfall Harry". The only Indy
things about the game are Indy himself and the
music. Just to give you an example of the ridiculousness
of this game, the "Word of God" towards
the end is just a floor full of gaps that Indy
must jump (while dodging the ceiling) with letters
on the ground!
To all Indy fans, there are
quite a few Last
Crusade games out there
and 99% of them are bad. The last percent is some
of the best gaming ever developed, and we all
know what game that is. Steer clear of the Action
Game and choose wisely
(MF)
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