Somehow, I've never heard of this game or the TV show it’s based on. The term hidden gem gets thrown around a lot but this one is sure as shit hidden if nothing else. Probably because it only came out on the PS1 and the Sega Saturn, which is odd for a point and click adventure game, very very much in the LucasArts style.
You’re this young plucky dragon inventor, Flicker (lotta fire puns, go figure) and you have to become a knight, win a tournament, foil the bad guy, save the princess (in more or less that order). When i say LucasArtsy, i mean: mainly a comedy game, can’t fail or die, fully voiced and lavishly animated. The humor is very british (the TV show was co-created by Terry Jones, so figures) though I didn't find it’s writing to be quite at the caliber of the best LucasArts games, the humor is more cute than funny most of the time (though there are a few very good gags). Mostly this game has a ton of charm thanks to the pixel art, lots of custom animations+locales and the stellar voice-work. This is a who’s who of 90s voice actors, the cast is really insane (Kath Soucie, Jim Cummings, Cheech Marin, Rob Paulsen, Jeff Bennett, Gregg Berger, Jess Harnell, Roger Rose, Michael Bell, Charlie Adler, Terry Jones, Harry Shearer, B.J. Ward, Brian George).
The game is fairly short and simple (which is a plus in my book), but I used a guide anyway if i got stuck because I wasn't playing for the puzzles. There’s a few mini-games that can be bypassed easily with save-states. One mild annoyance is the fact that any scene transition has an associated load time. Takes just 3-4 seconds but it kinda kills the pace because it happens whenever there’s a background change, not just when going from room to room. And in cutscenes there’s a ~one second black screen between any cuts. Not a big deal, but something that would’ve not been a problem in a PC version.
My only gripe is that I wish there was a bit more dialogue and interaction with all the characters, and that the writing was a little sharper. You can finish this game in a couple of hours, especially if using a guide here and there. Don’t mind the short length at all, but it feels kind of like a waste to create all of this art and animation and have most dialogue interactions be a quick back and forth, or at most 2 or 3 dialogue options.
Still very much worth checking just for the overall production quality and I'm surprised it seems to be almost totally forgotten. Lack of a PC port is probably the main reason.
You’re this young plucky dragon inventor, Flicker (lotta fire puns, go figure) and you have to become a knight, win a tournament, foil the bad guy, save the princess (in more or less that order). When i say LucasArtsy, i mean: mainly a comedy game, can’t fail or die, fully voiced and lavishly animated. The humor is very british (the TV show was co-created by Terry Jones, so figures) though I didn't find it’s writing to be quite at the caliber of the best LucasArts games, the humor is more cute than funny most of the time (though there are a few very good gags). Mostly this game has a ton of charm thanks to the pixel art, lots of custom animations+locales and the stellar voice-work. This is a who’s who of 90s voice actors, the cast is really insane (Kath Soucie, Jim Cummings, Cheech Marin, Rob Paulsen, Jeff Bennett, Gregg Berger, Jess Harnell, Roger Rose, Michael Bell, Charlie Adler, Terry Jones, Harry Shearer, B.J. Ward, Brian George).
The game is fairly short and simple (which is a plus in my book), but I used a guide anyway if i got stuck because I wasn't playing for the puzzles. There’s a few mini-games that can be bypassed easily with save-states. One mild annoyance is the fact that any scene transition has an associated load time. Takes just 3-4 seconds but it kinda kills the pace because it happens whenever there’s a background change, not just when going from room to room. And in cutscenes there’s a ~one second black screen between any cuts. Not a big deal, but something that would’ve not been a problem in a PC version.
My only gripe is that I wish there was a bit more dialogue and interaction with all the characters, and that the writing was a little sharper. You can finish this game in a couple of hours, especially if using a guide here and there. Don’t mind the short length at all, but it feels kind of like a waste to create all of this art and animation and have most dialogue interactions be a quick back and forth, or at most 2 or 3 dialogue options.
Still very much worth checking just for the overall production quality and I'm surprised it seems to be almost totally forgotten. Lack of a PC port is probably the main reason.
Perhaps drug use would make this game entertaining, but as a straight-edge individual, it fell incredibly flat.
I'll be the only person to give it 5 stars. Objectively it's not a 5 star game but I loved this game as a kid and I still think it's funny and clever. Not to mention Cheech Marin is in it!
nauseating british scalie fever dream