Direct emulations and terrible squashed screens make for an unhappy gamer.
Honestly a neat little collection that somehow gets even better when you realise you can hit the konami code in for any of the games to get a completely remade and overhauled version. Im shocked that they hid this behind the code.
2016
Can somebody explain to be how and why this exists and also why it actually plays so much better than the game its based from?
2012
Glorious trash. Its liking picking up a Troma movie. You know its going to be full of really messed up, weird and gory moments and yet you cant help but revel in how batshit stupid it is.
1989
Screw it. Im doing a better review for this. This game needs explanation on why I think its an appalling pile of crap and one of the worst Sierra adventures out there.
Lets start with the core gameplay. For some reason, despite this being billed as a spy-heavy game, the designers thought the best way to show you getting from place to place would be through submarine travel and not just any submarine travel, im talking clumsy submarine simulation travel where manuvering is clumsy, clunky and provides little to no margin of error. This is also paired along with submarine combat which again, feels clunky, drawn out and full of fussy detail that just gets in the way of actually doing the thing you want to do. This pretty much accounts for a good third to a half of the game which... aaaagh.
Outside of that? You've got a whole array of classic Sierra 'screw you' moments such as busted copy protection which requires you to perform CPR by following a manual guide (not that the game actually tells you this properly, it just throws you into the game and expects you to know that it wants you to do it).
You've also got lots of text parser issues where the game feels overly picky in what it wants in order to do what you need to do. This wouldnt be so bad but this came out AFTER Kings Quest and Space Quest, both feeling miles ahead of this overly picky parser which often wont allow you to do a thing because you forgot things like 'In' or 'the'.
And then you have the usual unwinnable situations which this game is full of. Have fun missing key items, or worse, the game GIVING you fake items without any clue or indication until hours later. Its PAINFUL.
Finally theres everyone's favourite, the crappy minigames. This time we have both the 'Reload your save constantly' gambling games and the 'Get lucky lol' buggy action games. One of these moments even contains a skip feature which really drives home how even the developers knew how bad it was... AND THEY STILL KEPT IT IN.
Notice I havent even mentioned the story yet? Thats because its just forgettable in every single way. Its a James Bond-esque spy plot removed of action, wit or relevance. All of the characters have the personality of cardboard and provide nothing. Its just dullsville.
What should have been a fun spy-themed romp is just a soulless, tiresome and nitpicky mess that forgets that videogames should occasionally have an interesting story to tell or have fun moments but because its so wrapped up in micromanaging detail, it never once meets either of those criteria. Dreck.
Lets start with the core gameplay. For some reason, despite this being billed as a spy-heavy game, the designers thought the best way to show you getting from place to place would be through submarine travel and not just any submarine travel, im talking clumsy submarine simulation travel where manuvering is clumsy, clunky and provides little to no margin of error. This is also paired along with submarine combat which again, feels clunky, drawn out and full of fussy detail that just gets in the way of actually doing the thing you want to do. This pretty much accounts for a good third to a half of the game which... aaaagh.
Outside of that? You've got a whole array of classic Sierra 'screw you' moments such as busted copy protection which requires you to perform CPR by following a manual guide (not that the game actually tells you this properly, it just throws you into the game and expects you to know that it wants you to do it).
You've also got lots of text parser issues where the game feels overly picky in what it wants in order to do what you need to do. This wouldnt be so bad but this came out AFTER Kings Quest and Space Quest, both feeling miles ahead of this overly picky parser which often wont allow you to do a thing because you forgot things like 'In' or 'the'.
And then you have the usual unwinnable situations which this game is full of. Have fun missing key items, or worse, the game GIVING you fake items without any clue or indication until hours later. Its PAINFUL.
Finally theres everyone's favourite, the crappy minigames. This time we have both the 'Reload your save constantly' gambling games and the 'Get lucky lol' buggy action games. One of these moments even contains a skip feature which really drives home how even the developers knew how bad it was... AND THEY STILL KEPT IT IN.
Notice I havent even mentioned the story yet? Thats because its just forgettable in every single way. Its a James Bond-esque spy plot removed of action, wit or relevance. All of the characters have the personality of cardboard and provide nothing. Its just dullsville.
What should have been a fun spy-themed romp is just a soulless, tiresome and nitpicky mess that forgets that videogames should occasionally have an interesting story to tell or have fun moments but because its so wrapped up in micromanaging detail, it never once meets either of those criteria. Dreck.
1988
Repetitive and painful and full of ways to die as the game will happily kill you off with random disease without warning. Its like "the oregon trail" but terrible.
2007
Occasionally an ok game threatens to peek through but mostly its trash as you mash buttons to spam clumsy barely effective attacks. Just no.
The worst Nancy Drew game by some country mile. Barely any plot, barely any characters and despite the odd clever puzzle, its all muddied by some truly awful backtracking and repetitive minigames. Its just shockingly bad and empty.
Im sorry but this has quite frankly one of the stupidest scooby-doo esque 'villain' reveals in the entire history of the series and thats saying something.
Aside from that though? Eh. It ok. Some decent puzzles, some decent irish lore and too much time decicated to rubbish family trees and moor-wandering.
Aside from that though? Eh. It ok. Some decent puzzles, some decent irish lore and too much time decicated to rubbish family trees and moor-wandering.
While the completely refreshed UI is great and theres definitely been a graphical boost, theres no getting around the more grating elements of this game. From dull unescapable food making minigames, enforced maid duties like cleaning and frustrating timed sequences in the cold, it often feels like the game is purposely trying to annoy.
Thats a shame too as beyond these annoying elements, theres a really fun mystery and set of characters hidden behind a lot of the mandatory slog nonsense.
Thats a shame too as beyond these annoying elements, theres a really fun mystery and set of characters hidden behind a lot of the mandatory slog nonsense.
Oh boy its the Hardy Boys again. They are terrible again. In addition so much of the game weighs on repetitive fishing and shell hunting and the overall plot and villain end goal is so weak to the point where the game itself pokes fun at the lack of villainy. Its just grindy and boring.
Im torn, on one hand I think on a design level, this is honestly a great game full of variety and fun locations to explore along with some really memorable characters... On the other hand the core plot and end-villain reveal is all so flimsy, muted and nonsensical to the point of parody and it really takes you out of the whole thing. 3/5 then? Yeah. 3/5.
I dunno... I find this one hard to gel with. In all honestly theres not a lot thats wrong with the game but I just didnt like a single one of the main leads this time around. The plot too swings so wildly from one main plot to another and gives neither enough time to breathe properly. Its just lacking in substance for me. Oh well. Cant win em all.
Im gonna get my whining out of the way first, this game has a driving mechanic that utterly sucks. Its clunky and bad.
If you can get past that however, you've got yourself a pretty decent mystery and as a throwback to the novels, it works incredibly well thanks to its more period suitable setting and overall locations. Just a shame about the car stuff...
If you can get past that however, you've got yourself a pretty decent mystery and as a throwback to the novels, it works incredibly well thanks to its more period suitable setting and overall locations. Just a shame about the car stuff...
Ive always found the Nancy Drew games to be at their best when they trap you in a confined single location and this proves my point by quite some margin.
This is probably the one more people think about when they think Nancy Drew games and its not without reason, the cold castle is full of gothic style creepy horror but at the same time theres plenty to see and do around the various walls and gardens with silly minigames, bird feeding and other puzzles that, despite being occasionally obtuse, really try and get away from some of the repeated puzzle tropes in previous games.
If there is one big problem with this one, its the characters. Most of the limited cast just are kinda dull and they very much take a backseat to the overall atmosphere and Rodger Corman-esque Poe plotting.
So yeah, while nowadays I wouldnt start with this one for newcomers, its not exactly a horrible place to begin either.
This is probably the one more people think about when they think Nancy Drew games and its not without reason, the cold castle is full of gothic style creepy horror but at the same time theres plenty to see and do around the various walls and gardens with silly minigames, bird feeding and other puzzles that, despite being occasionally obtuse, really try and get away from some of the repeated puzzle tropes in previous games.
If there is one big problem with this one, its the characters. Most of the limited cast just are kinda dull and they very much take a backseat to the overall atmosphere and Rodger Corman-esque Poe plotting.
So yeah, while nowadays I wouldnt start with this one for newcomers, its not exactly a horrible place to begin either.