Commodore User


Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade
By U. S. Gold
Amiga 500

 
Published in Commodore User #71

Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade

But is it? I mean, when you make a movie as amazingly successful as "Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade", you ain't going to end it all there, are you? Sequels must follow, and I'm willing to lay money that they will.

But back to the subject of the review, Indiana Jones: The Action Game, first of two titles coming from the Lucasfilm stable based around this intrepid explorer's final adventure. You, as Indy, have to run, jump and whipcrack your way through four different escapades, all based around scenes in the movie.

First of all, we see Indy as a boy, climbing through some caves, avoiding loads of bad guys and already displaying his prowess with a bullwhip. Then we catch Indy doing the archaeological business around a ruined temple. On the third level Indy, now a grown man, is racing around a German Zeppelin, and finally we see Indy searching for The Holy Grail. Doesn't he know the Monty Python team have it?

Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade: The Action Game

The game is played as a side-on, multi-scrolling affair, and scroll very nicely it does. I especially like the way the Zeppelin is constantly bobbing up and down on the third level.

Indy himself is a fine figure of a sprite. Large, and for the most part, well-animated. He looks a bit strange when he jumps or falls; but otherwise he looks great.

The backdrops are very nicely drawn indeed. I really like the way the scenery in level one gets darker as your torch burns out.

Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade: The Action Game

And now, the bad news. Amiga Indy plays badly. Very badly indeed. It's not a problem of large playability errors, just a whole bundle of small annoying ones. Like the way it's just luck whether you die or not, for example, when you have to climb a rope to get past a knife thrower, it's all down to chance whether he throws the knife or not. Also, Indy takes a long time to respond, which makes combat difficult. On top of all that, it seems a little unsure as to where the edges of certain platforms are, which means that you end up falling through quite a few ledges.

It could have been good. It's just that they didn't do it right. I'd prefer something like Rick Dangerous. But maybe the adventure game will be good.

64 Update

C64 version should be available soon. Graphically it won't come up to the Amiga standard, but is still looking good nonetheless. Looks like it's going to be just as much fun to play as the Amiga version. More news as we get it.

Tony Dillon