Hello.

Ok... back with another review!! This was meant to be all three games in this trilogy all at once, but it seams my memory of the original game is somewhat distorted over time. I remember this as a fantastic game that I loved... but ... I now consider it to be the worst game I have played in recent times form my retro library. Those of you that have emailed me saying I never ever have anything bad to say about any of the games I do... well here you go.

It is a shame really as the 2nd Game is a real diamond and well worth your time. I will have to give it a video itself, as I do not want this vid to put people off what is really a great game world, and a beautiful fantasy, fairy tale style adventure series. It is strange really, I have stopped playing adventure with much less bad game design as this, the 1st in the series, but the charm of these charicters and story is still there hidden under the broken gameplay.

Anyway... Hope you like this... I have been realy busy with some of my projects this year, and havn't had time to compile a video for the games I have played, though I have 6 titles all recorded and sitting on my dump drive. So as soon as I have more.. I'll post 'em!!

Happy Adventuring
--A4L

YouTube = The Legend of Kyrandia (Review)
YouTube Direct Link MP4 - download
YouTube Direct Link HD MP4 - download

I played this game years ago, enjoyed the world, just as you said, but I got frustrated and couldn't finish it. Thanks for bringing back some memories.

I absolutely loved this game, and I still do, simply because it is a game from my childhood. That said, I completely agree with all the negative points. That maze... it took me days, and several sheets of paper until I had mapped that [blip] place. I did eventually complete it though. Of course, the sequel is far, FAR superior.

That's a GREAT review! I really loved it, and found it really funny!

The gem thing *is* a disaster - we seem to have had much more patience when we were younger

Well, I normally go with you on your reviews, Adventurer4Life, but this time I am definitely disagreeing ....

Despite the drawbacks - and I agree there are several - I think the game is wonderful and I re-play it at least once a year

In fact my order of preference for the Kyrandia Series is 1st this one, 2nd The Hand of Fate and 3rd Malcom's Revenge - which I thought was rather poor.

Back in those days of adventuring, random puzzles requiring lots of "save, try and reload" were not at all uncommon and nor was it that unusual to come across a game with a "dead end" - dreadful as it may have been

AND I spent many hours mapping mazes too !! It was more or less the expected norm

So whilst newcomers to adventuring today would probably not be impressed and not be prepared to go to the lengths we all USED to go to, I think this game has to be kept "in context".
For me this game was a 1992 masterpiece and was definitely on a par with other "best" adventure games of the day.

Indeed, I felt then and do now that it was a terrific creation

I remember giving up when I got to that big maze and my son getting out a pencil and some graph paper so that we could continue.

Yea, I think the review came off a bit harsher than I intended. I tried to get across how beautiful the game world is. The fairy tale magic land stuff and those funny cute characters are awesome. The games are defiantly worth playing but I just found that it was extremely hard to play though all the game design flaws (as I saw them).

I did say at the end of the review that the story and characters and setting was great and that experiencing the game story was worth doing. As you have played it so much, this is basically what I assume you are doing. As in you know the game backwards, so you can avoid all these problems, and just experience the great world and story.

But yea.. I totally understand you loving this game... I was deeply shocked how I didn't enjoy it. I have played the 2nd one a lot and LOVED the 1st when I was younger. This is teh first time i have played it in decades.


This is very true. Still, game blocks always s*cked, even back then. There is just no excuse for them. Again, as you have played this many times, you most likely never run into this, or run into using the wrong potion and having to walk all over the game world to get the materials back + the random gem...




I still like to make maps... heh.. even though they are not so needed nowadays.


This is a great problem I am still trying to address. How do I rate and judge these games... in relation to the date they were from.... or related to a old gamer who remembers them, or a new gamer? These different perspectives totally change the way the thing turns out. What I try to do is mix it between in context and old/retro gamer... some things I ignore other tings i do not... but it is always a toss up witch way to go, and what ever you choose i always feel i have left a side un-represented.

This is a problem for any reviewer, I think, and not just for game reviewers. I don't know that there is a definitive answer.

Hi Adventurer4Life

First let me say I do very much admire the way you review games and I hope your intention is to review many more for us

But it can be difficult to convey to "newer" gamers the absolute joy that these old games - with all their foibles and sometimes bad design - brought to us "older" gamers

WE had just never seen anything like them before !!
And for me, personally, it was like suddenly being able to screen my own little movie that had characters I could control myself - to make the story come alive

What we have now, in comparison, would have been quite unbelievable then

Cheers.

Mad

Yeah, I don't really think it's possible for the younger generations to truly understand what makes these games so special. I grew up on these games, and while I did play DOOM and Wolfenstein like my friends, what I really enjoyed was a game with a good story, and one where you needed to use your brain to complete it. Adventure games inspired me to learn English a year before my friends, plus they improved my spelling and grammar. Later in life that really showed, since I was constantly at the top of my class in both English and spelling.
I even remember my teacher scolding me for not showing any interest in books, but I just didn't see the point since I could play a game, and actually be in an amazing world with an incredible story.

Stuff like that just doesn't happen anymore. Technology is everywhere, and while the computer industry is still innovating in so many areas, we're not really seeing an amazing evolution in story telling. Kids today will probably grow up with an amazing hand–eye coordination (and they do, I cannot for the life of me compete in shooters against these kids), but I feel like they're missing out on the mystery, intrigue and humor you find in adventure games.

Well, that was a bit longer than expected, but oh well.

Oh and by the way, I'm pretty sure you pronounced Kyrandia wrong in your review. I believe Ky-ran-di-a is correct

Heh... I had a feeling I might be getting it wrong. I think I even said something in the review about not pronouncing it correctly. I really concentrate on speaking clearly in my vids, my Aussie ascent is in fact a lot thicker and more "occa"