Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

I was in kindergarten when Lucas Arts' "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis" was popular on the computer game circuit. There still, to this day, hasn't been a game to capture the imagination quite like this. The brilliant intellectual adventure is complimented by unforgettable visuals, inventive, innovative ideas and great humor.

Few games have been able to combine so many good elements so adroitly. Hand to hand combat, car chases, challenging puzzles, submarine and hot air baloon operation and communication all were mixed into one ultimate game. The "Fate of Atlantis" captures the romance and wonder of the film series as well, making it a marvel for film buffs.

The story begins in the attic of the college Indy teaches at. From here, we learn of the mythology of Atlantis from Plato's diaries. With the help of an old flame named Sophia, Indy travels through many wonderful locations like Iceland, Turkey and Monte Carlo in search of the sacred underwater city of Atlantis. An evil Nazi general named Kerner and his men get in the way, making it a huge, magical, terrific journey.

This is one of those games I will always wait for something to come close to par with it. Like "Contra" or "Star Wars" for Nintendo, nothing will ever come close!

One of the things I like most about this game, and the reason I like this over any other game, is the completely different storylines. Depending on what you say, you'll either find yourself fighting everyone, outsmarting everyone, or working with your partner. This game had three completely different stories, each fit to be a movie, and the graphics for the time it was released are astounding. I also like the comments the characters would often say, and the manner in which it was programmed. I only wish more games, now with newer graphics, could be like this.

This adventure game has it all ... a great story that unfolds in the right way, hard ( but not insanely hard ) riddles to solve, and long playing time - even longer due to the 3 ways to play it. 3 paths as the game names them. The "fists" path a way to play the game with more action ( fights etc ), the "wits" path, a way with more riddles, and the "team" path, where Indy brings along Sophia in his quest for Atlantis and is a sort of combined action and riddles.

But the best feature of all is that this game has a true "Indiana Jones" feel. You feel that you are really inside a Indy movie! Everything from the original films is here, the action, the feel, everything.

The story is completely new. This time Indy goes for the search of the mythical city of Atlantis. In his quest he will face many dangers and enemies, and in the end he will discover a great secret of the Atlanteans.

The cast of the characters is also almost completely new to the "Indy" series, since from the original cast we see only Indy himself and Marcus who makes a very brief appearance. Sophia Hapgood plays the role of a new "Indy girl" beside Indiana Jones.

Everything combined this is a great game. Its story would alone make a great Indy movie ( easily it could have been a "Indiana Jones IV" based on this ). Do not stand back because of the game's dated technical abilities ( VGA 256 color graphics, MIDI music and a voice-over that isn't very good - the voices of the actors are great, but the sounds were not recorded very good - other times they are too loud, other times too silent ), it sure worths every minute you spend playing it.

Fate of Atlantis has been to date my favorite of all tbe computer games I've ever had. The sad thing is my new computer does not enable the voices to come through -- guess the technology just got too far. Pity. The guy's voice as Indy was really close to Harrison Ford's. The other sounds and voices were great as was the game itself. Wish they hadn't gotten so technical with the new stuff. Playing the new stuff wears me out just thinking about getting in gear to do the controls well enough to keep from killing off Indy within the first few minutes of play. I wish I could get a copy of Fate of Atlantis that would "talk" in my current computer.

If there is one game that had me fascinated from beginning to the end, if there is one game that had me in dispair for finding the solution, if there is one game that reminds me of part of my life, this must be it. The storyline, the settings, the characters, the action set-pieces and the enigmas made me sometimes jump in my chair, and crave for a motion picture adapted from the game. The storyline is one of the most fascinating in years, and feels like it's the best movie never put on film. If you never played this one, you should, even now, it's one of the reasons why sometimes it feels good to have a functional 386 computer with only a diskette drive and a pc speaker with that unique kind of music. Any spectrum cult-follower knows what I mean. Mythical game, and the most addictive thing to ever grace the VGA screens ever.