Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective Vol. II

~ SHERLOCK HOLMES VOL. II ~

ICOM Simulations / TTI

CD-ROM / Super CD-ROM

1992

The jig was up. By the time Sherlock II came out, no one was falling for the FMV gimmick anymore. Critics had caught on to the fact that a little pointing and clicking and a lot of sitting around watching grainy, goofy, poorly scripted "dramas" did not make for great gaming; and the backlash was severe. Never mind that these dopes essentially propagated such releases by heaping praise on the first Sherlock. No, the fault was with game designers for actually acquiescing and giving the buffoons more of what they'd wanted--and those designers and their products were to be slammed for it. EGM reviewer Martin Alessi was apparently the one rational, reasonable person at the time, as he gave Sherlock II the very same so-so score he'd given its predecessor. This made quite a bit of sense, as both titles are basically the same crap.

Look familiar? Yeah, the interface hasn't changed a bit. Well, windows seem to come up slightly more quickly here... or maybe I'm imagining things.

More FMV drama as Holmes and his trusty sidekick stumble around England and annoy everyone. Sadly, the mysteries here are no more interesting than the first volume's snoozers.

Mega-nerds clash as Watson flees the scene. Highlight of the saga?

Pencil-scratch illustrations return. If anything, they're even uglier this time.

The "judge parts" are presented in FMV now, which only serves to drag the scenes out. So much for the milliseconds saved by those speedier menu pop-ups.

With some old FMV games--the ones that are goofy and damn well know it--you can point and laugh and have quite a fun time whether there's much "true" gaming involved or not. But the Sherlock Holmes games, while at times humorous, really would like you to take their mysteries seriously. So they're not kitsch classics, but they weren't put together well enough to make for fascinating detective stories either. If you actually did enjoy the first episode, then go right ahead and pick this one up, as it's pretty much the same deal but with three new cases swapped in. All other aspiring inspectors should acquire the excellent J.B. Harold Murder Club instead.

Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective

~ SHERLOCK HOLMES ~

ICOM Simulations / NEC

CD-ROM

1991

Hard as it may be to believe now, seeing this mystery game in action was a mind-blowing experience for players back in the day. Not that it made anyone actually rush out to purchase the stupidly expensive Turbo CD unit, but even those who mocked the peripheral (which was pretty much everybody, including those who owned it) conceded that Holmes' full motion video had gone way beyond what they'd ever expected systems of the day to be capable of. Impressive, it was: players stared at the grainy footage in awed disbelief; reviewers showered the title with undeserved good grades. EGM editor Martin Alessi was apparently the one sane person at the time, as he gave Sherlock a so-so score of 6 while everyone else was gushing over it.

Well, a few years (and a whole lot of Sega CD flops) later, gamers realized this video stuff wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Technical limitations became all too obvious, as did the lack of fulfilling gameplay to support the "cinematics." Nowadays, Sherlock and most of its ilk are looked at as laughingstocks.

Now, I'm not one to write a game off immediately just because of generalizations regarding style. I do love It Came from the Desert, after all. Sadly, even upon being given a "fair shot," Consulting Detective proves itself to be a dud.

Understand that I expect point-and-click mechanics from such a title, but I do prefer that the gameplay not feel slow and laborious. Sherlock's system isn't built for swiftness, and events unfold at a very unexciting pace.

I actually think the FMV is pretty decent, though I wish the shows occupied the entire screen like Desert's do.

Occasionally, one video will lead right into another, at which time one of these "dramatic transition" scenes is employed.

Sketched images are often utilized to portray flashbacks and recreate crimes.

Rethink your approach if you run into a dead end.

Once you've garnered enough evidence, head to court and answer some questions. If you happened to doze off during the videos, don't worry: just keep taking guesses until the judge is satisfied with the "case" you're making.

When Sherlock was brand new, critics often said "the" problem with the game is that it offers only three mysteries to solve. Well, that's ridiculous. J.B. Harold Murder Club provides us sleuths with just one case to crack, yet I (among many other players) have returned to it over and over again. See, Murder Club features an incredible plot and very cool characters (not to mention a superior interface and some sweet jazz music). Sherlock's mysteries are uninteresting, poorly written, and shabbily put together (and all three of them combined don't take as much time to solve as J.B.'s single case). In the end, Consulting Detective doesn't fail because of its outdated FMV or low case total. It fails because it's a slow, boring game.

Space Fantasy Zone

NEC Avenue/SEGA - 1991 - Japan

CD-ROM

Ever imagine what it would be like if you could literally combine Space Harrier and Fantasy Zone? As a vintage SEGA fan, this game is like a dream come true.

Space Fantasy Zone takes the best of both worlds and, quite successfully, meshes these elements to create a thrilling into-the-screen shooter that plays exactly like Space Harrier. Only you are Opa-Opa, and this is the Fantasy Zone. Groove to a delightful redbook medley of the Space Harrier and Fantasy Zone themes as you zoom through familiar locales.

While the basic gameplay is old news for Space Harrier vets, SFZ adds a powerup system reminiscent of Fantasy Zone for added dynamic. Learning to utilize powerups bought in "Weaponald's" armory is absolutely essential to your success. Of the three difficulty modes "Hard" is the only one that poses much of a challenge, but this is one of those titles you can excuse since the ride itself is so enjoyable.

Powerups become an integral part of the game.

Space Fantasy Zone is a lighthearted game and makes for a wonderful, casual pick up and play experience. The game is just filled with fan service, seemingly tailor-made for vintage SEGA junkies such as myself.

You'll see some familiar faces, albeit from a different angle.

This is one of the few Duo titles that never actually got a proper commercial release. Some promotional copies made it into circulation through a magazine or a contest or something, but these are insanely rare (more so than the coveted Darius Alpha). A third party made a run of reproductions of this game in 2007 to sell online via a website. These facsimiles are of great quality, but the party responsible charges a ludicrous premium for a copy. Unfortunately, your only other option to play the game is to go the ISO route unless you're a lunatic who wants to track down an original and pay thousands for it. Chances are, if this is you, you aren't interested in playing it anyway.

Camp California

~ CAMP CALIFORNIA ~

ICOM Simulations / TTI

Super CD-ROM

1993

Never in a million years did I think I'd end up enjoying Camp California. Goofy animal characters... sunny days at the beach... crappy tunes like "Good Vibrations"... it all sounded rather hellish to me.

I tend to prefer games that aren't as lighthearted or as Beach Boys plagued as CC is--games like, say, Shape Shifter. So it came as no small surprise when my open-minded brother Alexei told me that Camp California is reminiscent of SS in a number of ways, from how certain characters control to the usage of identical sound effects (indeed, Alexei's hunch that many of the men who made up the CC production team had also been members of the SS design crew proved correct). Upon receiving this news, I promptly purchased the game and gave it a go...

...and lo and behold, I was quite happy with what CC had to offer. I expected the graphics to be good, as I'd already seen some of the wonderfully colorful backgrounds and enormous sprites in screenshots. But the controls functioned much better than I'd anticipated; and while the vocal numbers are awful, the in-level tunes are actually very catchy and usually give way to badass riff-driven tracks when you reach the final area of a given stage. And the journey CC sends you on is not some simple jaunt on the beach; you get to visit plenty of different locations, many of which are anything but "cheery."

Some of those locations require that you make use of skills exclusive to particular characters: one guy can fly, one can swim, and one can tornado his way through enemy lines. While I wasn't looking forward to meeting this silly-seeming animal crew, I actually had a lot of fun putting their many interesting abilities to good use.

You have to rescue your abducted buddies before you can utilize their talents, however. And the path you need to travel isn't immediately obvious; you have to tour the area in your ol' jalopy and do a little experimenting in order to figure out the correct route to take.

You can't cruise around endlessly, however, as you have only so much fuel to burn. But if you put some time into exploring the surprisingly large levels, you can find lots of secret items, including recyclable objects that can be converted into gas.

Of course, you'll run into some tough (and very odd) villains who won't allow you to roam around at your leisure.

The characters, visuals, stage tunes, and exploration elements all work in CC's favor, but I can't pretend that the game is flawless. Yes, it plays much better than I thought it would, but the controls are far from perfect. And when you take hits due to those controls, you'll have to endure annoying screams of "Bogus!" or "Bummer!" from the otherwise likable characters. Also, it can be frustrating to march halfway through a long level only to realize the character you picked isn't cut out for the job at hand. And while the length of the quest is a positive, the absence of a save feature is not. You may end up traveling quite a long way only for real life to intervene and force you to abandon your console, leaving you no choice but to resume play from the very beginning when you return to the game.

But Camp California succeeds in so many areas that it shouldn't be very difficult for players who give it a fair chance to look past its issues and enjoy it.