As far as Mac computer games go, you can’t beat a well-conceived, well-de signed interactive with an addictive plot, fabulous graphics and sharp sound effects. Rise of the Dragon, by Sierra’s Dynamix, delivers with a slick stereotypical 1940’s detective story/mystery that takes place in 2053.
The plot of Dragon is outlined to the player via a clever comic that’s designed to be a real comic of the 21st century. This is a bleak, Bladerunneresque future Los Angeles, where chocolate is so rare that it’s sold on the black market and explosives are not considered weapons. The mayor clandestinely hires you to find the who, what, and how of his daughter’s grisly drug-related demise. As with most simple cases, this one’s more complicated than it seems. You soon find yourself a catspaw in a prophecy, fighting against an evil entity that’s trying to take over the world. Not a problem. You’re Blade (William) Hunter, hard-boiled detective who never gets out of bed before noon, ex-cop who was too undisciplined for the L.A.P.D., savior of Los Angeles…but only if you play the game right.
Admittedly, I jumped blindly into the game and found myself (Blade) locked out of my apartment in my underwear without my ID card. I realized I had to back up and look over the “Control Documentation” book to learn how to manipulate Blade’s movement if I even wanted to play the game. Movement is similar to other interactive games; the mouse and keyboard control Blade’s ability to open and close doors, fire his gun, walk from one part of town (screen) to another, and so on.
The game starts easily—in order to acclimate you to the mouse/keyboard controls— with you having to dress Blade. Once you find his clothes, you open the personal inventory list and “place” the clothes on him. Anything in Blade’s inventory moves with him and can be used by him if “dropped” from the inventory. Watch where you drop items; if you drop a bomb for use on one screen and move to another screen, it will stay behind. Blade also has a gun, a few bombs, NaPent, (a mace-like substance), a chocolate bar, and an ID card that are hidden in his room; you have to find them if you want to use them. The chocolate is good for bribing, and the ID card is essential to open your apartment and to use your vidphone. The rule book cheats a little and shows you a visual step-by-step on where to find Blade’s clothes and vidphone. You have to find the gun. After all, you hid it.
Once you make it out of the bedroom and into the real world of future Los Angeles, Blade will have to begin gathering information by making connections with seedy characters and relying on his girlfriend, Karyn. Handily enough, Karyn works at City Hall in the Records department. Be very nice to her; the game can’t be finished without her. When you interact with people, some automatic dialogue takes place, but you may have the opportunity to choose Blade’s response. This interaction is vital; people will react to Blade and help him, or not, in different ways depending on what he says and does. The characters you talk to remember everything you’ve said to them; if you turn someone against you in the beginning, you’ll never get help from them during the game.
The game has a spiffy feature, called arcade mode, that operates like a keyboard driven arcade game. When you encounter certain situations (i.e. gunfights), the arcade mode automatically pops up. Thankfully, you have the opportunity to save your game before running off to battle. Arcade mode takes some getting used to; if you die during the mode, you have to start back at the beginning. The idea of arcade mode in an interactive game is nifty, but the combat moves too slowly for video game junkies (probably due to the sharp graphics). That didn’t keep me from continually killing Blade off in combat, however. Luckily for me, the game gives you the chance to automatically win after a few deaths.
Some final wise words to live by before your attempt at saving the world: don’t ever leave home without your ID card, always check your vidphone, and SAVE a lot.
Mutant Beach
Mutant Beach is yet another entertaining game from Inline Design. Though it’s not as quick to grasp as Darwin’s Dilemma or Tesserae, it’s equally as enjoyable once mastered. The catchy background music, sound effects, and graphics are especially fun.
The plot of the game centers on Native Nick’s intrepid adventures. The jeweled nose of the idol Mohawk has been stolen from a tropical island by a tourist. An upset Mohawk has released his control over the idols of the Idol City, who are now chaotically turning the island “upside down” by mutating the inhabitants into strange animals. You, Native Nick, hear about this disaster and must find the sacred nose and return it to Mohawk before his wrath destroys the island.
You control Nick on his quest to find the Idol City by using one of several sets of keys and/or the mouse (as with all games, constant playing will determine which is easier for you). As Nick wanders, he encounters the mutated inhabitants of the island; some are moving creatures, while the others have been turned into stone. Nick can pick up interesting and sometimes useful objects from the stone mutants and the island itself. The objects may or may not help you, that’s for you to decide. Some items may be magical and can be used to lift spells off of other items (my favorite is the magic rubber duckie). Magical items are important in this quest; you’ll have to use them to finish the game.
Beware the mobile mutants; they’ve been sent after you to steal your stuff! Nick stuns the rogue mutants by “bonking” them to keep from losing items. Bonking is a very handy action, especially when surrounded by the pesky mutants. The mutants become bigger, faster, and harder to dodge as Nick moves to different parts of the island.
We initially had problems with our copy of Mutant Beach; mysteriously, the color version wouldn’t install. Inline’s great tech support rep (thanks, Jeffery Pease!) gave suggestions on what we could try to fix the problem. When that didn’t work, the verdict became “bad disks,” and they sent us new disks at no charge.
Like all the other Inline products, you can save the game to continue at a later date. Thankfully so, for we still haven’t the foggiest where Mohawk’s nose is. Rasta!!!
The article above is reprinted from Mac Monitor, the newsletter of The Savannah Macintosh Users Group. It may be reprinted in a single issue of newsletters published by non-profit user groups. Payment shall consist of a single issue of the newsletter in which the article appears, sent to the following address:
