POW! KABOOM! KWAH!
Dave and Jason explore two 1980s text adventures pulled from the world of comic books! (At the time, comics were just one of many forms of narrative expression and not the dominant storytelling platform as they are this century.)
First up it's Redhawk from Melbourne House, which experiments with text/graphics adventure presentation by building a three-panel comic on-screen based on player input. Can you, as mild-mannered news photographer Kevin Oliver and as flying, fighting superhero Redhawk save the city?
Then it's Questprobe: Spider-Man from Adventure International, from the short-lived Marvel Comics series which just predated the company's end. Amazing feats of wall-walking and strength await!
Finally, we play the work-in-progress of the unfinished Questprobe: X-Men, provided by Scott Adams himself from his archives.
Questprobe: Spider-Man (playable online, Apple II verson)
Questprobe: Spider-Man on IFDB
Redhawk (playable online, Amstrad CPC version)
Redhawk on IFDB
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59:17
Episode 21 - First Anniversary Chatisode
🎂It’s our first birthday!🎂Enjoy an anniversary celebration with all the hosts and minimal editing!
Founder Ben holds a contest of Retro Adventurers knowledge–who will reign supreme? How many countries have at least one download per episode? Who will be named the Seven of Nine of text adventure podcasting? Will the boys have a polite conversation about expanding to other genres or will chairs fly?
Thank you for listening to our first year of classic text adventure discussion and review. Please get in touch with us with suggestions for the years to come.
(And yes, Nick knows our frequent guest is Tim Gilberts, he was just distracted.)
Googlewhack definition
The Clarion Beauty Computer
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves playable online (not a text adventure!)
Sleuth for DOS
Labyrinth (Lucasfilm Games)
Amazing Quest by Nick Montfort
Twisty Little Passages
50 Years of Text Games
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1:08:52
Episode 20 - The Mask of the Sun and Valkyrie 17
Dave and Jason confront a double dose of terrifying terrors! First up is the RamJam Corporation's Valkyrie 17, a Cold War thriller set in a pseudonymous Eastern Bloc nation, boasting excellent off-screen production values but some quirky on-screen choices. The title was originally published for ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64, with a Windows update released more recently.
Then we travel to South America for the so-close-to-the-original, you-can-feel-the-stubble Indiana Jones-adjacent The Mask of the Sun originally published by Ultrasoft. You are rugged professor of archaeology Mac Steele, struggling under the debilitating effects of an ancient curse! Only by enduring many (many, many) Jeep and cave-navigating sequences can he be free of the exotic pills which keep him just barely clinging to life! The Mask of the Sun was published for Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and Commodore 64, with a German translation to boot!
(And one of these days Jason will stop saying something has an "X-word" parser when he means an "X-letter" parser... but not today!)
Valkyrie 17 box, documentation, and audio
Valkyrie 17, C64 playable online
Valkyrie 17, Windows update
Valkyrie 17 on Mobygames
The Mask of the Sun documentation (Broderbund)
The Mask of the Sun on Mobygames
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1:01:09
Episode 19 - Monsters of Murdac and Behind Closed Doors (SAM Coupé Adventure Club #1)
Ben occupies the throne, attended by minions Jason and Nick this episode to plumb the depths of the text adventure archives. In the featured spot is the Phoenix/Topologika title Monsters of Murdac by Dr. Jonathan Partington (Episodes #12 and #16), a punishingly creative game. Up first, however, is the 1991 disk magazine SAM Coupé Adventure Club #1 and its featured free game... the toilet-escape simulator Behind Closed Doors by "Balrog" John Wilson.
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.
Monsters of Murdac (playable online, BBC version)
SAM Coupé Adventure Club archive
Browser-readable version of SAM Coupé Adventure Club Disk #1
Behind Closed Doors #1 (playable online, ZX Spectrum version)
Ink Console
Classic articles on games by Jonathan Partington
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1:08:12
Episode 18 - Bored of the Rings / Calixto Island with Iain Lee
Iain Lee, "an old bloke who was popular in the Nineties" as well as counsellor, broadcaster, and I'm a Celebrity survivor joins Dave and Jason this episode. They discuss Tolkien sendup Bored of the Rings by Fergus McNeill and the Mark Data classic Calixto Island. Iain shares his love for the Dragon 32, memories of sneaking text adventure time on school BBC Micros, and Experienced Media Professional Image Advice with Jason.
Bored of the Rings (playable online)
Calixto Island (playable online, MS-DOS with graphics)
Calixto Island (playable online, "Play Now" button next to "Calixto Island (Text)", CoCo plain text)
Iain Lee's Random Access Memories podcast
Quill Adventure Guides (Bored of the Rings and other Quill games, deconstructed)
MST3K: Detective
Explore classic text adventure games from legendary publishers and authors including Magnetic Scrolls, Level 9, Infocom, Scott Adams, and Interplay. A podcast for fans of GET LAMP, Eaten By a Grue, The Classic Adventurer, Renga In Blue, and Quest For Clues.
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