Indiana Jones games...which are good?

[Daehawk]

I own and finished Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. I loved it. Had it for years and it took me three tries over all those years to finally finish it. But I enjoyed it.

I see that GOG has it and 3 other Indiana Jones games for $2.09 each. Do you guys know if any of the others are worth having and playing? Or if theres one to totally avoid?

Indiana Jones® and the Last Crusade - 1989
Indiana Jones® and the Emperor's Tomb - 2003
Indiana Jones® and the Infernal Machine - 1999

[Anonymous Bosch]

I own and finished Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. I loved it. Had it for years and it took me three tries over all those years to finally finish it. But I enjoyed it.

I see that GOG has it and 3 other Indiana Jones games for $2.09 each. Do you guys know if any of the others are worth having and playing? Or if theres one to totally avoid?

Indiana Jones® and the Last Crusade - 1989

It's been a long, long time since I last played, but from what I recall, this was a plenty enjoyable old school point n' click SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) graphic adventure game. So, if you're up for playing one of the older LucasArts graphic adventures of roughly the same era as Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders or The Secret of Monkey Island, one can certainly still enjoy this.

Also, it absolutely pays dividends if you take the time to configure ScummVM to use a high quality MIDI soundfont, which makes the game's MIDI music sound absolutely terrific instead of the default bleepy-bloops, e.g. the following video provides a useful comparison between using standard Microsoft GS Wavetable MIDI music and the Weeds General MIDI Soundfont, available for download from the aforementioned link, which you'll hear at the 3m 45s mark and SGM v.2.01 soundfont which you'll hear at 7m 33s:



EDIT: D'oh, just realised that video's for Fate of Atlantis. I honestly cannot specifically recall if Last Crusade has MIDI music, so if not, ignore the above.

EDIT 2: Come to think of it, I believe the last time I replayed Last Crusade, I think I used ScummVM to play the FM-Towns version of the game instead, which includes better-sounding music than the GOG version.

Indiana Jones® and the Emperor's Tomb - 2003

This one's a third-person action adventure akin to a fairly well polished Tomb Raider. It holds up surprisingly well, and here's a useful retro review that shows it in action:

Indiana Jones® and the Infernal Machine - 1999

If memory serves, this was the first 3D Indiana Jones game, and doesn't hold up as well as Emperor's Tomb as a result. So, I'd suggest taking a pass on this one, and if you're in the mood for an Indy-flavoured Tomb Raider game, stick with Emperor's Tomb instead.

[Pyperkub]

Tomb Raider games?

[Sudy]

This is a very under-represented franchise compared to, say, Star Wars. The problem is that it's main character and artifact/legend focused, so successive games would start to feel like James Bond knockoffs, and sooner or later you'd have Indy chasing after aliens or some such horseshit.

[coopasonic]

Tomb Raider games?

Pretty much what came to mind for me.

[Scraper]

I remember really enjoying the Emperors Tomb back in 2003, but it has to be rough by today's standard, both graphically and gameplay wise.

[Carpet_pissr]

That wavetable comparison video fondly reminds me of the time that I switched out my Creative Soundblaster Pro with a Roland sound card (or maybe it was a daughtercard, not sure). The difference, for games that could take advantage, was mind-blowing back then. Lucasarts games in particular (especically X-Wing IIRC) were SO much richer as a result of that very spendy upgrade.

[Anonymous Bosch]

I remember really enjoying the Emperors Tomb back in 2003, but it has to be rough by today's standard, both graphically and gameplay wise.

That probably goes without saying, which was why I provided the video review (so that the graphics and gameplay could be seen in action). But all things considered, I think Emperor's Tomb's graphics and gameplay hold up remarkably well for its age.

[Anonymous Bosch]

That wavetable comparison video fondly reminds me of the time that I switched out my Creative Soundblaster Pro with a Roland sound card (or maybe it was a daughtercard, not sure). The difference, for games that could take advantage, was mind-blowing back then. Lucasarts games in particular (especically X-Wing IIRC) were SO much richer as a result of that very spendy upgrade.

Indeed, back in the day, I distinctly recall using a Yamaha DB-50XG daughterboard, and it was the absolute dog's bollocks for MIDI music. With decent dedicated MIDI hardware, it was akin to having music played back on live musical instruments.

Here's another video that demonstrates the impressive quality of XG MIDI music:

[Daehawk]

Im leaning to Last Crusade. I loved Atlantis and it looks and sounds a lot like it just older.

[Anonymous Bosch]

Im leaning to Last Crusade. I loved Atlantis and it looks and sounds a lot like it just older.

In that case, I suggest installing ScummVM, downloading the FM-Towns version of Last Crusade, and adding it to ScummVM.

Here's a video demonstrating the vastly improved audio of the FM-Towns version of the game (skip to 4:47 to hear the FM-Towns audio):

[Daehawk]

Ya sounds better but im kinda partial to the original nostalgic sound for the Indiana games. Shall see. Not bought the game yet.

[Scraper]

I remember really enjoying the Emperors Tomb back in 2003, but it has to be rough by today's standard, both graphically and gameplay wise.

That probably goes without saying, which was why I provided the video review (so that the graphics and gameplay could be seen in action). But all things considered, I think Emperor's Tomb's graphics and gameplay hold up remarkably well for its age.

I watched some of the video and as soon as he said it was his favorite game growing up the validity of his current opinion is suspect to me. He's viewing the game with rose colored glasses now and I'm not sure how accurate his review would be for someone who is just now playing the game for the first time. I imagine that first time player would find the graphics and gameplay to be dated. 3d action adventure games have come a long way since 2003.

That all being said I stand by my comment that I really enjoyed the game in 2003. If memory serves it was made using the same engine as a Buffy the Vampire Slayer game.

[Sudy]

That looks pretty good! I was expecting to find it uglier--but by 2003, games, IMO, were starting to reach a timeless quality of graphical fidelity. Sure; detail, shading, lighting, etc. have come a long, long way, but we were way past the extreme blurries and jaggies of the 90s. I mean, MoH:AA is older than this. Can you imagine comparing this to a game 18 years older, released in 1985? I might be wary of the gameplay/animation jank likely still present in third-person action games from that era though. I doubt they hold up quite as well as the FPSs. But then, I haven't played one of those from that era recently, either.

[Anonymous Bosch]

I watched some of the video and as soon as he said it was his favorite game growing up the validity of his current opinion is suspect to me. He's viewing the game with rose colored glasses now and I'm not sure how accurate his review would be for someone who is just now playing the game for the first time. I imagine that first time player would find the graphics and gameplay to be dated. 3d action adventure games have come a long way since 2003.

That all being said I stand by my comment that I really enjoyed the game in 2003. If memory serves it was made using the same engine as a Buffy the Vampire Slayer game.

Indeed, the reason I posted the video wasn't that the reviewer necessarily provides a perfectly unbiased opinion of the game, but that it's useful because it provides plenty of illustrative footage of said graphics and gameplay. So a viewer can subjectively judge for themselves how much of an impact they're likely to have when playing the game nowadays.

[Scraper]

I think this is a screen of the buffy game, it came out in 2002.

[Daehawk]

That or a potato being baked.

[Defiant]

Last Crusade is pretty good (not Fate of Atlantis good, but still good - it is a Lucasarts adventure game). The only thing to keep in mind is that, unlike most LucasArts point and click adventure games, it features significant amount of action sequences (for a graphic adventure game) which you should be aware of if that isn't your thing.

[Daehawk]

Should be ok as I finished Full Throttle and it was full of them too. Funny in that during the 90s I hated adventure games. I was RPG Man! But then in the 2000s I discovered I enjoyed them as a calm relaxing way to game.

[Anonymous Bosch]

Last Crusade is pretty good (not Fate of Atlantis good, but still good - it is a Lucasarts adventure game). The only thing to keep in mind is that, unlike most LucasArts point and click adventure games, it features significant amount of action sequences (for a graphic adventure game) which you should be aware of if that isn't your thing.

Indeed, that's a valid point.

As I recall, fighting is not entirely necessary to complete the game, but it’s overly difficult to keep enough health intact if that is the way you choose to play. Flying the plane is also not much fun, though it's the first trial in the temple that highlighted the limitations of SCUMM for action-based puzzles for me (i.e. when you don’t provide the player with a "duck" action, figuring out how to duck was far from intuitive).