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Lucas Archives Volume 1

Lucas Archives Volume 1

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Do these old games work on today's PCs ?
Review: For fans of LucasArts' classic DOS adventure games, LUCASARTS ARCHIVES VOL. 1 is a must-buy. This six-CD set contains full versions of the 1992 game INDIANA JONES AND THE FATE OF ATLANTIS, and the two 1993 masterpieces DAY OF THE TENTACLE and SAM AND MAX HIT THE ROAD (the latter will have a sequel coming in 2004). If you are unable to buy this set here, you can still order the three games directly from LucasArts as of today -- go to www.lucasarts.com/companystore and order "The LucasArts Archives: Adventure Collection."

Since these games were made for the DOS environment, they run best on a DOS PC with legacy Sound Blaster support. On a Windows XP machine, where DOS mode is nonexistent, one needs a third-party DOS emulators such as the free and open-source DOSBox, VDMSound, and SCUMMVM (which was made specially for many LucasArts games). I managed to run the three games in this set (and also other DOS games) on an XP Home PC with Audigy sound card using these DOS emulators, with SCUMMVM giving me the greatest success. So, in short, these old games CAN be run on your new PC. LucasArts provides no support for its DOS titles, but one can get help from user-support forums such as vogons.zetafleet.com .

Also included in this set is a CD containing Star Wars-themed screen-savers, a CD containing a three-level demo of REBEL ASSAULT, and a CD with playable demos of other LucasArts games -- FULL THROTTLE, DARK FORCES, TIE FIGHTER, REBEL ASSAULT II, and THE DIG. None of these three discs is really essential. The only reason to get this set is to have the three classic adventure games.

All three adventure games run in 320x240 resolution and 8-bit color, with speech, sound effects, and MIDI music. They all use the so-called SCUMM interface that enables point-and-click actions with the mouse. The two older games, INDIANA JONES and DAY OF THE TENTACLE, still rely heavily on text during gameplay -- you see a text description when you point at an object, and you click on large text buttons to perform actions such as "Look", "Give", "Pick up", etc. SAM AND MAX, however, is fully graphical -- all the actions, including conversations, are icon-based.

All three games are memorable because of their humorous stories, nice drawings, and puzzles that are enjoyable but not ridiculously difficult. THE FATE OF AN ATLANTIS is the first game to feature the Indiana Jones character, and it is a fun adventure about treasure hunting. DAY OF THE TENTACLE features a wacky and outrageous story about a mad scientist and his evil creations, the living tentacles, which try to use time travel to conquer the world. SAM AND MAX HIT THE ROAD is about a free-lance police team, a dog and his rabbit sidekick, trying to find a missing pair of circus freaks, a big-foot and a giraffe-necked human.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Do these old games work on today's PCs ?
Review: For fans of LucasArts' classic DOS adventure games, LUCASARTS ARCHIVES VOL. 1 is a must-buy. This six-CD set contains full versions of the 1992 game INDIANA JONES AND THE FATE OF ATLANTIS, and the two 1993 masterpieces DAY OF THE TENTACLE and SAM AND MAX HIT THE ROAD (the latter will have a sequel coming in 2004). If you are unable to buy this set here, you can still order the three games directly from LucasArts as of today -- go to www.lucasarts.com/companystore and order "The LucasArts Archives: Adventure Collection."

Since these games were made for the DOS environment, they run best on a DOS PC with legacy Sound Blaster support. On a Windows XP machine, where DOS mode is nonexistent, one needs a third-party DOS emulators such as the free and open-source DOSBox, VDMSound, and SCUMMVM (which was made specially for many LucasArts games). I managed to run the three games in this set (and also other DOS games) on an XP Home PC with Audigy sound card using these DOS emulators, with SCUMMVM giving me the greatest success. So, in short, these old games CAN be run on your new PC. LucasArts provides no support for its DOS titles, but one can get help from user-support forums such as vogons.zetafleet.com .

Also included in this set is a CD containing Star Wars-themed screen-savers, a CD containing a three-level demo of REBEL ASSAULT, and a CD with playable demos of other LucasArts games -- FULL THROTTLE, DARK FORCES, TIE FIGHTER, REBEL ASSAULT II, and THE DIG. None of these three discs is really essential. The only reason to get this set is to have the three classic adventure games.

All three adventure games run in 320x240 resolution and 8-bit color, with speech, sound effects, and MIDI music. They all use the so-called SCUMM interface that enables point-and-click actions with the mouse. The two older games, INDIANA JONES and DAY OF THE TENTACLE, still rely heavily on text during gameplay -- you see a text description when you point at an object, and you click on large text buttons to perform actions such as "Look", "Give", "Pick up", etc. SAM AND MAX, however, is fully graphical -- all the actions, including conversations, are icon-based.

All three games are memorable because of their humorous stories, nice drawings, and puzzles that are enjoyable but not ridiculously difficult. THE FATE OF AN ATLANTIS is the first game to feature the Indiana Jones character, and it is a fun adventure about treasure hunting. DAY OF THE TENTACLE features a wacky and outrageous story about a mad scientist and his evil creations, the living tentacles, which try to use time travel to conquer the world. SAM AND MAX HIT THE ROAD is about a free-lance police team, a dog and his rabbit sidekick, trying to find a missing pair of circus freaks, a big-foot and a giraffe-necked human.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Clever, whimsical
Review: I got these for Christmas the year I was fourteen and all of them turned out to be a lot more fun than I expected. I used to think Sierra was the only company that turned out true quality computer games, but Lucas Arts gives them a run for their money in this amusing little compilation from the past.
Day of the Tentacle was my favorite, and the one I remember the best now. It is non stop amusement, with a completely insane plot. You alternate through the games playing three characters, a fat guy that gets sent back in time, a girl with nutty hair and (possibly?) down syndrome that gets sent into the future, and I think, a pretty normal guy wandering around the present. The highlights of this game are the past takes place in prerevolutionary America and in one part, (no kidding!) when Ben Franklin is trying to catch lightning with a kite you have the option of telling him that he is "truly whacked". The game was done completely on CD rom so all the characters had voices and I remembered that also impressed me at the time.
Sam and Max was my second favorite. You play Sam, a huge dog, and Max ( I can't remember what he is supposed to be) and they are detectives that conduct their investigation through the tackiest tourist traps of our Good Old USA. Some of them include the world's largest ball of twine museum and some wacky backwater Florida Alligator park.
I also played Indiana Jones, and enjoyed parts of it, but it lacked the true wacky wit of Day of the Tentacle and Sam and Max.
Anyway, the quality of the games were way over the price which my relatives must have paid for it and I spent many enjoyable hours.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Well, I have only played one of the games
Review: I have only played one of these games that I bought in a single pack: Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis.

It is possibly the greatest game I have played.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: classic nostalgia
Review: I never did get the chance to play Sam and Max, but Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and Day of the Tentacle are nostalgic trips for me. The gameplay is fun and awesome, and each has superb voice acting and sound effects. Day of the Tentacle is more of a silly comedy adventure, while Fate of Atlantis was worthy of becoming the next Indy movie (when did they say it was supposed to enter production?). Absolutely awesome stuff, you can't go wrong here, plus it's family friendly, the whole family no matter what your age can enjoy these games.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Collection of the Greatest Adventure Games Ever Made
Review: I remember when I played these games. Sam and Max Hit the Road, Day of the Tentacle, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis; these are the Fletch, Whose Harry Crumb, and The Jerk of computer games. They are very entertaining, humorous, and memorable. The graphics, voice acting, music, and story are all excellent. The game play is very simple.

In Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, you play as Indiana Jones as he evades Nazis and searches for Atlantis. Your search takes you to many locations, you meet many characters, and game play lasts for many hours. Also, there are alternate endings in this game, so it has replay value. The game is as good as the movies.

Day of the Tentacle is amazing. The premise is that a mad scientist's creation, the Purple Tentacle, consumes some toxic water and grows arms. With his arms he begins a plan that allows him to take over the world. You get to play as three characters: Bernard, the nerd, Lavern, the inept heroine, and Hoagie, the overweight metal fan. You travel into the future with Lavern, the past with Hoagie, and remain in the present with Bernard. The graphics are excellent, the music is fantastic, and this game is funny. It will make you laugh with humor as absurd as Family Guy and as clever as Seinfeld. You get to meet interesting characters like Benjamin Franklin, a mummy, IRS agents, and many more.
Also, this wonderful game includes Maniac Mansion, the game the preceded this one, in which you play as three out of seven characters trying to stop the same mad scientist, who is under the control of an evil meteorite, from taking over the world. This game is also funny and contains several of the same characters. Day of the Tentacle is the best game I've ever played.

Sam and Max Hit the Road is wonderful. You play as a dog and rabbit detective in a cartoon world. The puzzles are excellent, so is the music and voice acting. There are mini games too. You travel America and visit many humorous locations, a carnival, he world's largest ball of twine, The Mount Rushmore Dinosaur Tar pit, to name a few, as you search for a kidnapped sasquatch. Hours of fun and plenty of humor. This game is Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid meets Pinky and the Brain.

The other items in this collection are demos for other fine products: The Dig, Curse of Monkey Island, and Full Throttle. These let you sample some other good games. Also, there's some worthless Star Wars Stuff.


Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Classic of the Classics
Review: If you ever heard about at least on of the games included in this pack, or you were born after 1990 or you were in a comma. Anyway, for those Adventure lovers and Lucasarts fans, this is a must buy, you just can miss all the good humor of Guybrush the might wanna be a pirate, or the fight against the Nazi in Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade.

From a true adventure game fan, i say: Buy this pack and all the other Adventure games from Lucasarts. Thank me later :)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: best ever
Review: Indiana Jones and Day of the Tentacle are the most hilarious and amusing games I've ever played. Who thinks of a little tentacle that sprouts arms and tries to take on the world? The best thing is that these games don't make you panic; you can choose whether you want to fight or figure in Fate. You use your brains and wits which have got to be pretty strange to figure these strange games out. Sam & Max is fun as well, although the other games are somewhat tedious, but Day of the Tentacle and Indiana Jones more than enough make up for them!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Classic, classic, classic games
Review: Indiana Jones and Day of the Tentacle are the most hilarious and amusing games I've ever played. Who thinks of a little tentacle that sprouts arms and tries to take on the world? The best thing is that these games don't make you panic; you can choose whether you want to fight or figure in Fate. You use your brains and wits which have got to be pretty strange to figure these strange games out. Sam & Max is fun as well, although the other games are somewhat tedious, but Day of the Tentacle and Indiana Jones more than enough make up for them!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A surprisingly strong collection of games.
Review: LucasArts has released a widely uneven library of games over the years, but this collection manages to assemble some of the strongest and most entertaining ones. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Day of the Tentacle, and Sam and Max Hit the Road all rank among some of the finest no-typing adventure games of modern day computer gaming. All of them offer liberal doses of humor, lots of replay value, and more entertainment than can be found in most titles. This is definitely a collection not to be missed by adventure game fans.


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