This comment summons forth my rage about the stupidity of the song-unlocking system in the copy of Dance Dance Revolution I bought for my Xbox 360. Every once in a while the game interrupts your playlist by throwing a new song at you. They set the difficulty high and speed up the arrows. If you can complete the entire song then you unlock it. Oh, wait – and you’re only allowed 4 mistakes or you fail the song. Oh, yes, and a mistake is anything other than “Perfect” (meaning “Great”, “Good”, “Almost” and “Boo” all count as mistakes). Of the 60 songs in the game 25 of them are locked. I have yet to manage to unlock a single one. And all the hot songs they name-drop on the back of the box? Locked. I’d like my money back now plz.

Below the root was one of my first loves on the commodore 64. Something about jumping off tree limbs with a winged shirt always made me happy.

The Quest for Glory series were a fantastic bunch of games although 1 – 3 were my favorite. Even if you did watch your friend play them you likely didn’t see absolutely everything. If you get stuck on any puzzles hit me up for some tips. I would be glad to help you out.

i agree that modern Graphic Adventure games need a hint system. i was struck with one comment i heard at GDC a few years ago, where someone said “If you can’t get to the end of the game you purchased, take it back to the store and demand a refund. You paid for all the content on the disc – you should get to experience it.”

Zeebar, i was happy to discover, is a Hamilton Canada native. He may drop by here from time to time. i’m not a big fan of the gore in his games, or the frustrating Sierra-style death sequences, but he’s definitely got a better thing going than those throngs of Escape the Room designers.

Home of the Underdogs is an excellent site, and i’m a regular visitor. i just started playing the Quest for Glory series for the first time. A lot of the secrets are spoiled because i watched a friend play the game, but i’m still having fun. Abandonia.com is another good abandonware site.

The one let down of Graphic Adventure Games is just how hopelessly lost you can get. Generally if you don’t put the solution together in your head once you see all the clues it is going to take a LOT of time to figure it out. It’s not like other genres where there are clear objectives, I generally prefer Graphic Adventure Games if there is a hint system involved (a sidekick which will give you clues, or a radio etc)

Another good one was the discworld game (however the characters are never how you picture them), and in terms of flash Zeebarf (I think) has released a series called “The several journeys of Reemus” and a one of called “A small favour”, all excellent games. The best flash adventure I played recently was called “Morningstar”, I got stuck a few times in that one.

If you can stand the insane difficulty of it I recommend Below The Root (http://www.homeoftheunderdogs.net/game.php?id=113) which I remember initially playing on the Apple IIe as a classic example of many the issues you’ve mentioned in this article Ryan. Even with all the problems Below The Root has I still get excited about the prospect of playing it. The nostalgic value far exceeds and difficulties I might have playing. For a little while anyway.

i have to agree, though. i didn’t find Monkey Island all that funny when i played it, back when it was first released. It had its moments. (But the sequel had me laughing so hard, i made milk shoot out of someone else’s nose)

Unfortunately, and i’m ashamed to admit it, i’m still stuck in the apartment in Ben There, Dan That.

And yes, the world could surely do with more great adventure games. Check out these guys who recently made a couple excellent ones:
http://www.zombie-cow.com/

Highly recommended.