Simon the Sorcerer: 25th Anniversary Edition Reviews

Amiga <3

It's good! And it's a [i]little[/i] bad. And it's an interesting enough game to justify the time we spent on it. It's a [i]softly[/i] charming point 'n' click . . . when Simon isn't setting you on the bleeding edge of murder by refusing to pursue the most [i]obvious[/i] freaking solutions! This was our last game of [b]Click-a-Palooza '24[/b], and it's good that nothing comes right after it, because boy! Beating this with only a [i]single[/i] solitary hint about took all the [b]adventure[/b] out of us for a bit! And that one puzzle I'm talking about was so insulting, so unfair: you have to [b]acquire an object[/b] but there seems to be no way to do this without being spotted. The correct solution? To [b]render said object unusable[/b] so its owner will throw it out, without any indication that something of the sort needs to be done! [i]Simon[/i] is a pixelly 'n' pretty old game; sometimes it is an easy game. And sometimes it's so sandals-on-scalp [b]illogical[/b] that you'll go mad mushing every item in your inventory against everything else in the game world! The old-timey interface -- with separate listings for consume, talk to, etc. -- is pretty clunky to use, and it's a good thing that modern adventure-makers have (mostly) deemed this level of complexity unnecessary. Sometimes you even have to click a command multiple times before your cursor turns into the right one. It must be said that [i]Simon[/i] lacks any kind of insidious game block, however; that is something that I [i]will not[/i] abide in any adventure game, no matter how venerable. I did say that it was [i]softly[/i] charming, didn't I? That's because Simon is a fairly nice chap, a little snarky as teens tend to be, but a helpful fellow on the whole. He doesn't do malicious things to [i]anyone[/i], really -- and for some funny reason I was convinced that that was exactly what defined him! Like I thought you would have him dip his tadger into somebody's ale or something, or maybe set bear traps for the local children. It's not like that at all, and I don't know where I got the idea. This gentler humor works pretty dawgone well, and the voiceovers are [i]naturalistic[/i] save for the blacksmith -- who sounds like a random pub selection recorded at the bottom of a rusty elevator shaft. The dialog, while largely being clever, also does not waste your time (unlike some of the puzzles). Characters [b]spit it out[/b] in a few brief lines with perfectly packaged sass, and surprisingly you've got just [i]one[/i] chance to select a certain uniquely funny thing yourself -- and then the conversation moves on, [b]permanently[/b]! No need to go through and click a million dialog options, sifting for a shred of clue. The key things they'll repeat; everything else, all the flavor, you'll have to catch on the fly. I like that, tremendously! I still have nightmares about [i]Randal's Monday[/i], wherein endless reams of awkwardly translated pop culture jokes fall on you like a verbal avalanche, crushing your spirit in a far worse way than [i]Simon's[/i] occasionally dodgy puzzles could ever hope to. I complain, I moan! I bitch like a little spoiled girlie at times. But there's that saying about the hair of the dog that bit you, you know? I've just heard the sequel cranks up the nastiness a wee bit. I want to see what that's all about, [i]plus[/i] I want to find out if the puzzle design got any sharper. Looks like I'll be playing [i]Simon 2[/i]!

I played the original game and cant believe that its been 25yrs old I love the game and Chris Barrie performs brilliantly its a game that you can get lost in it for hours there are lots of puzzles and many twists and turns if you want a break from killing things this game is well worth trying it will grab you and take you on an adventure I would definitely say its a game you will be glad that its in your library

Never played this as a kid. Sorry I missed it. I loved point and click Adventures. Simon the Sorcerer is definitely up there with the best of them. Love the humor and very enjoyable to play!