Simon the Sorcerer (1993) Online

In 1993, when I was a little girl, my father brought this game home. In those times I did not understand English very well (actually, I did not know more than a few words and a couple of phrases...), so I did not know what was going on there. But I loved Simon anyway. It was colourful, hand-drawn, the wizard moved in a funny way and it had this fairy-tale atmosphere. Even though I was not able to play this game without the help of the directions in a computer magazine (remember - English is not my mother tongue), I loved to walk around exploring various locations - the village, the forest, even the swamp... Now, 13 years later, I can appreciate other aspects than the graphical design. This game is a great fun to play. You will find yourselves walking around talking to other characters just for the sake of talking. Various half-hidden hints will make you ask other characters more questions than you actually need to get to the end (you will end up asking each character ALL of the possible questions, as far as I can judge from my own experience), and it is worth the time. If you do not insist on 3D action and film-like rendering of the characters in the games you play, I can only recommend Simon the Sorcerer. And its sequel, Simon the Sorcerer II, as well!

By the way, did you know that a reference to this computer game was used by a Czech translator in his translation of one of the books by Terry Pratchett? Obviously, I was not the only one in this country who loved Simon...

"Simon the Sorcerer" features the adventures of a teenage boy, who manages to enter a fantasy world courtesy of a spell-book he comes across in his attic. The premise is a little weak, starting you off without much in the way of instruction other than you somehow need to defeat the evil sorcerer Sordid. You are however allowed to explore a large portion of the map without having to solve any puzzles giving you greater freedom than most adventure games do. There are many colourful characters around (mainly from a wide variety of fairy tales) who need Simon's help and it is up to him to provide it. These include the Billy Goats Gruff, Rapunzel and even talking woodworm! The voice acting is excellent, with Simon's voice done by Chris Barrie (Red Dwarf).It is a pity that he did not return for any of the sequels.

The interface will seem remarkably familiar to anyone who has played any of the early LucasArts games such as "The Secret of Monkey Island," with various commands available to you such as "consume" and "wear." There are slightly more than you need as "use" could cover half the functions. You also start with a postcard for saving and loading your game and a map that neatly allows you to travel instantly to some of of the major locations you have previously visited such as crossroads. This makes it a lot easier to traverse the large landscape that varies from swamp, to forest, to frozen wasteland. The graphics, though VGA, are beautifully drawn and so pleasant to look at that it lends weight to the argument that 3D photo-realism is not necessary in adventure gaming. The environments are rich in detail and many contain background animation of squirrels, birds of prey, snakes etc. that add to the charm.

I am also impressed that patches are available on the AdventureSoft website to enable the game to be played on Windows XP/Vista, the kind of support that is so lacking on so many older games and makes them virtually unplayable today. Another reason to play this highly satisfying adventure that has aged surprisingly well.