STUPID INVADERS

Comedy is something of a rarity in today's gaming market. Sure you may muster a titter or two at the quips made in Doom or the tantrum of a losing sibling in Mario Kart but none of them gets there through actual, full-on comedy. That's where classic adventures shine. And one that does is Xilam's 2000 point-and-clicker Stupid Invaders.

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MONTY PYTHON'S MEANING OF LIFE

If anyone should ponder the meaning of life, it's the anarchic members a British comedy troupe.
The sketches in Monty Python's Meaning of Life may appear less focussed or story-driven than their previous two efforts, but it's no less funny for it. In fact, fourteen years after the movie's cinematic run in 1983, 7th Level created an adventure game out of it that's much more of a game than their previous Python adaptations.

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KINGDOM O' MAGIC

The Kingdom O' Magic is under threat, and only a busty blonde and a surly reptilian with a thick Scottish accent can help. Released in 1996 by Sales Curve Interactive (SCi), this adventure-RPG hybrid is filled with a very blue and very British sense of humour.

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THE X-FOOLS: THE SPOOF IS OUT THERE

The folks at Parroty Interactive are at it again with another pop-culture parody. This time it's the classic 90's supernatural procedural that falls victim to their particular brand of 'comedy'.  Having a timely release in 1997 when X-Files fever was at a high, there's a lot for The X-Fools to mock, but how does it fare for fans and non-fans alike?

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STAY TOONED!

by Austin Brewer

When it comes to the 90s, what game genres come to mind? Well, if you said the point-and-click adventure, you might be familiar with a little company by the name of Sierra. They were one of the big daddies when it came to point-and-click titles with the likes of King’s Quest, Space Quest and Leisure Suit Larry all being fondly remembered. With such a huge archive of classics, the odd game can get easily overlooked. And one of those games was the Funnybone Interactive developed StayTooned!

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CREATURE CRUNCH

by Austin Brewer

Being an obscure diamond in the rough, the point and click adventure Creature Crunch truly deserves some attention. Debuting at E3 in 1996, this game was developed by Class6 Interactive, an offshoot of Class6 Entertainment responsible for the likes of Ren & Stimpy and many animated commercials. Creature Crunch was an unfortunate commercial failure with talented people involved. Even though it won the “Best Director of Animation for CD-ROM” award in 97, the game was swept under the rug from too little exposure.

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MICROSHAFT WINBLOWS '98

Microsoft is not exactly my favourite fortune 500 company at the moment (see the May 2018 Update post for more info). To vent my considerable frustration, I'd thought I'll play a game whose sole reason for existing is to mock Bill Gates and his company. It's time to play Parroty Interactive's 1998 parody CD-ROM appropriately titled Microshaft Winblows '98.

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THE SIMPSONS: VIRTUAL SPRINGFIELD

The Simpsons were everywhere back in the 90s and for a show that wouldn't air on UK terrestrial TV until its seventh year, that was something. Those kids whose parents were rich enough to have SkyTV were the kings of the playground. When BBC started broadcasting it in 1996, I was hooked and happily a year later Fox Interactive gave us a virtual tour of all that I missed out on. That game was The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield.

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KOALA LUMPUR: JOURNEY TO THE EDGE

After the massive success of Myst, the California based publishing house Brøderbund seemed to release nothing but a slew of educational titles. In 1997, a year before it would become a wholly owned subsidiary of The Learning Company, they brought Koala Lumpur: Journey to the Edge to market. Judging by the box art alone, it seemed to be another one of those animated edutainment titles, but hidden on the cardboard spine lies the only real clue that this point-and-click adventure is more than that. This game has an ELSPA age rating of 13+.

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BATTLE BEAST

Until fairly recently, fighting games for computers have had a pretty bad reputation. For some reason, the arcade thrills of a fighter battling it out on the streets or a virtual arena didn't translate so well. That's not to say desktops went without a number of system exclusives in the genre. Battle Beast, a 1995 game for Windows from 7th Level, was one of them. Does it change the tide for melees on a monitor? Or will it continue on the trajectory of terrible tussles?

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