Point-and-click adventures seem to be pretty dead in the water these days. Now, in recent years, we have gotten a few shining examples from the genre, including some LucasArts remakes and additional adventures in the Monkey Island lexicon. But there were a constant flood of them back in the “good ol’” days of gaming, and they seem to be somewhat of a rarity now.
Fortunately, CollectorVision Games recognizes this, and teamed up with 8-Bit Legit to produce the long-lost Acclaim adventure Dead Tomb, a point-and-click throwback with an 8-bit engine. It definitely has its quirks, particularly with some of its tough challenges. But anyone who loves this genre – or throwback games in general – should definitely book a trip to pay this Tomb a visit.
Escape From Egypt
In the game, you portray a time traveler visiting the classic pyramid days of Egypt, trying to figure out something with a recent study. But it isn’t long before you crash land and the leader decides to imprison you, forcing you to use whatever resources you can to repair the ship and get out of there. No one likes to be stuck in Egypt (well, maybe King Tut, but we can’t ask him).
Anyway, the story sets the game in motion, where you use a classic point-and-click interface to deal with items in the environment. This includes picking up goodies to use later, as well as moving objects so you can find your way into the next room.
The puzzles are simple at first, but soon they become diabolical, requiring – gasp! – real thought to get out of. But it just goes to show the love that the developers put into the genre. It plays just like a classic adventure, and the challenges will test every corner of your brain.
Newbies might be a bit overwhelmed, but the game set-up is very approachable, and the adventure is pretty worthwhile. Just gotta stick with it, even when it’s at its roughest.
Overall, it plays just fine, and is a welcome addition to a genre that doesn’t nearly get enough love these days. This likely won’t convert you if you didn’t like it before, but fans will eat it up like Thanksgiving dinner.
A Swell Throwback To 8-Bit
Considering this is the work of CollectorVision Games and 8-Bit Legit, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Dead Tomb features a throwback style of presentation. We’re talking about something originally conceived with the NES era in mind.
The graphics, however, are really well done here. Your character moves around each environment with ease, and interacting with items is a breeze after a small learning curve is applied. Plus the little animations are a nice touch. I just wish there were more interesting characters to deal with. The “classic TV” borders are a nice touch, too. You might even be tempted to change it to channel 3.
As for the music, it’s vintage old-school as well. Though some tracks do tend to repeat, they’re done nicely too, with a groove that really settles you in to the whole point-and-click vibe. The sound effects are okay, but the music is the highlight here.
Overall, this provides a good little throwback to the classic days of gaming. And considering the unbeatable price (a meager $5), you can’t go wrong – unless you’re not a fan of the genre to begin with.
Point, Click, Enjoy
How much you get into Dead Tomb really depends on your appreciation for retro point-and-click games. Again, if you’re not a fan of the genre, this likely won’t sway you so easily. However, if you grew up all things LucasArts (and who didn’t?), you’ll feel right at home here. Plus you can buy it for the NES – as the devs originally intended!
However, we don’t blame you if you want to “keep it modern” on Xbox and Switch. Indulge!
GAMERHUB RATING: THREE AND A HALF (out of FIVE) JOYSTICKS
Thanks to 8-bit Legit for the review code!
