This month's Slasher game

[heltenjon]

Though it's sad that Slasher is no longer among us, he's left a legacy of games behind. And I for one, have not played them all. But I intend to. Perhaps some of you other fine people also intend to?

Well, I'll try to play one Slasher game each month and post some thoughts here. If someone else wants to play along, that's dandy. You may play any game of his and post any thought you may have; you don't have to follow my schedule at all. Some months I may not play and post, because life is like that. But I don't intend for this to be a chore or a duty, just something fun to do, while honouring our late game machine.

This month I played Sonic and friends in: Club House. This is a MAG(S) game (Slasher always called it MAG) for October 2016, with the theme Genre Shift.

Slasher's take on the theme was to make a point and click starring Sonic and other platform heroes. The plot goes: Sonic have inherited an old house and decides to make it a club house. The house has not been maintained, and he and his friends (Luigi, Tails and Alex Kidd) have to fix it up before their grand club house opening. It turns out that they also need to raise cash to pay the lease.

The game is not polished, but it is fun to play. The two characters I knew, Luigi and Sonic, were easily recognizable. All four have different abilities, and the player can switch between them at will. They move from room to room as a team, so there's little splitting up (except for sending one of them to the roof to fix the tv antenna). They also have their own inventories, as they see different things as useful. The puzzles largely consist of finding some fault in the house, finding the correct tools and/or spare parts, and assigning the correct character for the job. Unsurprisingly, Luigi turns out to be the most versatile as a craftsman and plumber, but all have their jobs if success is to be had. The characters also are portrayed as friends, helping each other and cheering each other on. It's a feel-good game that can be solved by trial and error.

Nice one, and I'm glad to have played it. Perhaps you want to play it now? 

[heltenjon]

In June I played Slasher's MAG(S) entry from June 2016, Blackudder: To doubloon or not to doubloon. The theme that month was "Neglected Historical Eras", interpreted as historic settings not often utilized in games.

This game uses the British comedy characters Black Adder and Baldrick, cunningly disguised as "Blackudder" and "Baldick". The plot involves overhearing Sir Francis Drake planning to grab treasure from wrecked Spanish galleons, and Blackudder hatching a plan to get there before him and nab the gold. The end goal is to get rich enough to buy the queen a birthday present and avoid being beheaded.

The actual gameplay doesn't take up very much time, but the presentation with cut scenes and the title song does. The comedy is very much in the vein of Black Adder, but of course cannot beat the real Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson. Still, I was entertained and smiling the entire time of playing. There are a few puzzles along the way, but grabbing the treasure is quite easy.

Spoiler

But getting away with it is not.

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Gameplay is largely first person, while the characters are shown in small portraits on the bottom of the screen, animated while they talk. The game doesn't feel like it's lacking animations, but if you pay attention, you'll see how cleverly the walk cycles have been skipped. 

All in all, a fun feel-good piece that's funnier to fans of the Black Adder tv series, I suppose. 

[heltenjon]

After a few months' hiatus, this month I found the natural choice was to play Santa and the Orphanage, made for December MAG(S) 2018.

In this one, Slasher puts us in the shoes of Santa himself. The grinches are trying to mess up the Christmas celebration at the orphanage by stealing or destroying the gifts and Santa's sleigh. So, we have to walk around and look for stuff, or stuffing, in the case of the teddy bear.

I enjoyed playing this. It's not very difficult, but the graphics are nice, and the music suitably festive. The game is a kind of a treasure hunt with a couple of puzzles thrown in. It's quite a feel-good game, and one I can easily recommend for ten minutes or so of relaxing Christmas fun. The only time I was not relaxed, was a surprising action scene near the ending.

Spoiler

The grinches throw presents down from above, and Santa is supposed to catch them. This went way too fast for me, so I guess my pc is too powerful.

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[cat]

I remember playing the game and I agree with your review.

[lakerz]

Oh my, I have not been around much in 2024 but have definitely enjoyed Slasher's AGS games over the years.  I'm very sorry to hear of his passing.  I'm sure I have quite a few in my saved queue as well to try out ...

[heltenjon]

I'm sure I have quite a few in my saved queue as well to try out ...

's great that you mentioned Blackudder: To Doubloon or Not to Doubloon! It's one of those games that has been on my list for a long time, but I never tried it. After your review, I became even more interested.

Please share your thoughts if you play. This thread will be a lot better if it doesn't look like one person's blog.