The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Good
I discovered the “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” (in book form) when I was eleven years old. My dad’s girlfriend gave me the books to keep me occupied and out of the way when she was visiting one day. I was instantly hooked. I read the rest of the series (up to “So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish”) within a month and became obsessed with the universe of Douglas Adams. I even dressed as Arthur Dent for Halloween including all the essentials such as a towel, a bathrobe, and the Guide itself (an old Speak and Spell with a “Don’t Panic” label attached to it).

Since I was a rabid fan of computer games my father surprised me on my birthday with this Infocom game. This would be a first for me in many ways. It was the first game that was purchased for or by me (all my others were copies), it was my first introduction to Infocom, and my first introduction to interactive fiction. I had never seen anything like it. The ability to type in full sentences, explore, solve problems, and live inside a book is a great experience.

The humor of Douglas Adams remains intact and is complimented by Steve Meretzky (who is very funny in his own right, see Planetfall). I wouldn’t play a funnier game until I found “Sam and Max Hit the Road”.

You play good old Arthur Dent who is suddenly whisked away from his home to confront Vogons (doing a cameo role here) and their poetry, two headed aliens, depressed robots and no tea. Fans of the book will feel right at home and for those that have never heard of Douglas Adams there is a bunch of introductory packaging included that will quickly bring them up to speed.

The parser is excellent and is not limiting at all. You can try almost anything and there seems to be a response to it. Typing “eat Ford” or “look under bed” or “kill myself” actually generate responses and not the typical “I don’t understand”. There are a lot of hidden things that really reward the observant gamer. You can ask the Guide for info on just about anything, get drunk at the pub, punch people, panic, try to call yourself when you are at home, and tons of extra stuff.

The Bad
This game is really for experts. There are two major problems that can ruin the experience for new gamers: timed puzzles and the ability to leave behind important items. Timed puzzles are all over the first half of this game. Until you get to the Heart of Gold the game is a non-stop kill fest (your death mostly). I’ll explain. If you don’t leave your house in a few moves you die, if you don’t stop the bulldozer in a few moves you die, if you don’t eat the peanuts or drink enough beer or figure out how to work the Sub-Etha Signaling Device then, you guessed it, death.

The ability to leave an item behind will also ruin your day. Leave your junk mail on the porch or your screwdriver in the house and you won’t be able to complete the game. But it certainly won’t tell you that. You can continue to play long after you left something behind and then all of a sudden you won’t be able to continue because you left item X back on Earth and there is no way to go back and get it because Earth has been reduced to space rubble! Helpful hint: if it isn’t nailed down then take it and if it is nailed down then pry them out and take it anyway.

There is also a problem for people who have read the book and those that haven’t. People who are already familiar with the book will get lulled into a false sense of security because the opening of the game is exactly like it. The rest of the game takes a complete detour though. Those that have never read the book will be stumped by some early puzzles. How would they ever know that to stop the bulldozer they had to lie down in front of it?

The game ends with a cliff hanger. You reach the planet of Magrathea and then are told to wait for the sequel to find out what happens. That’s all well in good but THE SEQUAL WAS NEVER MADE! It probably will never get made since Douglas Adams has sprung his mortal coil and Infocom has been destroyed by Activision Studios.

The Bottom Line
Don’t let the negative points keep you from playing this game. It is a milestone in humorous interactive fiction and should be played by everyone.

The Good
To this day, I still cannot forget the dreaded babel fish puzzle. This puzzle taxed my brain for weeks. I ended up having to get a couple of friends to come over to brainstorm with me on how to get the babel fish in my possesion. It was things like this that make me have fond memories of this game. This was one of the first games I played on my computer when I got it in 1985. It also made me realize how games like this could make me and my buddies stay up all night trying to think up ways to solve some of these puzzles. I only wish that some of the puzzles in today's games would match up to the evils of this game.

The Bad
Not much.

The Bottom Line
The ultimate thinking game. That could be said about any Infocom game. You definitly have to think your way through all of the puzzles.

The Good
This game retained much of the humor and irony of the book. It manages through language. It always seemed to have a witty comeback, no matter what I typed in. If I typed in, "jump," it would respond, "Wasn't that fun?" Or if I made a juvenile comment like, "Kiss Ford," I would receive a [humorous] lecture about just what kind of game I was playing anyway. The bottom line is that the game seemed to respond intelligently and ironically. Additionally, it was challenging. Not a matter of searching around empty rooms where nothing happened—I knew approximately what was supposed to happen, and it drove me crazy trying to make it that way. The secret to getting the babble fish in your ear is...oh—if you want to cheat, go read hints online.

The Bad
Honestly, I was a bit upset that it wasn't longer. Where was the sequel? But then again, a sequel would have had to be very different from the first game—and this was so good, why risk a bad sequel.

The Bottom Line
In this game, Douglas Adams has found even another way of retelling his story—and it works. Just like the radio show, just like the books, this game is the essence of fun. But the fun in this game really picks when readers and listeners have put the other media aside. To understand the jokes, one should be familiar with one of the other media.

The Good
This was the first game to be adapted from a license, and Steve M's wit was a perfect match for the source material. This game houses the most hallowed of all confounding puzzles, the Babel Fish! Its other achievement is it broke the rules of classic text adventures (such as lying to you which ways you could really go!)

The Bad
I was not amused about that lying part at first (it's one of the first things you encounter!) Also, the game was quite difficult. I believe this game prompted the ratings system for all Infocom games.

The Bottom Line
If you loved the book and love text adventures, this is a match made in heaven!