The Time Machine

Moby ID: 29400

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Critic Reviews add missing review

Average score: 60% (based on 1 ratings)

Player Reviews

Average score: 3.6 out of 5 (based on 5 ratings with 1 reviews)

An early Mysterious Adventure that involves time travel

The Good
The Time Machine is the second game in the ”Mysterious Adventure” series designed by Brian Howarth. He also ported the graphics version of Adventureland over to the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum, which is why the two games feature the same presentation. You are a journalist sent out to interview Dr. Potter in his old manor. When you get there, the Doctor is not even present. He took it upon himself to get lost somewhere in time, and it is up to you to find his contraption, using it to travel to different time periods. Ultimately, you need to locate three glass prisms and fit them in the machine one by one. Only then will you be able to control the time machine.

The time periods that you have to warp to include the brig of a deserted ship, a swamp inhabited by dinosaurs, and the treacherous sands of Egypt. Most of the scenes within these time periods look fantastic. The highlight of this game is the time machine itself. To operate it, there are two buttons: one that moves you forward in time, and the other moving you backward. When you push them, there is a ten-second wait as the game switches the display of two different scenes.

The screen is split into two portions. The top half is reserved for illustrations of each of the game’s scenes, while the bottom half is used to enter two-word commands. Although these usually take the form of a verb-noun sequence, directions and the inventory can be entered as a single letter. If you press [Return] without entering anything, the game switches to text-only mode reminiscent of the Zork games. I enjoy playing the game in this mode; not only does it give you additional information such as a description of the scene, the objects in that scene, and the available exits, but it also allows you to move between a lot of scenes quickly without worrying about the illustrations coloring in themselves.

You can save the game at any time, but make sure you have a blank cassette handy. Before the game starts, you are asked if you want to load a saved game. Like many adventures, it is important to map out each scene on graph paper, as well as any characters and objects that inhabit each scene. The game world is huge, and it is quite easy enough to go around in circles.

The Bad
When you switch to text-only mode then change back to graphic mode, the illustrations re-draw themselves. This can be frustrating especially if you have to move between a whole lot of scenes.

The Bottom Line
The Time Machine is the second game in the "Mysterious Adventures" series, in which you must travel through time to rescue a doctor. To progress through the game, two-word commands must be entered, although single letters can be used for movement and for listing your inventory. You can also go back and forth between graphics and text-only modes. The illustrations look fantastic, but although it is nice to have each of them colored in, this could be annoying because it repeats this every time you switch back from text-only mode.

Commodore 64 · by Katakis | ă‚«ă‚żă‚­ă‚ą (43092) · 2022

Contributors to this Entry

Critic reviews added by Tim Janssen.