Arctic Adventure

The Good
Apogee was the king of platform games back in the day. Since its inception, the company released two adventure games and the legendary Kroz series, and helped other small independent developers get their games out. But it wasn’t until a newcomer named George Broussard came on board that Apogee really rose to stardom. The company suddenly shifted their focus to platform games, and the first games Broussard made for Apogee were Pharaoh’s Tomb as well as this sequel.

Both games feature Nevada Smith, an Indiana Jones-wannabe who collects treasure, kills enemies, and overcomes traps. After finding his way to the pharaoh’s tomb, he now travels to the Arctic to seek out the map that belonged to a band of Vikings, who tore it up mainly due to their distrust in each other. When all the map pieces have been found, it will lead Nevada to the cave containing their hidden treasures. Although the story and conclusion is presented in text, I didn't have a problem with this, as I could picture what was happening in my mind. I knew what Nevada and his surroundings would look like. I did the same thing when I was reading the text in Pharaoh's Tomb.

Nevada starts his journey walking around a map of the Arctic consisting of twenty levels, most of which he can enter. The idea of this is quite clever, and it is something that Apogee repeated in Crystal Caves and Secret Agent. Some of the caves are in locked passages, which can be opened by collecting keys from certain caves. The cave entrances are well designed; you can see a little passage in them. Also present on the map are lakes with more caves in them, but the only way you can get to them is by getting a boat. One of the caves is blocked off, but an avalanche occurs when you have finished the second-last cave, allowing you access to it.

Each cave is completed by getting the required number of pickaxes used to break the iceblocks blocking the exit, and there are enemies such as abominable snowmen that you need to deal with beforehand, either by shooting them with your pistol or jumping over them. There are also traps you need to avoid such as stalagmites, stalactites, and rolling snowballs. I love how Apogee gives a nod to Super Mario Bros.; if you go down the pipes found in some of the caves, you are taken to a treasure room. Upon returning to the map, the cave is replaced by the word ‘Done’ and you can’t enter it again.

Arctic Adventure is one of the few games to make use of CGA graphics, alongside Pharaoh’s Tomb and The Monuments of Mars. The blue-white-pink color palette blends well with the game’s setting. Each character and hazard is well animated, and the blocks that form the layout of each cave look good. I like the hidden messages that Broussard left in some of them, like the initials that he left in one bonus cave. In a later cave, he hinted what the secret cheat code is – by using blocks to write it. The title screen featuring the illustration of Nevada overlooking an ice shelf with caves cut into it is well done. After you complete one of the volumes, the way you get to see a newly-obtained map piece is rather neat.

The controls are easy to get used to. All players need to know is how to move Nevada left or right, how to jump, and how to fire his weapon. There are three different keyboard configurations to choose from, but if players aren't happy with each one, they can just use the arrow keys to control Nevada's direction and use the keys Z and M to fire.

Nevada’s adventure is split across four volumes, with the first volume being free to copy and distribute among your friends. You were required to pay a small donation to Apogee to get the other three and a few extras. Known as the “Apogee Model”, its rival companies such as Epic MegaGames and id Software embraced it. Fortunately for all of us, the game was made freeware after it was discontinued. If you are a fan of platformers, there is no excuse not to play this.

The Bad
In Pharaoh's Tomb, players could save the game in up to nine slots, so that they can save at different points in each of its volumes. In Arctic Adventure, however, players can only save to just one slot, giving them no opportunity to save at different points. And there is no “Are you sure?” confirmation message, just like that one that appears when you are about to leave the game. What if players mistakenly hit the key used to save the game, rather than load the game instead?

The Bottom Line
This is Broussard’s second game from Apogee. Split across four volumes, you control Nevada Smith, the archaeologist who goes off to the Arctic to explore caves, collect treasure, kill monsters, and overcome traps. As I said before, Arctic Adventure makes use of CGA graphics, but the palette used here blends in with the game’s theme. Although the sound is standard PC Speaker stuff, this was commonplace for a lot of small companies. If the ”now-reborn” Apogee made a remaster of the game, Nevada could do with a bit more animation. As it stands, he is not programmed to face forwards or backwards.