Space Quest I: Roger Wilco in the Sarien Encounter

The Good
One of the neat things about Sierra's remakes is that each one gave the game a new artistic flair. This one tried to go for a retro sci-fi feel, like a 50's cheapo flick. That doesn't exactly work, but the art is still pretty well done, and gives the game a goofy personality. The same goes for the music, the opening credit sequence is very well done, and the Space Quest main theme that plays during it is very well done. The puzzles for this game were fairly well done for the AGI version, and there isn't much of a deviation this time around, and they managed to hold up over time so, its good in that respect as well.

The Bad
As to be expected of an AGI (Sierra's original adventure game engine, what this game originally was in) remake its pretty short, since the original was short. Playing this makes me wonder why they didn't bother making it an 'expanded remake' or something to that effect, because all this great art and music is almost wasted on a fairly short game.

This game isn't as funny as its successors, either, and there isn't any real character interaction until midway through the game. There are a few laughs here and there, but its more of a light hearted adventure than a rollicking comedy in the tradition of Monkey Island.

This game also has a fairly jarring start. You show up on a spaceship, and if you don't move right, you die. Certainly, its fairly easy to avoid the Sariens, but if you're someone not used to Sierra's policy of millions of deaths for everything, there should have been some gameplay before troops are shooting at you.

The Bottom Line
A fun little game with nice graphics and music, and fairly easy puzzles. Its a fun diversion, and a reminder of a time when Sierra was one of the finest developers around. The game isn't incredible, but it doesn't really present itself as such. Its worth a weekend.