The Retro Adventurers

• Episode 23 - Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes: Another Bow, and Sherlock: Riddle of the Crown Jewels

  For this roundup of Sherlock Holmes adventures from the 1980s, Ben and Jason call in an expert: Sherlockian playwright Christian Neuhaus, co-creator of You've Ruined a Perfectly Good Mystery. The trio of amateur sleuths take on the three major commercial releases in chronological order. First up is Sherlock from Melbourne House, written in the same "Inglish" system that powered The Hobbit... and with many of the same strengths and liabilities. Written by Philip Mitchell, whose Australian take on 19th century London doesn't fool Ben for a second. Next it's the smorgasbord of shipboard mayhem Sherlock Holmes: Another Bow. Author Peter Golden will join us on a future episode to talk about how this Bantam Software release came to be. Finally we take on Infocom's final all-text creation, Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels by Bob Bates. Does it send the legendary series and unparalleled investigative team out on a triumphant note by putting the player in Watson's shoes? Sherlock by Melbourne House (IFDB) Sherlock (playable online, ZX Spectrum) Sherlock Holmes: Another Bow (IFDB) Sherlock Holmes: Another Bow (playable online, DOS) Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels (IFDB) Sherlock: The Riddle of the Crown Jewels (playable online) Peter Golden's fiction

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• Episode 22 - Questprobe: Spider-Man and Redhawk

  POW! KABOOM! KWAH! Dave and Jason explore two 1980s text adventures pulled from the world of comic books! (At the time, comics were just one of many forms of narrative expression and not the dominant storytelling platform as they are this century.) First up it's Redhawk from Melbourne House, which experiments with text/graphics adventure presentation by building a three-panel comic on-screen based on player input. Can you, as mild-mannered news photographer Kevin Oliver and as flying, fighting superhero Redhawk save the city? Then it's Questprobe: Spider-Man from Adventure International, from the short-lived Marvel Comics series which just predated the company's end. Amazing feats of wall-walking and strength await! Finally, we play the work-in-progress of the unfinished Questprobe: X-Men, provided by Scott Adams himself from his archives. Questprobe: Spider-Man (playable online, Apple II verson) Questprobe: Spider-Man on IFDB Redhawk (playable online, Amstrad CPC version) Redhawk on IFDB

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• Episode 21 - First Anniversary Chatisode

  🎂It’s our first birthday!🎂Enjoy an anniversary celebration with all the hosts and minimal editing! Founder Ben holds a contest of Retro Adventurers knowledge–who will reign supreme? How many countries have at least one download per episode? Who will be named the Seven of Nine of text adventure podcasting? Will the boys have a polite conversation about expanding to other genres or will chairs fly? Thank you for listening to our first year of classic text adventure discussion and review. Please get in touch with us with suggestions for the years to come. (And yes, Nick knows our frequent guest is Tim Gilberts, he was just distracted.) Googlewhack definition The Clarion Beauty Computer Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves playable online (not a text adventure!) Sleuth for DOS Labyrinth (Lucasfilm Games) Amazing Quest by Nick Montfort Twisty Little Passages 50 Years of Text Games

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• Episode 20 - The Mask of the Sun and Valkyrie 17

  Dave and Jason confront a double dose of terrifying terrors! First up is the RamJam Corporation's Valkyrie 17, a Cold War thriller set in a pseudonymous Eastern Bloc nation, boasting excellent off-screen production values but some quirky on-screen choices. The title was originally published for ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64, with a Windows update released more recently. Then we travel to South America for the so-close-to-the-original, you-can-feel-the-stubble Indiana Jones-adjacent The Mask of the Sun originally published by Ultrasoft. You are rugged professor of archaeology Mac Steele, struggling under the debilitating effects of an ancient curse! Only by enduring many (many, many) Jeep and cave-navigating sequences can he be free of the exotic pills which keep him just barely clinging to life! The Mask of the Sun was published for Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and Commodore 64, with a German translation to boot! (And one of these days Jason will stop saying something has an "X-word" parser when he means an "X-letter" parser... but not today!) Valkyrie 17 box, documentation, and audio Valkyrie 17, C64 playable online Valkyrie 17, Windows update Valkyrie 17 on Mobygames The Mask of the Sun documentation (Broderbund) The Mask of the Sun on Mobygames  

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• Episode 19 - Monsters of Murdac and Behind Closed Doors (SAM Coupé Adventure Club #1)

  Ben occupies the throne, attended by minions Jason and Nick this episode to plumb the depths of the text adventure archives. In the featured spot is the Phoenix/Topologika title Monsters of Murdac by Dr. Jonathan Partington (Episodes #12 and #16), a punishingly creative game. Up first, however, is the 1991 disk magazine SAM Coupé Adventure Club #1 and its featured free game... the toilet-escape simulator Behind Closed Doors by "Balrog" John Wilson. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Monsters of Murdac (playable online, BBC version) SAM Coupé Adventure Club archive Browser-readable version of SAM Coupé Adventure Club Disk #1 Behind Closed Doors #1 (playable online, ZX Spectrum version) Ink Console Classic articles on games by Jonathan Partington  

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