Torin's Passage
1995 - Sierra
W95/W98
3rd person point and click cartoon adventure

I am going to start this off by commenting that this game is my now 16 year old's all time favorite. He played it when he was 9 and still to this day asks me if there is another game like it. There isn't unfortunately. It's pretty much one of a kind.

You play Torin, a young man unaware that he is actually royalty. When he was a baby an evil sorcerer attacked his family and killed his mother and father (who just happened to be the king and queen). Torin would have been killed also but his nurse had taken him out of his cradle and when she saw what had happened she ran away with him. Torin was raised by another couple and all went well for years until one day a spell was cast on them and they were taken away. It just so happened that the evil sorcerer who murdered Torin's parents appears and tells Torin that the evil witch Lycentia took his parents to the Lands Below. So you and your trusty sidekick Boogle head off to the lands below to rescue your parents.

The game is divided into 5 chapters: The Lands Above (which is where you and Boogle live) and the 4 lands below: Escarpa, Pergola, Asthenia and Tenebous. You can play the chapters in any order but it makes more sense to start at the top and work your way down.

Interface is your basic point and click and you're there. Inventory is held below the playing screen and easily accessible. The cursor lights up on anything that Torin or Boogle can interact with (you must remember in this game that both Torin and Boogle have inventory). Boogle also has the ability to morph himself into all sorts of objects. You can toggle between the two characters via the Torin & Boogle button.

As far as graphics - think King's Quest VII -

There is an in game hints system that you can use but if you do you lose points (if you care about points that is). You can also read or hear the last few lines of dialogue just in case the phone rings or someone wants dinner and you missed a speech. That feature comes in handy let me tell you.

The puzzles run the gambit and are unique to each world. There are pick up all the tiles and build a face puzzles, put the crystals in the right order to raise a platform puzzles, mazes, lining up cute little men and women critters and make them sing correctly puzzles and a climb the slippery slope via talking grass puzzle. Then we have the dreaded Null Void and the infamous "Dreep Come Here" puzzle [can feel all Torin Passage veteran players shudder at those words]

In conclusion, if you haven't played this game because you thought it was for kids - perish the thought - after you've tried to catch that darn inch worm and swung Torin back and forth over the peat moss umteen dozen times you'll know it's not a cake walk. I had every bit as much fun playing this game as did my then 9 year old son. Maybe more.

IMHO this is a must play for all good adventurers.

System Requirements:

W95/98
486/33
8 MB Ram
2x CD rom
SVGA, game runs is 256 colors
Mouse

Hi Syd.

Grand review as usual !!

I just loved this game from beginning to end. And, as you say, it certainly is NOT "fall down easy"

I found a certain slider puzzle drove me nuts for days......

Hey, Syd, great review! And glad to see a review of Torin, a really great game that's easy to overlook. I was very impressed with the variety of puzzles in this one. I especially enjoyed the little people singing puzzle and the slippery slope, which stuck me as funny. The little people puzzle was actually quite difficult for me as I know nothing about music and only got through this by dumb luck. How cute were those little trolls thing though?

The worst had the be that fire jumping stump puzzle. I had such diagrams for that puzzle and I even used Turbo on about 30 just cause I'd sink long before I'd come up with my next move. Took me almost 2 weeks to get through that one.

Hopefully, now with your excellent review more people will pick up this game and enjoy. I also liked some of the music.

This is a really great game and i still love playing it now and again. brilliant thing is it actually works for me in WindowsXP just have to go into the compatibility tab and run in 256 colours

good review! sums it up well

Great review as usual! This is a marvelous, under appreciated game, in my opinion. I tend to favor games with cartoony graphics and humor, and this fit the bill with gusto. I had to laugh when the review mentioned the null void - I have never forgotten being stuck in there for days and days. There wasn't a walk through for the game, and the hints were somewhat limited, as I recall, in regard to that area. You're absolutely right - it's not just a kid's game, and one that would be a shame to be missed.

Hi all,

having had this game on my shelves for about a year (bought for Alistair really) I was interested to read this review. Dusted it off, chucked the cd in and have been playing happily for two days. If I hadn't read this, I would have just traded the game away, not knowing what I had missed.

Most of the puzzles were thought provoking but not tear your hair out stuff. The humour is classic...... What sort of berries were they??? Chuck Berries of course!!!! The only downside was that the save function decided to pack in right by the hopping stumps.... so I had to play the last bit all in one gulp. I would have preferred to savour it a little longer!!

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!

Hugs

Tig

Tigger - at the very end, be sure to (>SAVE FIRST<) play the Bagpipe for Lycentia.

I was lucky enough to be able to get this game, just finished playing it. This game is truly a gem and does not show its age. The humor is exceptional. What a treasure. Kathy