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 umpteenth 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
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GameBoomers
