Game: Treasure Adventure Game
System: PC
Genre: Action-adventure
Developer: Robit Studios
Release date: November 26, 2011
Pros: Nice retro graphics and sound, clever puzzles, challenging platforming segments
Cons: Somewhat derivative, little to no help if stuck
One of several games available for free at GOG.com, a repository of classic computer games, Treasure Adventure Game doesn't look like much. The graphics look outdated, the characters blocky, the entire game modest, simple, uninteresting. But when it comes to Treasure Adventure Game, looks can be deceiving. This game is fun, it's clever, and it puts forward some very interesting ideas about action-adventure games, even if those ideas have been used before.
Say what you will about the name Treasure Adventure Game, at least it's honest. Players take control of a young boy with amnesia who sets off on an epic adventure of discovery on his birthday. Raised by an elderly couple on an island in a great sea, the young boy retains no memories of his youth, his family, or the fate of his missing hand. Armed only with his hook hand and a map that washed ashore with him, the boy visits a nearby museum. Its owner tells the boy of 12 ancient treasure scattered across the world during an ancient cataclysm. Soon the boy is off in search of buried treasure.
Immediately the game brings to mind The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, in which another young boy destined for greatness crosses a great sea in search for treasure. The creator of Treasure Adventure Game, Stephen Orlando, never seems to shy away from such comparisons. His game is a love letter to action-adventure games of the past. There are elements of Zelda, Super Mario, Castlevania, and other classic action and platform series. As a result the game is somewhat derivative, relying on gameplay mechanics and puzzles that have been used and reused over the past 25 years. Yet there are novelties in Treasure Adventure Game. Orlando, who made the entire game mostly by himself over the course of two years, manages to alter traditional formulas enough to create something all his own.
Although Treasure Adventure Game is an action-adventure game -- filled with non-playable characters, puzzles, exploration, and inventory slots -- it's also a platform game. Entire segments of the game demand that players jump, swim, climb, and crawl around all manner of obstacles and hazards. Some of the segments are tricky, but none are impossible.
Apart from the gameplay, which provides a healthy and satisfying combination of platform challenges and brain-teasers, the game offers some nice art direction and music, despite technical limitations. The game's music, composed by Robert Ellis, is especially good. It changes depending on the background, and helps set the mood for each environment.
Genre: Action-adventure
Developer: Robit Studios
Release date: November 26, 2011
Pros: Nice retro graphics and sound, clever puzzles, challenging platforming segments
Cons: Somewhat derivative, little to no help if stuck
One of several games available for free at GOG.com, a repository of classic computer games, Treasure Adventure Game doesn't look like much. The graphics look outdated, the characters blocky, the entire game modest, simple, uninteresting. But when it comes to Treasure Adventure Game, looks can be deceiving. This game is fun, it's clever, and it puts forward some very interesting ideas about action-adventure games, even if those ideas have been used before.
Say what you will about the name Treasure Adventure Game, at least it's honest. Players take control of a young boy with amnesia who sets off on an epic adventure of discovery on his birthday. Raised by an elderly couple on an island in a great sea, the young boy retains no memories of his youth, his family, or the fate of his missing hand. Armed only with his hook hand and a map that washed ashore with him, the boy visits a nearby museum. Its owner tells the boy of 12 ancient treasure scattered across the world during an ancient cataclysm. Soon the boy is off in search of buried treasure.
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| The hero and his bird companion search an island for treasure. |
Immediately the game brings to mind The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, in which another young boy destined for greatness crosses a great sea in search for treasure. The creator of Treasure Adventure Game, Stephen Orlando, never seems to shy away from such comparisons. His game is a love letter to action-adventure games of the past. There are elements of Zelda, Super Mario, Castlevania, and other classic action and platform series. As a result the game is somewhat derivative, relying on gameplay mechanics and puzzles that have been used and reused over the past 25 years. Yet there are novelties in Treasure Adventure Game. Orlando, who made the entire game mostly by himself over the course of two years, manages to alter traditional formulas enough to create something all his own.
Although Treasure Adventure Game is an action-adventure game -- filled with non-playable characters, puzzles, exploration, and inventory slots -- it's also a platform game. Entire segments of the game demand that players jump, swim, climb, and crawl around all manner of obstacles and hazards. Some of the segments are tricky, but none are impossible.
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| Expect to do a lot of sailing. |
Apart from the gameplay, which provides a healthy and satisfying combination of platform challenges and brain-teasers, the game offers some nice art direction and music, despite technical limitations. The game's music, composed by Robert Ellis, is especially good. It changes depending on the background, and helps set the mood for each environment.
Any action-adventure fans willing to forgive the old-school graphics and sound will find a special experience in Treasure Adventure Game. It might seem simple and straightforward, but it's surprisingly deep, open, and interactive.
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