Top 5 Point-n-Click Titles Remade For XBLA

by Shadow Wave

© 2009 Ben Cadwallader

E3 last year saw some surprising classic games unveiled to be ported to current gen consoles. Since then it seems the remake/port trend has caught on everywhere, from Duke Nukem to Outrun, and it is giving everyone a new taste of some classic games.

All the three big console companies are doing it these days, especially Nintendo. We have now seen countless classic games brought to the Nintendo Wii, while Microsoft has also revived many classic arcade games to us via XboxLIVE Arcade, not to forget some of the more modern games like as Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie.

Which got me thinking…“what other game genre’s and classic games can we port to our beloved more powerful this gen consoles?”

In other words, what E3 hopes do I have beyond the usual announcements and new footage of upcoming big titles?

Point and Click Adventure Games!

Point and Click Adventure games were all the rage a decade ago. They were games anyone could play on their computer. They didn’t strain your PC’s graphics card and they only required you to use your mouse.  Perfect button timing, fast reflexes, and a familiarity with controller setups weren’t necessary.  They were almost as fun to watch as they were to play.

Though the occasional PC title is released that is similar in style, the big three console companies are sitting on a potential gold mine of  “casual games” here, if only someone would wake up and get the ball rolling. “Games anyone can play” seems to be the catch-phrase these days, and Point and Click games surely would fit that slogan.

The games only require the use of 2-5 buttons. You usually don’t die or see a game over screen. You can go at your own pace and you can usually save your game whenever you like. Environments are often interesting with a focus on exploration, and finally, you get to experience marvelous games with engaging stories.

There was the humorous Monkey Island series which catered to the younger age groups, but also were just as enjoyable for adults – probably more – but we won’t say that too loudly.  Then there were the more serious games such as The Longest Journey which were much more mature in nature, and played like you were actually reading a superb fantasy novel.

This brings up another major positive factor. Sometimes confusing puzzles that this style of game introduced actually helped children with their cognitive development and helped the older folk tear their hair out! Well actually no, it actually helps the older generations with keeping their skills alive and fresh.

Overall it gave everyone a massive sense of accomplishment when they finally figured out a particular puzzle and then moved onto the next one.

Moving On

More often than not, Point and Click games used pre-drawn backgrounds, which gave a game an amazing artistic style or created an extremely life-like world for its production time.  This made the games much more immersive and believable with their unique style and technique.

Unfortunately this technique couldn’t be used for character models. Often game characters stood out from the background quite a lot, but it never really ruined the game. I personally think that most people appreciated the lovely artwork in the pre-drawn backgrounds more than a few people with jagged edges.

You can imagine what can be done today to update these games, especially on current powerful consoles like the 360 and Ps3.

Often these games would last 20 hours or more for one play through, making them great value for money, especially when compared to today’s standard game length of around 8 – 10 hours.

The resurrection of great games

Now I admit I am pretty clueless about the technical side of porting games and what would be required, but as far as how the games run, these could be one of the most easy genres to port to the current consoles.

Controls:

Almost all control in these games came from your PC mouse, and its left and right click buttons.  You would use your mouse cursor to move your character around, and your left and right click buttons were to be used when collecting items or solving puzzles etc.

Due to the small amount of buttons used in these games, every new game platform that is out today could run them.  Simply assign the mouse cursor to one of the controller’s joysticks and then assign some of the face buttons the same function as the left and right click. Or for the Nintendo Wii’s case, it already has a mouse cursor system already used in many games, so it would be even easier there.

You can already use an Xbox 360 controller to play point and click games on your PC thanks to a few helpful programs, so it proves it can be done with the controller!

It would use so few buttons almost anyone could pick these games up and play them almost instantly.

Graphics:

Point and Click games with pre-drawn backgrounds could potentially look amazing on your HDTV sets. All these backgrounds still look just as good on a high res PC monitor(10+ years since their development). The backgrounds just do not blur or pixelate easily, so they must have the resolution scaled or something.

Then slap some anti-aliasing on your character models and presto! A brilliant looking port.

Earlier games without pre-drawn backgrounds will never look as good, but that hasn’t stopped Microsoft or Nintendo bringing some ancient pixely classics to their consoles, so let’s bring some more to the party!

Sure there are likely to be some publishing rights issues, but I’m sure when money is involved, things can work out. From an observer’s view, it seems that porting the old Point and Click games could be one of the easier ports to do.

Look at The Broken Sword game recently remade for the Wii which rated well and wasn’t just a downloadable upgrade, but a full retail purchased game.

I know it’s a long shot, but let’s hope we hear something positive about this at E3-09!

Top 5 Point and Click Adventure games that should be ported to newer consoles:

5) Loom

Loom was a unique adventure game that tried to do a few things a little differently. You play a character named Bobbin who looks very similar to a  Grim Reaper, who travels throughout the game with a unique staff that plays ‘drafts’  which are essential musical scores that have magical effects.

Loom wasn’t as much about collecting items as it was about finding musical notes or new spells, where each one gave you new abilities or effects which let you progress further into the game.  It was a very unique game, and it would be great to see a port of it come to Xbox Live on or before its 20th birthday!

4) Grim Fandango

While not exactly a ‘point and click’ title, its hard not to mention Grim Fandango when thinking about the point and click genre.

The game takes a very similar direction to point and click titles but instead of using a mouse, all controls for this game are operated on a PC keyboard. A Grim Fandango remake/port would cause almost as many joyful cries as if Square-Enix announced a Final Fantasy 7 remake.

You play as Manny, a undead travel agent working off a debt for ‘the powers that be’ and as with all adventure games, the aim of the game is pretty similar; collect items and use them or give them to someone, while experiencing a very humorous story and a very memorable game!

3) King’s Quest Series

There are 8 King’s Quest games that have been around since 1984.  Even back then when the original game was released, it was very successful but while the earlier games seem incredibly basic these days,  it’s the newer games which should get ported more than any of the others.

Each King’s Quest game tells a unique tale about the royal family of the Kingdom of Daventry in a magical and medieval universe. Each game is in a new area, and is played by a new character.

Together these games create quite an epic story and it would be great if they ported Vivendi Univeral’s King’s Quest Collection to Xbox Live, which was released in 2006 for Windows XP and gave a new generation of players a chance to experience all the classic games once again.

2) Monkey Island Series

ED. UPDATE (21/05/09): It may well be that a Monkey Island game IS in fact being remade for XBLA on 360.  News out from German site GamerBytes is that The Secret Of Monkey Island – Special Edition is indeed being made. All rejoice!

The Monkey Island series puts you in the shoes of the ‘mighty pirate’ Guybrush Threepwood as he sails the seas of the Caribbean accomplishing some wacky goals, such as saving his girlfriend from being a gold statue forever, but of course while hitting countless obstacles and  puzzles that he must solve.

All of his journeys are full of humour for all ages, and provides a generally entertaining story from the beginning of the game right until the end. Out of all the games in the series I think ‘The Curse of Monkey Island‘ would be the most suited for a port to Xbox Live, as it has a very unique art style, thanks to its pre-drawn backgrounds and with similar styled characters.

It would glisten off HDTV’s across the world if it was ported to 1080p.

1) The Longest Journey

The Longest Journey plays like a really good mature fantasy novel. This game is not aimed for children at all.  Its story is extremely deep and complex and tells the tale of April Ryan and her ability to be able to travel between the worlds of Stark and the world of Arcadia.

The theory is that while we are living in a scientific world, in a parallel universe to ours, the world is full of magic. But “The Balance” that holds these 2 parallel worlds together is starting to fail, and April Ryan must restore order so that chaos is not unleashed onto both worlds.

The story is VERY deep and very complex; it’s just a fantastic story.  The gameplay takes the basic point and click form of finding items and combining them to be used with a part of the environment to continue further.

The developers Funcom already have the sequel to this story; Dreamfall on the Xbox Live Marketplace as an Xbox Original, so if Funcom were willing it could be ported very easily!

What other classic games would you like to see ported to the current consoles so that we can all experience them. Be that for the very first time, or again?

Please leave a comment below!

© 2009 Ben Cadwallader

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Filed under: 3rd Party Games, Console gaming, E3 2009, Editorial, Parental Gaming, Xbox 360, Xbox 360 News, XboxLive Marketplace Tagged: | "Grim Fandango", "King's Quest Series", "Kingdom of Daventry", "Monkey Island Series", "Point and Click Adventure games", Grim Reaper, Guybrush Threepwood, Kings Quest, Loom, Monkey Island, The longest journey