Max Blaster and Doris de Lightning Against the Parrot Creatures of Venus

Max Blaster is a game with engaging writing and an active, fast-paced story. The characters are memorable and the game's humor is on-point; I always loved reading the footnotes. The mechanic of being able to switch between the two heroes, and use their unique gadgets, led to some fun puzzles.

However, the game's biggest problem is the bugs. The parser is unresponsive, no matter how many different ways you word your commands or how simple they should be. I triggered a bug that made the game permanently unwinnable midway through in the computer room, the sandwich puzzle did not respond no matter how closely I followed the walkthrough, and figuring out Max's barrier tool was such a pain that I stuck to Doris until I was forced to use it.

If you're willing to put up with an unpolished gameplay experience, give Max Blaster a try, because the written content here is very much worth it.