Jacaranda Jim

My friends and I loved Jacaranda Jim when it turned up on "cover disks" around 1990. Coming back to it after all this time, it's still enjoyable. Some of the surprise deaths can be a bit irritating, but the voice which the game was written in is quite pleasant (similar to "Humbug", the author's second release), contrary to the other review on here - I do wonder if it might appeal more to British players.

This was the game that got me into Interactive Fiction all those years ago. I remember many a lunchtime rushing down to the computer lab to see if I could get any further.

As far as IF goes, it's very old school, focusing mostly on puzzles. Some puzzles are quite easy, whilst others are quite tricky. There's a main 'theme' to the game, that once you get makes progress much easier. Regardless, you do get killed, often, and without warning. An 'undo' feature would be handy here.*

Also, the game is 16-bit, which makes it difficult to run on 64-bit versions of Windows without using an emulator such as DosBox.*

Regardless, if you like traditional Text Adventures this is a must-play game, that should keep you entertained for a good few evenings.

Out of interest, has anyone ever managed to get more than 2255 points out of 2400? If so, please drop me a line.

(* Shameless plug - Both of these problems can be worked around by playing the ADRIFT port of this game)