Xanadu - The World's Only Hope

by XanMag

Episode 1 of Xanadu - the World's Only Hope
2015
Mystery
Quest 5.5

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Review

A creative adventure, February 11, 2025

I have a huge soft spot for this game since it's one of the first IF pieces I've played, but I think it holds up quite well. You play as Xanadu Magoo, and you're trying to get revenge and break into an enemy compound. The puzzles are really creative and clever, avoiding the lock-and-key repetitiveness that can befall other games. The chase sequence is especially fun and feels quite tense and breathtaking -- quite rare for this medium! I think the problems, though, are also quite obvious. I don't have a problem with the opening sequence, as others had, but the USE command is *rough*. It's a good catch-all, but the ending sequence had me throwing my hands up in frustration several times, not because I didn't know how to solve it, but because I couldn't figure out the specific wording. In any case, these feel like relatively minor issues, especially since XanMag was generous enough in replying to me on another IF forum regarding my questions. Overall, this is just such a zany, fun romp and I'll always love it for being a perfect introduction to IF.

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