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Jacaranda Jim
Review by Grimwold
"Howdy! My name is Jacaranda Jim. I was on a routine
space-journey to Jupiter (Sol system, Mutters Spiral) when my
cargo-ship was taken over by a crack squad of homicidal beechwood
armchairs. Desperate to avoid one of those really silly adventure
games with words like "flip-flops" and "placid" in them I
crashlanded into the wacky world of Ibberspleen IV. (Where the
most ridiculous word in circulation appears to be "plinth").
"I was rescued from the burning wreckage by a smug little Gribbley
called "Alan". This was just too much and I decided it would be
wise to call it a day and lose consciousness.
"At the moment I am still unconscious and this is all a dream -
you've just interrupted a game of tennis I was having against a
rhinoceros called "Hilda"."
- So the introduction to this PC adventure goes. Many of you will
already have heard of this game, it's been around for a while.
As far as I can tell, it's not been written by a 'popular'
utility, I've heard that Graham uses his own utility for writing
adventures and if this is so, he's very talented in general
programming, not to mention the adventure in question. Jacaranda
Jim is a wild and frenzied trip through a variety of strange
locations, not to mention some strange creatures and characters.
The humour is a bit restrained throughout, despite the
introduction, but can afford a laugh on the odd occasion. I
personally think this is a good thing, the humour taking second
place to the puzzles. Some authors prefer to squeeze the puzzles
in amongst the jokes - it works sometimes, but often doesn't. With
JJ, however, the whole humour-puzzle interaction works very well,
each one complimenting the other.
Some of the puzzles are a little tricky, I would've preferred a
few more hints, but perhaps that's just me being dim. All in all,
though, this is a worthy game and a definite addition for anyone's
adventure collection.
Grimwold's rating: 8.5/10
Grimwold
Jacaranda Jim
Review by Alex Freeman, SPAG, 2001
Jacaranda Jim is another game by Graham Cluley. It was actually written
before Humbug, but there are many similarities between the two games.
In Jacaranda Jim, you are... Jacaranda Jim. You have crash landed on the
planet Ibberspleen IV. The game starts with you waking up from a dream.
When you do wake up, you find that you are in a dark cave with Alan the
Gribbley. In case you're wondering what a gribbley is, it is some
strange creature that is a cross between a neanderthal and the aftermath
from a night with Malcolm Muggeridge. Alan has a rather disgusting beard
also.
Anyhow, you don't really know what to do, but you figure (no doubt
correctly) that it would be at least a good idea to find some way of
getting back to Earth. As you explore Ibberspleen IV, you find that it
is a lot like Earth: There are a post office, a zoo, a grocery store, a
church, and other Earth-like buildings. While you're doing all this,
Alan is constantly at your side even when you're out in the rain, but he
leaves when it becomes night (the game goes through the cycle of day and
night).
The NPCs are generally not as well developed as they are in Humbug, but
you get to know them better (or at least the well developed ones) by
asking them questions. My favorite NPC is the thief. When you're on the
beach, you better beware because he may try to rob you. When he does, he
says, "Har, har! Give us yer valuables!" If you ask him about the police
he says, "They aren't after me; are they?" Also, don't think that
running away from him will help you any because he'll chase after you
and smash your head with his mallet.
My favorite place in the game is the cave. It contains interesting areas
and plenty of puzzles. It also contains one of my favorite puzzles: the
wall of fruit. As you explore the cave, it becomes less and less like a
cave (it contains stuff like a telephone booth and a safe).
Its parser is quite good. It is easy to use and understands fairly
sophisticated commands. However, it can't do really fancy stuff like
recognizing multiple commands.
Like Humbug, it is humorous but not as much. It is still rather witty,
and it sure adds to the game, though. My wildcard points are once again
for the humour.
Its main flaw is its puzzles. Many of the puzzles were too hard, such as
the colored buttons one. The hint system solves this problem partially,
but it is no substitute for good puzzles. Don't get me wrong, though. It
has many good puzzles such as the wall of fruit that I mentioned
earlier, but there should have been many more.
Overall, Jacaranda Jim is a good game and worth playing, but it could
have been an excellent game if the puzzles had been better.
Atmosphere: 1.3
Gameplay: 1.5
Writing: 1.5
Plot: 1.2
Humour: 1.3
Total: 6.8
Characters: 1.3
Puzzles: .8
Alex Freeman, SPAG
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