Uninvited

The Good
Other than a somewhat eerie atmosphere there's nothing much to like.

The Bad
First of all, this game is unbelievably stupid. You die just about everywhere. Walk into a certain room, you die. Open a certain box, you die. Worst of all, if you're not fast enough you'll be overcome by some evil force and you'll die, and if that happens you have to start over again and solve the same tedious puzzles again. If you still want to play this game, whatever you do, avoid the NES-version. The sound on that version is the worst ear-terror I've ever heard. It's not music, it's strange high pitch noises coming out of the speakers in an arbitrary pattern. Awful, to say the least. The gameplay is identical to that of Shadowgate, and it has the same eerie atmosphere as that game. It actually makes me sick, both because of the strange atmosphear, and because of the extremely low quality of the game. If the story is good? Get outta here. Oh yeah, the graphics are quite crappy too.

The Bottom Line
Ugly game spiced up with some lovely ear-terror and some nice frustration to go.

The Good
It's a bit less difficult than the Déja Vu games or Shadowgate and short enough to have a quick, fun playthrough of. It's pretty violent and morbid, which I suppose is a strength, the ending is a bit like The Exorcist and there's other horror clichés. Of course point and click games were still quite new in 1986(the Japanese were also making them).

The Bad
Even with its shortness, I think the problem solving is too difficult, the solutions don't always make much sense. The point and click can get fiddly too, actually causing you to die or ruining your game, because of the way the computer registers your click e.g you can accidentally burn your box of matches, which you need to win.

The Bottom Line
I'd recommend this over the other MacVentures to anyone who wanted to see the start of point and click adventures. It's good for a few playthroughs.

The Good
Here is another classic graphic adventure game published for the NES. This time the player must explore a haunted mansion and do battle with all sorts of supernatural creatures to save your sister.

The Bad
Yes, this game is generally easier then Shadow Gate or Devju. The transition from the computer to the NES is by no means bad, but the game rarely offers much in the way of true horror, despite being set the classic location for a supernatural tale.

Some changes are due to hardware limitations and some stuff was probably done at the "request" of the Big 'N. Nintendo had some strict rules - think the Hollywood Hays Code - and well, survival horror was not something the company wanted on a Nintendo system.

It's not unforgivably bad, but it never really sets the mood or pulls you into the story or makes you want to learn more about the mansion's mysterious tales of magic and monsters.

The main villain is little more then your standard "evil video game wizard" who has very little role in the game itself and is probably one of the easiest final bosses in video game history.

The Bottom Line
This is probably the sort of adventure game for novice gamers. It is easier then other adventure games published by the folks at ICOM, and the storyline does not require too much dedication or depth. It is not a bad game by any means, but the more experienced adventure gamer will likely find it to be a somewhat silly and unsatisfactory adventure.