Despite the constant emergence of new technology, old trends still reappear from time to time to remind us all that some times the best things were in the past. The glorious return of point-and-click adventure games to console gaming marks one of these occasions.
I used to absolutely love point-and-click games for my first computer. Each one came on its own floppy disk and was DOS gaming at its finest. My pride and joy was a collection of all three sequels to the Hugo's House of Horrors series, purchased for me by my mother. The appeal of the games is that they contain so many secrets that the replay value tends to be through the roof as avid gamers play again and again to find every single Easter egg possible.
These games were very graphically light, and when the onslaught of super-duper-high-tech graphics dominated the gaming world, most of these titles were phased out. Some remained, but they were shacked up with the forgotten world of PC gaming. There were a few point-and-click adventures for consoles (such as the amazing Maniac Mansion, of which I still have my original NES copy), but I could easily count them on two hands.
Thankfully, my five-year-long prayers have finally been answered, and the Wii is introducing some great titles that are point-and-clicks. One of the games of which I am most adamant about playing is the latest entry in the Sam and Max series. I can only hope that the Wii updates the Maniac Mansion, Clock Tower, and Leisure Suit Larry lineups as well.
The Wii seems like it was created for this genre of gaming, so I am unsure why they haven't had more titles like the upcoming Sam and Max game. The Wii controller-quite literally-points to things on the screen. It could not be easier to play these titles with this kind of intuitive control. This gameplay could also set the system even further apart from its competitors in terms of unique appeal.
Until the release of Sam and Max, I recommend going here and downloading the shareware versions of the Hugo series if you are a fan of these types of games. They'll keep your adventure senses tingling.
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