Dr. K's Waiting Room

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Released: February 1992
Developer: Tiertex Design Studios
Also Available For: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, C64, DOS, Game Boy, Game Gear, MSX, Mega Drive, Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), ZX Spectrum

A Brief Background:
1981 saw legendary director Steven Spielberg join forces with George Lucas and Harrison Ford to bring the first Indiana Jones film to cinema screens; inspired by the serial films of yesteryear and the James Bond franchise, the three crafted an action/adventure film that was so critically and commercially lauded that it marked the beginning of one of cinema’s most beloved franchises, propelled Harrison Ford to superstardom, and fundamentally changed the cinema rating system. Since the franchise was so successful, Indiana Jones has been adapted into books, comics, and videogames, with the first being an 8-bit adventure for the Atari. It was the third film, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Spielberg, 1989), that received the most love back in the day, however, as three titles were released across numerous platforms between 1989 and 1991. This particular game was the technically inferior version of its 16-bt counterpart that scored rather well at the time thanks to its colourful graphics and gameplay, but was also criticised for its difficulty and collision detection.

First Impressions:
Indy – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game (yep, somehow the developers found a way to make the title even longer!) is a 2D, sidescrolling action/adventure game that puts you in control of the famous archaeologist and adventurer. Since the Master System only uses two buttons, you wouldn’t believe how simple the controls are in this version: Button 1 allows you to punch, crack your whip, and swing while Button 2 allows you to jump. These buttons can’t be switched around, but Indy can duck down to avoid incoming bullets and punches and attacks from below, and climb up and down ropes simply by jumping to them. It doesn’t appear that Indy can use a gun of his own this time around, and his whip is limited significantly here; you need to pick up a whip icon to even use it, and you only get a few swings before you lose it until you get the next power-up. As in the bigger 16-bit title, Indy must journey through six levels (referred to as “Scenes”) that recreate environments and situations from the movie, but there are no difficulty settings here; instead, you start with six lives and three credits and face a super tight time limit to clear each Scene, gaining additional time by picking up hourglasses and aiming to accrue a high score and some precious extra lives. As in the Mega Drive game, Indy has a daunting uphill battle ahead of him as he’s practically made of glass; not only does he take fall damage, but hitting the ceiling will drain his health, and he’ll crumble to his knees in seconds from dodgy hit detection and instant death hazards such as water.

While the game recreates the train scene from the film and eventually sees you scaling a castle and airship as in the film, you’re unlikely to see this as it’s more than a chore to progress any further the first few screens of the first Scene. While the game delivers a fair attempt at recreating the iconic Indiana Jones theme for the title screen, levels are completely silent save for the sounds of attacks and your continuous death, though the graphics are surprisingly impressive. Sprites aren’t exactly the most expressive but they’re colourful and quite detailed; Indy grabs his hat when he jumps, wooden platforms crumble beneath his feet, and the environments contain a decent amount of detail for a Master System title. The first Scene is primarily based around traversing the caves using ropes; you’ll need to hop to them (avoiding hitting your head, of course) and shimmy down, avoiding gun fire, and then precariously jump across lethal water to progress. As in the Mega Drive version, there are a number of hidden checkpoints in the Scenes, and you’ll even restart from these after continuing after losing all of your lives, but the constant injury you’ll take form everything around you and the ludicrously tight timer make just playing the game one of the most difficult experiences I’ve ever had the misfortune of suffering through.

My Progression:
While I couldn’t get past the first Scene in the Mega Drive game, I was at least able to give it a decent shot; here, though, there was absolutely no hope. Indy’s six lives will disappear in a blink of an eye and, before you know it, you’ll be staring at the game over screen again and again having made little progression. There aren’t even any cheat codes to help you jump ahead to other Scenes, either, so I have absolutely no idea how anyone is ever supposed to see anything other than the first Scene as the game absolutely bricks you right out the gate. Looking ahead at the game (which can apparently be beaten in about ten minutes…), it seems like you’ll face a lot of the same challenges as in the 16-bit title, including avoiding Native Americans on a circus train, fireballs and skeleton pits, even trickier jumping and swinging up the caste’s stone walls, and be faced with avoiding buzz saws and bottomless pits in a pseudo-isometric rendition of the Temple of the Sun. Although you’ll collect artefacts from the movie, there are absolutely no bosses to contend with this time around, making for an extremely frustrating and lacklustre experience, I would imagine.

After the struggle I went through with the Mega Drive version of this game, I didn’t exactly expect much from Indy – Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game; I guess part of me was hoping that it would be easier, since it would obviously be a scaled down version of its 16-bit counterpart, and it certainly offers a lot less than that version of the game but ramps up the difficulty to a ridiculous degree. The longplay I watched to get a sense of the rest of the game made it look so easy but this really was a kick in the balls to play, and I imagine would have really disappointed kids who rented (or, heaven forbid, bought) it back in the day. Indy is so fragile that the game may as well have one-hit kills, the sound is basically non-existent, and all the impressive visuals in the world can’t make up for the fact that this game is basically unplayable and not enjoyable in the slightest. I’m curious, though: what did you think to this version of the game? Did you prefer it to the Mega Drive version? What’s your favourite Indiana Jones videogame? Whatever your thoughts or experiences on these games, share them below or leave a comment on my social media.