Jonny Quest: Curse of the Mayan Warriors/Reviews

The following are reviews for the game .

The Games Machine
An early review was printed in The Games Machine magazine in December 1989. The original game would have been completed or nearly completed by then, although it was not actually released for another four years. "JOHNNY QUEST

MicroIllusions

Take an action-based cartoon show centring around a young boy named Johnny Quest, add his friend and campanion Hadji, Johnny's dog Bandit, Dr Benton, and all around good guy Race — and you've got the makings of any kid's fantasy of going off on an adventure. Sure the animation was extremely limited, the stories silly, but it was fun because all the elements worked together (look at Star Trek: The Next Generation, it's almost a live version of Johnny Quest). With such a wealth of material to work with, how could this computer version fail?

Especially as it combines the best of a number of gaming genres. Adventure fans can poke around with the mouse trying to find out what's going on in the mysterious lands discovered. Action/arcade lovers get their turn to bat because trouble is always brewing: fight scenes, hidden passage ways, locked doors to break down. The more you know about playing Johnny Quest, the less of a mystery — but you can bet that you'll need your puzzle-solving cap. Helping Johnny is Hadji, with his magic that sometimes works (very rarely in the right way as we recall). Bandit is always there to lend a paw _ and when all else fails, tune into that wrist TV communicator.

Most of the action takes place on the single large window. Directly below is a section which allows the choosing of words and deeds. Characters vary in size, with sections of the game consisting of very large graphics. What's more important is that animation (using 3-D raised perspective) moves at a quick pace, and provisions are made to incorporate the rashness of our young hero in the gameplay. Several of the scenes have been digitised from the original cartoon, and text display is combined with icon controls.

The theme is adventure. Humour is not easily found here, although Hadji and Bandit are definitely placed for comic relief. At its best, Johnny Quest will bring out that day dreamer within that still longs to swing through the jungle, cruise through outer space, and defeat all that is Evil

OTHER FORMATS

Also to be released for Amiga and Atari ST."

PC Zone
The following review was printed in the May 1994 issue of PC Zone magazine: "JONNY QUEST:

CURSE OF THE MAYAN WARRIORS

Jonny Quest. Once a cartoon series, now a computer game. Chris Anderson thinks it may have lost something in the translation.

Cartoon specialists Hanna Barbera have finally twigged that there’s money to be made out of pc games, and have joined forces with Hollyware Entertainment to produce a computer game based on their cartoon series ''Jonny Quest''. What they haven’t twigged is that you can’t just put together any old tosh and expect people to buy it on the strength of the tv tie-in.

Jonny Quest attempts to combine the puzzle-solving elements of an adventure game with the action elements of a beat ’em-up, but fails miserably on both counts. Considering the quality of many of the other arcade-adventure games currently on sale, it’s a bit of an insult to the pc games buying public that they should be expected to even consider buying something that has obviously had very little effort put into producing it.

Nothing to offer

What we have here is a complete catastrophe. It’s not unusual to come across games that are lacking in one or more departments, but these games usually have at least one redeeming feature that saves them from becoming a total disaster. Jonny Quest, however, has absolutely nothing going for it.

Forget the silly plot about Jonny and his mate Hadji and their canine companion Bandit running about in Guatemala looking for five lost wonders. The game itself consists of guiding Jonny and co. around a decidedly unattractive playing area, solving puzzles that are so easy they are an insult to the intelligence of anyone clever enough to have loaded the game up in the first place, and fighting baddies every two minutes in combat sequences that will make you laugh aloud the first time you see them. I played the game for about four hours, but in all honesty I was bored brainless after the first 20 minutes. If there is anything of any interest in this game, I certainly didn’t come across it.

The animated introductory sequence is about the most exciting part of the whole affair. It fools you into thinking you are about to take part in a cartoon-style arcade adventure, but when it’s over you are faced with an extremely dull top-down view of the playing area with three tiny bods stuck in the middle of it.

You have to take control of Jonny, and wherever he goes the other two will follow. Moving Jonny about is no problem. Moving him where you actually want him to go is a different matter entirely. This is because Hadji and the dog frequently get in the way, blocking doors and entrances when you want to go through them. Much Jonny-joggling is required just so you can get the others to move out of the way. This can be more than a little frustrating and more or less sums up the game on the whole. The graphics are awful, the puzzles aren’t exactly mind-bending, my joystick didn’t work and the arcade sequences are a complete joke. Don’t buy it!

SCORE: 12

Can basically be summed up in one word. Dreadful.


 * Minimum Memory: 1Mb
 * Minimum Processor: 286/12MHz
 * Hard Disk Space Required: 5.4 Mb
 * Graphics Modes Supported: EGA
 * Soundcards Supported: Roland, Ad-Lib, Sound Blaster, Ultrasound
 * Controls: Joystick, keyboard
 * Comments: DOS 5.0 or above required; Hayes-compatible modems supported; 132-column printers supported


 * Price: £29.99
 * Release date: Out now
 * Publisher: Software Business
 * Telephone: 0480 496497"

PC Review
The following review was printed in the April 1994 issue of PC Review: "Title: Jonny Quest

Publisher: Hollyware/Software Business

Contact: (0480) 496497

Price: £34.99

Jonny Quest

Curse of the Mayan Warriors

Jonny Quest is one of Hanna- Barbera's less well known cartoon characters. His adventures aren't exactly hilarious, but they contain 'fast action and an exciting story-linе” (or so the box says). The plots follow the 'boy solves the mystery while the adults are messing around’ formula, so you play Jonny, accompanied by his adopted brother Hadji and dog Bandit.

This week's exciting instalment involves Jonny trying to locate the five wonders of the Mayan civilisation. Some unknown agency in Guatemala is ripping off the nation's treasures and the government has asked Jonny's father to help, Dad being a world famous scientist (sporting what looks like a false beard). As soon as the plane touches down in the jungle, Jonny starts to wander...

The action is a combination of exploration, puzzle-solving and beat 'em up. The exploration part sees you wandering around the jungle and the labyrinth inside an ancient Mayan temple. There are plenty of objects lying around which prove useful later on in the game, all of which can be stored in your inventory.

You also have a chance to talk to some of the locals, using Jonny Quest's extremely basic conversation system. This consists of a brief question-and-answer format with two or three response options. Some conversations give you the chance to undertake minor missions, such as catching a fish for one of the villagers.

If you run across a guerrilla in the jungle or one of the half-man, half-lizard creatures which lurk inside the temple, combat ensues. Jonny has 13 combat and defensive manoeuvres, but unfortunately, combat mode is badly flawed. You can defeat most enemies simply by leaping around the screen and waiting for Hadji to unleash a few magic bolts — and with a stun gun in your inventory it’s easier still.

If Jonny is defeated in a fight or captured in the jungle he is thrown into jail. The first time this happens Bandit helps out by finding the key to the cell door, allowing you to make full use of the crude inventory. This contains a box of objects you are carrying, plus a box of objects or places you can interact with in the surrounding area, and four icons allow you to pick up, drop, use or combine objects.

There are a couple of good ideas in Jonny Quest, but a far greater number of average or inadequate features. It’s too easy (you can usually avoid enemies, and finding the treasures isn’t too difficult), exploration is dull and awkward (particularly when Hadji and Bandit get in the way), combat is poorly implemented and too simple and the music is irritating. On the positive side, the beat ‘em up and sub-mission elements provide a little variety from the exploration, and some of the puzzles will stretch your imagination. However, if you’re looking for an innovative, gripping arcade adventure with plenty of depth, this isn’t it.

Gordon Houghton

Tech Spec

Jonny Quest runs well on a 386/486, but on a 16MHz 286 the scrolling is too slow. All major sound cards are supported, though if you haven't got one you're not missing much. A joystick is preferable, particularly in combat mode.

Disk requirements
 * High density
 * Hard disk only
 * Space taken on hard disk - 6MB

Graphic modes
 * CGA - EGA - Tandy
 * VGA - SCGA

Soundboards
 * Ad Lib - Roland - Sound Blaster


 * Joystick - Keyboard - Mouse

Performance
 * Optimum speed - 25MHz
 * Minimum memory - 640K
 * Free RAM required - 580K

Verdict


 * A tedious and simplistic arcade adventure.
 * Rating: 3"

Computer and Video Games
The following review was printed in the May 1994 issue of Computer and Video Games:

"JOHNNY QUEST: CURSE OF THE MAYAN WARRIORS (PC)

Curse of the hopeless software designers, more like. Tedium at its worst.

25%"

High Score
Swedish magazine High Score released a review of the game in May 1994. According to Moby Games, the review included the following quote:

PC Joker
From German magazine PC Joker, April 1994.