With the release of the aging Harrison Ford's newest Indy release "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," we will pause to take a look back at one of Indy's console adventures.
Dr. Jones has seen a lot of action in a game format throughout the years ranging from the pinball classic "Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure," to Commodore 64 classic "Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantic," to the original "Raiders of the Lost Ark" released in 1982 for the Atari 2600.
Nevertheless, all of these titles have one thing in common - mediocrity.
Nintendo 64's "Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine" is no different.
Interestingly enough Factor 5 - of "Star Wars: Rouge Squadron" fame - had an exclusive contract with Blockbuster to allow the game to initially only be made available to rent at Blockbuster stores.
Blockbuster later sold their copies of the 64-bit adventure to gamers such as myself for them to indefinitely enjoy the experience at home.
"Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine" feels like a synthesis of the user interface of other Factor 5 titles such as "Rouge Squadron" and gameplay elements reminiscent of "The Legend of Zelda" series - only done horribly wrong.
You once again take the role of Indiana Jones in search for precious artifacts wh
en you are approached by the CIA to investigate an ancient machine that is also sought after by our Soviet friends.This takes Indy to numerous locals across the globe in search of pieces of the "infernal machine."
As mentioned earlier, a lot of the gameplay mechanics feel like something out of a "Zelda" title with item shortcuts on the C-buttons, camera orientation with Z, and action commands with A and B. However, in "Indy" you have the option to use a jump button.
This is where this adventure loses some of its excitment.
Climbing even small platforms can be overly challenging at times since the game doesn't seem to recognize that your arbitrary jumping means that you actually want to climb it.
Also, the movement controls are so rigid, it is a minor miracle that you are able to cross the various canyons and jumps that game lays out for you.
The other huge problem with this game is a complete lack of direction.
With the graphic capabilities of the N64, there is not that much detail or hidden rooms, stairs, or other objects that you can overlook. However, the game has a wonderful time of leaving you to look around endlessly trying to figure out what you are supposed to do.
For example, in the first stage of the game, you come to a small pitted area complete with a snake. Being the brave adventurer you are, you jump in, kill the snake, and receive your reward in the form of hidden jewels in a cave nearby.
The only problem - you can't get out!
After playing for nearly 20 mins stuck in that small area there was no way to use your whips to climb out, crawl into a small hole, shot something, or even climb on the platform you used to jump in there in the first place that is only do about the height of your shoulders.
Therefore, I had to restart the level and find an alternate route.
The gun play against the Soviet soldiers is something to be desired.
They will make a cute Russian noise at you when they see you and you basically hold down Z to lock onto them and keep shooting with whatever gun you have at the time until they stop flashing blue and fall down. Loads of fun!
Lastly, this Indy adventure isn't all bad.
There is some decent voice acting in a time where the inclusion of any voice-over work was foreign to Nintendo.
Heck, we haven't even heard Link make a complete sentence yet.
I just wish they would have gotten Harrison Ford to do is own voice.
The cinematics are also pretty well done and the graphics were right where they should have been for the time it was released.
The music is an exceptional rendition of the classic Indy score with new themes to reinforce the temple surroundings.
So if you can do some of your own archaeological work and find this idol of a game, it sure might get you in the mood for the new big screen adventure.
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