Sierra On-Line, the long-time maker of richly designed software adventure games for both children and adults alike, has released yet another hit title with Torin's Passage. Designed by Al Lowe, of Leisure Suit Larry series fame, Torin's Passage is an incredibly involving adventure story that will be enjoyed by both adults and children alike, playing alone or together. As Lowe puts it, "[A story] that will make [children and adults] both laugh, although at different times."

Torin's Passage begins on the planet Strata with our young hero Torin wishing in vain that he could be anything but a farmhand, as he runs an errand for his parents. When he returns home, he discovers that someone has trapped his parents inside a magic spell. To save them, he begins a quest to find the person responsible. Torin explores Strata, trying to find Lycentia, who is supposedly the evil sorceress who cast the spell.

Torin is accompanied by Boogle, who appears to be a dog of sorts, but who has the ability to learn to change shapes, which is an endearing and very useful trait for Torin's quest. Boogle is one of my favorite characters. Although he never says a word, his actions and sounds are quite expressive, and children will get a kick out of watching his antics. Torin is also an interesting character. You have the opportunity to hear his thoughts at times, as well as his dialogue. The only thing I don't really like is that you have no control over the dialogue. If you click on another person to talk to, the interaction is set, and you can spend a considerable amount of time just clicking and listening.

The environment is beautifully illustrated and animated, and although the game's structure will be familiar to veteran adventure gamers, players of all ages will enjoy the high quality game environment. Torin's quest is blocked at times by a variety of puzzles and problems to solve, and the hint/help system is excellent. If your children get stuck in a particular section, the hints ought to help out. The only thing I miss from some games I've played is the multi-level hints, where, if one hint doesn't work, you can get one or two additional hints, hopefully providing a cumulative hint that works for you.

As with their animation, Sierra is a master at simple, yet effective, interfaces. Torin's Passage is easy to navigate, but the customizable options give you some control, as well. The inventory section is useful, and the control icon changes shades to indicate whether or not items in the game or the inventory are useful. If you can't click on it, it won't help. Sierra actively encourages you to click and explore as much as possible. You never know when something will come in handy.

From a player's viewpoint, Torin's Passage is a rewarding and enjoyable adventure game grounded in the Sierra tradition. From a parental viewpoint, Torin's Passage is also a real hit. Torin is a polite young fellow, with excellent manners. The game never encourages excessive risk-taking, and, in fact, will often warn you away from particularly dangerous stunts. If you persist, and Torin does something fatal, you get the "OOPS" dialogue box that explains that your actions WERE NOT a good idea. You click on "OOPS" and you're back to the spot before you took your fatal course. In today's world, full of violence, foolhardiness, and rudeness, Torin's Passage is an enjoyable alternative to many contemporary games.

When considering this game for your family, be sure to pay close attention to the specifications of your computer. Torin's Passage runs pretty smoothly on a 486DX4-100, but the hardware specs do recommend a Pentium for best performance, and I tend to agree. Also, I have 16 megabytes of RAM, and that extra 8 MB does tend to make a difference in games. Because there is quite a lot of CD-ROM interfacing, I wouldn't recommend anything less than a double-speed CD-ROM, and even then, I found my quad-speed access to be reasonable, but not incredibly rapid. There were times when I was forced to sit and wait .. and wait ... for a scene to load. Not long, really, but for someone with a relatively fast machine, I've grown accustomed to not needing to wait.

If you've got the hardware, and especially if you have children you are looking for an excellent game for, then Torin's Passage is an excellent option. It is visually impressive, has an intriguing Disney-like storyline, and most of all, it's FUN to play.

486 or higher running Windows 95 or Windows 3.1x
(Pentium for premium performance), 8 MB of RAM; Hard drive required;
SVGA display capable of at least 640x480 resolution with 256 colors;
CD-ROM; Major sound card via Windows (DAC required).