So I Say Thank You For The Music
A Review of Music Chase 1 : The Music in Me
Rich Cunningham
Animated films always held a fascination for me as I was growing up as a kid in Southern Oregon. Our local motion picture theater always had a double feature, separated by a cartoon. To a young child, those large, colorful characters were magic. And I felt that magic again when I reviewed the program Music Chase 1 : The Music in Me recently.
This program is a really two types of programs in one. On the surface, it is an adventure game where the player must help a character through several puzzles to solve a mystery and rescue his daughter. On another level, it is a light-weight music education program, teaching an appreciation for music and musical instruments. The plot of the game is very simple. A singer named Julia is somehow incapacitated (I won't tell you how or why, as that would ruin the wonderful introduction to the game). It becomes the mission of her father to travel through time and gather pictures of Julia at various ages in order to return her to her normal state. Solving the mystery involves time travel, encounters with different characters, and journeying around the world. Along the way, the father must solve 41 puzzles involving music.
This program shows a lot of promise. I say a lot of promise because this review is based on the final Beta release, and there may be some differences between this and the finished product (but then that is what Betas are for, right?). The animated sequences were very good, with no jerkiness in the motion. The animation was full screen, not a cropped little picture that gives the player eyestrain. The sound was incredible, and is best enjoyed on a wavetable sound card, or a full midi system. The puzzles are not difficult, and can be solved with a little thought. The characters themselves are fun to look at. For example, the father, Land O'ner, reminds me of a cross between the Swedish chef from the Muppet Show, and the Television from the Disney film "The Brave Little Toaster".
One place this program falls short is on documentation. There was none included in the package, but a hint book was enclosed. There was no manual included, or any .txt files on the CD ROM. There was also no contact information to reach the company in case of technical problems with the program, or replacements were needed. But then this is a Beta release, and may be corrected with the shipping product.
My final impression of this game was a fairly positive one. I enjoyed the animations, and the puzzles. It is a program that is best for the 12 to 17 year old age group, even though there is no violence in the program. It is fun to play and more fun to enjoy.
School House Scorecard
| Product: |
Music Chase 1 : The Music in Me |
| Company: |
Tune 1000 Corp.
|
| Cost: |
Not Available |
System Requirements:
IBM: 486/25 minimum, 8mb ram, Windows 3.1 or greater, works with Windows 95, MPC 2 compliant CD ROM, SVGA video card that has a Wing-compatible 640x480x256 video driver, Sound card
Breakdown:
Ease of Use 4
Learning Value 5
Entertainment Value 5
Graphics 3
Sound 3
Overall Score:
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