The game begins the same way it did in the movies with Raiders of the Lost Ark and its’ first scene outside the Chachapoyan Temple in South America. The story is told through cinematic cut scenes keeping with the movie feel. In the first stage you are introduced to all of Indy’s attacks and abilities. You’ll pick up his whip, slay bats, parahina and Hovitos Warriors instantly.

Using the SSW engine meant Indy would control just fine. I’ll admit, when first playing, jumping may feel awkward (it certainly looks it), but Indy’s control is actually spot on and very responsive – you’ll gain confidence in each death defying leap you make – as long as there’s not a bird or bat flying around – as with many 2D action heroes, Indy suffers from the getting “knocked-back” effect, meaning any hit from an enemy will knock Indy back about an inch or so making some jumps incredibly difficult. So go easy with the leaps of faith in this one. The game does feature a password system to help ease the pain.

 For weapons, Indy is given only his Whip and Revolver. He’s also given the odd choice of grenades for a special item, they totally annihilate all enemies on screen. Until you find either weapon Indy will punch with the Y button. Main weapons are found in satchels and clay pots and increase in power with an additional pick up of the item. The Revolver has unlimited ammo, however it’s not as commonly found as the Whip. Choose between the two weapons by pressing select. You can still punch while holding a weapon by pressing the L or R buttons.  

For the most part 90% of IJGA is platforming, but like SSW, there are a few “Mode 7″ vehicular stages thrown in – Snow Rafting to India, the Mine Car Chase, and Biplane Dogfight are the chosen vehicular scenes. The three stages are kind of dumb and don’t really add anything to the overall platforming experience – 25 of the game’s 28 levels are side scrolling platform based, 28 out of 28 would have been even better.

Thot, Belloq, Mola Ram and Donovan are in as some of the game’s notable boss battles. For the game, battles (and stages) are exaggerated from the actual movie scenes but its all in good fun. Belloq will do a SFII Zangief-like dance while commanding spirits from the Ark to attack you. Mola Ram will repeatedly toss Shankara Stones at you when there are only three in the movie, its great. Just about all of IJ’s most notable friends and foes make an appearance here but there are some pretty big admissions – Sallah, Marcus, Short Round, and Willie are all missing. As far as any missing scenes from the movies - Indiana on horseback chasing down the Nazi truck carrying the Ark from ROTLA would have been nice as well as the actual cutting of the bridge in TOD. Still, fans of Indiana Jones should be fairly pleased with the selections, they make for a nice platform game.

Check out the video below for a better look at some of the many characters and stages (boss battles included) as well as allot of the gameplay from Indiana Jones’ Greatest Adventures. Final verdict below the clip.

Score
Overall
Indiana Jones’ Greatest Adventures is exactly that, a trip through Indy’s three outstanding adventure movies in classic platforming style. The three “Mode 7″ stages take away a little of the game’s magic. It’s also extremely difficult and will require a bit of memorization of enemy placement and their pattern to progress. It does help that the game is password enabled, so your never forced to complete it in one playthrough, always a relief. The release of KotCS last year has increased its’ demand and price on the Internet a bit and is also making it tougher to find in retro gaming shops. If you do see it and you happen to be a fan of the movies or platform games, ”choose wisely” and grab it. – to this day there is no better game representing even one of Indiana’s classic movies, never mind all three…Trust Me.
User Score: (1 votes, average: 8.00 out of 10)  Loading ...