| GAME PLAY | |
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| GETTING STARTED | |
| GRAPHICS | |
| SOUND CHECK | |
| VALUE | |
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Torin is your typical teenage hero. He's bold, strong, dexterous, handsome, and dumb enough to miss so much that you have to wonder how he stayed alive this long. His own survival isn't the problem, however. Torin's parents have been kidnapped, and the lad must now traverse five worlds to find the one responsible.
Fortunately, in Torin's Passage, our hero has you to guide him. As a result, the journey through this latest adventure from Sierra On-Line is well worth it, for both of you.
Like King's Quest VII: The Princeless Pride, Torin's Passage has Sierra's Disneyesque animation style down pat. The fluid movement; the flowing artwork and visual depth; the bright and beautifully shaded colors; the ridiculously good and gleefully villainous characters. You'll find all of it here.
You'll also find wonderfully animated cinematics that do their job quickly and get out of the way, unlike many adventures that throw a few interminably long and boring sequences at you. The digitized speech and voice acting also prove excellent. Even the boring musical score is easy to ignore when all the other production values are so high.
With Torin's Passage, Al Lowe (of Leisure Suit Larry fame) takes a break from his bawdy beginnings to produce something for the entire family. To that end, you'll find plenty of complex puzzles, some excellent plot twists, and spry visual humor, especially from Torin's shapeshifting pet, Boogle.
Navigating the game is a breeze thanks to a point-and-click interface; a simple, 3-D inventory system; the ability to rewind and fast-forward through scenes; a book that captures the dialogue for later review; and numerous online hints. But be warned: All this sophistication runs best from a quad-speed CD-ROM drive. Still, if you want a graphics adventure for your entire family, there's nothing better on the market today.