Reliving the controversy of Phantasmagoria
This is Making Time, a column about the games we’ve always wanted to play, and the games we’ve always wanted to play again. I have a confession to make. The only reason this column exists is because I wanted an excuse to write about Phantasmagoria, an adventure game created by industry pioneer Roberta Williams. Not that I could have told you who Roberta Williams was when I first played the game in the mid-1990s. I played the majority of the game on my friends Danny and Mikey’s computer. My family didn’t have much of a PC at the time, but Danny and Mikey had a 486 beast that could run Windows 95 and a glut of incredible games I couldn’t get at home. (Maybe I’ll tell you about my family’s PCJr in a future column.)
In some ways, Phantasmagoria is the quintessential 90s game, borrowing elements – intentionally or not – from some of the decade’s biggest phenomena. Released in 1995, it was smack in the middle of publisher Sierra’s adventure game heyday. Like CD-ROM sensation Myst, all the characters are rendered using full-motion video, while the environments are all composed of static, pre-rendered 3D backgrounds. And, like Mortal Kombat and Night Trap before it, Phantasmagoria’s realistic and often gruesome depiction of its characters stirred up controversy.
Gallery: Making Time: PhantasmagoriaContinue reading Reliving the controversy of PhantasmagoriaReliving the controversy of Phantasmagoria originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 11 Feb 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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