My old PC could not handle these games.
I was a video game obsessed child of the 90's. There were four PC games I especially loved playing, but never completed them because my PC could not handle them.
In case it's helpful, below are the main points covered in this post:
Hell Cab
Hell Cab was an adventure game released in 1993 by Digital Fusion. You, the player, were a tourist who relied on a yellow cab to get round New York City but ended up time traveling because you were always a dollar short for the cab fare.
I explored the Empire State Building, won a gladiator challenge in 59 AD, navigated the trenches of war in France 1917, walk among dinosaurs to make a withdrawal from an ATM, and witness an apocalyptic New York City.
Unfortunately, I was never able to make it out of the elevator and into Hell's garage, the last part of the game. The PC my Dad built always crashed before the elevator doors opened.
Dad tried everything he could think of to keep the game from crashing. He knew I was too close to completing the game. It turned out that the CD-ROM disc was scratched. Dad was unable to find another copy of the game.
Dinosaur Safari
Dinosaur Safari was an educational game released in 1996 Creative Multimedia Corporation and Mindscape. You, the player, time travel to take photographs of dinosaurs and other ancient animals in their native environments for the "National Chronographic Society."
I considered Dinosaur Safari a relaxing game compared to others I played at the time. I enjoyed searching for and taking photos of dinosaurs in a variety of different biomes. I even had to escape some of the more dangerous creatures who wanted to kill me.
Sadly, my game would crash when I would take a photograph of the last dinosaur I needed for my image collection. No matter what Dad did to address the crash, I eventually had to quit after my CD-ROM disc was scratched and unplayable.
Pokémon Snap by Nintendo is like Dinosaur Safari, but with more creatures and features. The goal of Pokémon Snap is to take photographs of Pokémon in their native environments. While I enjoyed Dinosaur Safari as a child, I did not miss it after I played Pokémon Snap.
King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella
King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella was an adventure game released in 1988 by Sierra On-Line. You, the player, play as Princess Rosella as she sets off on a quest to find a magic fruit that would save her father, King Graham.
Dad introduced me to this game because he believed I would love playing a heroine. He was right. It was the first video game where I got to play as the female protagonist. Despite not knowing anything else about the King's Quest series, I knew I wanted to help Rosella succeed.
As a young child, I found this game challenging, yet fascinating. As Rosella, I helped dwarfs, braved a haunted house, befriended a unicorn, survived time spent on a remote island, escaped an ogre, and more!
I died frequently as I attempted to complete dangerous side quests. My young self simply felt proud when I finally completed a task that allowed me to proceed to the next challenge.
Unfortunately, my game crashed every time I attempted to enter the skull cavern. Dad tried to troubleshoot the crashes, but he was never successful. I eventually gave up hope and moved on to other games.
Total Distortion
Total Distortion was an adventure game released in 1995 by Pop Rocket. You, as the player, are a music producer settled in the Distortion Dimension in search of new music video material.
I was obsessed with this game as a teenager! In fact, the game helped me land an A+ on a high school English class project. (I did not deserve that A+, but that is a story for another blog post.)
I loved making music videos using the many music clips, sound effects, and visual effects available to me from the start. I loved trying to convince people to invest in my creations. I loved getting angry when someone like Stevie Groovie hated what I created.
No matter how much money I earned when I convinced someone to take a chance on a music video I created, I had to head out in search of new material to create more exciting products the people on Earth longed to see. Before I could explore the Distortion Dimension, I had to win a guitar battle.
Even with the "little baby chicken wimp" difficulty setting, I struggled time and again to beat my opponent. Then one day when I least expected it, I won my first guitar battle!
As you likely guessed by now, my game crashed. Every time I won that guitar battle, my game crashed and the save files corrupted. Unlike the prior games, I always had to start over from scratch.
Dad did what he could to troubleshoot the game. He knew how much I loved it. But alas, the game always crashed with every successful guitar battle.
The game became boring without progression. Stevie Groovie, Yuji Dude, and Hans Kranger wanted new and exciting content that could not be found on Earth. I always starved to death because I could not afford to buy food, and I eventually gave up on what was once my favorite video game of the nineties.
What's Next?
In honor of National Video Game Day celebrated on September 12th, I will devote some time to play some of my current favorite video games. You should do the same if you enjoy video games!
Comment below to share your favorite video games from your youth!
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Thanks, and have a great day!
~Simply Jelly Jam
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