Better than most current Indy games
The MSDOS version of The Last Crusade came out alongside the film of the same name in 1989 and retailed for $80. That's right. $80. And you thought new console games were expensive. I played this game on my dad's 286 PC with a 40MB hard drive and 12k RAM. It was glorious. The Last Crusade was one of the earliest games featuring a full 256 color VGA palette, and LucasArts used the colors to the game's benefit.
The Last Crusade is a classic adventure game in which you direct Indiana Jones around his university, the library and catacombs of Venice, a castle on the Austrian/German border (preceded by a book burning in Berlin where you have the option to end your game quickly by punching Adolf Hitler in the face), a German dirigible, and the ruins of Alexandretta, where you eventually discover the Holy Grail. Gameplay is typical of other LucasArts SCUMM engine games, meaning you interact with NPCs and pick up lots of stuff to use with other stuff, ultimately getting you to the next screen. I remember being surprised at how long the game was, though if you use a guide you can plow through it in an hour or two. But where's the fun in that?
This game featured some of the first "cutscenes," which were ragged animations done in the game's engine; that is, still screens painted in 256 colors. At the time, they were nothing short of stunning. As I recall, the scene where Indy and his dad fly the German biplane is especially impressive.
For a long time it was impossible to unearth this old relic of classic adventure gaming, but now it's on STEAM for under five bucks. No retro gamer should be without it.
