Smart Discs

by Patrick Lang
Winter 1999/Spring 2000

The Misadventures of James Spawn
This TV friendly DVD video disk is an interactive movie that isn't exactly family oriented, but will appeal to an older male audience. Spawn's character (if you can imagine this) is a cross between Austin Powers and Adam Sandler in Waterboy, with an Indian immigrant accent. In the Misadventures of James Spawn your mission is to help this lovable, bumbling, outcast approach one of four beautiful women and keep him from striking out at his favorite nightclub. As you and James discover it's hard to distinguish fantasy from reality in this nighttime hot spot, making the right decisions becomes a challenge. Choose poorly and you will suffer the consequences. Each of the 100 possible scenarios provide enough slapstick humor, special effects and mature themes to create an amusing experience. We will be keeping an eye out for other interactive DVD titles from the folks at Dream Theater.

Daedalus Encounter
In this action-packed, science fiction, DVD-ROM strategy game you are treated to a masterful integration of live action, motion video and 3D animation. Throughout the game Tia Carrera acts as your guide in a battle of survival aboard an alien ship. Together, you uncover secrets and solve puzzles, as well as deal with various alien creatures that are trying to put an end to you. Even though the Deadalus Encounter game was made a while back, it still holds its own as far as interactive entertainment goes. The story line is excellent and the acting is believable as Tia and crew move about the ship solving problems and avoiding alien danger. The only drawback is that the character you control is a small robotic device with limited functions. But overall, the title translates well for the DVD format and it looks great on TV.

Monopoly
A classic board game comes to life on this CD-ROM, complete with 3D animation, sound effects and midi files for background music. With a click of the mouse, you roll the dice and the animated characters take over. Landing on property brings up one of many high quality and humorous animations, especially if you owe rent. Although the animated moves and transactions are sometimes too quick to follow, Monopoly has several options that let you view the property buys and trades at your convenience. Don't have anyone to play against? You can create up to six artificially intelligent computer players, which is loads of fun. You can even play against an Internet opponent. The game board and graphical elements are large, colorful and look great on TV. The main downfall of this game is that some of the text is small, making it difficult to read on a television monitor.