Results 1 to 6 of 6
  1. #1
    Angry Dutchman Ghost's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Leeuwarden, Netherlands Or Hell from time to time
    Posts
    803
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0

    Wasted Dreams; a diamond in the rough

    Hello all,

    Thanks to the Single-click Amiga games I have finally been able to play a game I bought years ago as it intrigued me so much from the screenshots alone; Wasted Dreams.

    I have seen a longplay of the game earlier but I always wanted to play it myself to experience what it feels like.
    And as it happens to be a very good game though it still has its flaws here and there.

    Wasted Dreams can definitely compete with some of the older releases on the PC during the 90s though the game itself was released during 1999 - 2000.

    Gameplay has been kept very simple but fluid the player only needs a handful of buttons to perform all actions making it really gamer friendly.

    I don't know if I should compare the intro and the outro with those of other Amiga games or if it was really impressive at the time for the Amiga, while they are functional for the game they won't blow gamers away.
    The ingame graphics on the other hand are very nice and are nearly on standard of those of Megadrive and SNES games and sometimes even surpassing it, especially at the animations which are very nice and fluid.

    The music and sound effects are nice and okay but definitely not as memorable as some other Amiga games. As for the voice acting; well its acceptable and you can understand what they are saying but sometimes the accents are a bit silly done and I get the feeling the voices were done by the programmers themselves rather than any hired actors.

    I have played the game for several hours now and I honestly feel that this game belongs amongst the other classics the platform has to over, even if its six years after the 'golden' age.
    With a little update here and there I would say it could even be sold again on Steam as a small game.

    Unfortunate the game does have its flaws that it seems to have inherited from its adventure roots.
    People here probably remember some of the older titles in the genre such as Space Quest or King's Quest and how merciless those games sometimes were at some puzzles when you had not spoken with the right person or had not collected the right item earlier.
    But by the time you realize you need an item you saw earlier but forgot to pick up its already several saves beyond that point and you can't go back.

    Wasted Dreams sadly also has that problem and in several occasions I got stuck as I solved a quest in a different order which made me miss out on an item I would have received from a character that now no longer is present.
    I also forgot to pick up an important tool I would need later in the game.

    You then have to start the game all over again in order to make sure you get these items as yet so you can continue later in the game.

    I find this a big shame as for the rest the game is so polished and well put together.
    If the designers ever decide to bring back their game as yet I do hope they will take the time to work out these issues as otherwise it would give gamers a lot of frustrations.
    [I]Earth is like a 24 hour, Seven days a week Stupidity contest which has been running for centuries.
    And every time they are ready to pronounce a winner, a new contender appears on the scene.[/I]

    * * * *

    [I]He has seen half the universe who has not seen the house of pain (Ralph Waldo)[/I]

  2. #2
    Retro Addict Administrator
    My location

    Burger Time Champion, Sonic Champion Harrison's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    16,654
    Blog Entries
    1
    Downloads
    6
    Uploads
    14
    Nice little review.

    If you haven't played a classic game in years, it's never too late to start!


  3. #3
    C64 addict Staff Moderator
    My location

    Demon Cleaner's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    Phobos
    Posts
    7,664
    Downloads
    7
    Uploads
    88
    Annoying flaws

    The voice acting is truly horrible, sounds like 12 year old kids trying to synchronize a movie.

  4. #4
    Retro Addict Administrator
    My location

    Burger Time Champion, Sonic Champion Harrison's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    16,654
    Blog Entries
    1
    Downloads
    6
    Uploads
    14
    Many games had bad voice acting in 90's games though. Mainly because it was the programmers or their friends and family being asked to do it for free. A huge difference to more recent games. I think one of the first games to really impress me with voice acting quality was the first Knights of the Old Republic.

    If you haven't played a classic game in years, it's never too late to start!


  5. #5
    Angry Dutchman Ghost's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Leeuwarden, Netherlands Or Hell from time to time
    Posts
    803
    Downloads
    0
    Uploads
    0
    Don't rule out Fallout 1 Dave.
    It is quite impressive what voice actors they managed to get as well as famous actors, Richard Dean Anderson, Ron Perlman, Tony Jay, Chris Adler, Jeff Bennett, Jim Cummings, David Warner, Frank Welker, and more more.

    People well known for memorable voices and some of these people have done work for various animation series and movies you probably know.

    Demon Cleaner, as I said, this game has some flaws that really lock the game up at sections.
    If the programmers ever fix these problems their game would make an excellent budget title on Steam.
    [I]Earth is like a 24 hour, Seven days a week Stupidity contest which has been running for centuries.
    And every time they are ready to pronounce a winner, a new contender appears on the scene.[/I]

    * * * *

    [I]He has seen half the universe who has not seen the house of pain (Ralph Waldo)[/I]

  6. #6
    Retro Addict Administrator
    My location

    Burger Time Champion, Sonic Champion Harrison's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    16,654
    Blog Entries
    1
    Downloads
    6
    Uploads
    14
    True, Fallout 1 did. There were definitely a few, but earlier in the 90's before Fallout there was some really bad voice acting in games, and some pretty bad actors on greenscreen multimedia early CD games on PC and CD based systems like 3DO. I suppose the early days of any new technology being introduced will be a bit rough. Trying to prove what was possible with CD capacity, but without the budgets of later big companies.

    If you haven't played a classic game in years, it's never too late to start!


Similar Threads

  1. Replies: 2
    Last Post: 18th April 2012, 13:54
  2. XP 32bit and 4GB of mem? Can only use 3GB? You CAN use that wasted 1GB!!!
    By Bloodwych in forum PC - Windows, Linux, Mac
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 10th December 2010, 12:17
  3. Sumotori Dreams
    By Demon Cleaner in forum PC - Windows, Linux, Mac
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 30th July 2008, 14:56
  4. Movies Electric Dreams
    By Stephen Coates in forum General Chat
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 18th September 2007, 17:57

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Copyright classicamiga.com