Thoughts by jiwaats (21 00 2014) – PC (DOS)
Flight of the Amazon Queen is a point and click adventure released in 1995 for Amiga and DOS by Interactive Binary Illusions. It comes on floppies, and there are also CD versions which have full voice-overs. The game has been freewared and can be played in ScummVM.
The plot? You assume the role of freelance pilot Joe King, on a mission to take a famous actress to the Amazonian jungle for a photo shoot. But obviously, things go wrong and after a crash in the jungle, Joe will cross the path of the mad scientist Dr. Frank Ironstein, hell-bent on taking over the world with an army of amazon women turned into mutated dinosaurs. With such a scenario, obviously the game does not take itself seriously and takes a mainly light and humorous tone. There are many winks and references to pop culture (Indiana Jones, Star Wars, etc) that add to the enjoyment. Our hero will have to journey through various environments, from the starting point in a hotel in Rio de Janeiro, to, of course, the jungle, a mysterious ancient temple and the villain’s secret base.
Gameplay wise, it follows the tracks of classics like Monkey Island or Indiana Jones by LucasArts, and as such has the typical point and click features: a graphical inventory that you fill with all sorts of stuff, and action icons to use these items, and interact with other characters. If you loathe pixel hunting, fear not as it’s hard to miss an item or interactive zone. The graphics are hand drawn and colorful, though maybe not as crisp as some other 320x200 resolution games of that period. Music and sound effects are good and complement the game nicely. As for the puzzles, they are for the most part logical and relatively easy, and should not be any problem for a seasoned adventurer.
On the downside, I would say that the game is not very long and the ending comes too quickly. It feels like the developers had to cut some parts out due to time or budget constraints.
Overall I think this is really a great game. It’s a fun little adventure and I would go as far as to call it a classic of the golden era of point and click games.
