Game:

Shadowgate (1987)

Duration: 15:00

1,641 views

0

Deja Vu (or more appropriately "Déjà Vu: A Nightmare Comes True!!") is one of many classic titles in the dying "Point-and-Click" adventure genre that originally came out for Macintosh computers in 1985 and was the first title in the "MacVenture" series. Developed by ICOM Simulations, it was later ported to various other platforms during the late 80s to late 90s and had much success during its initial run, but has since almost faded into obscurity. It's a pity too, because whether you're playing the Mac version, Amiga Version, NES version, or some other version, it's mostly the same awesome game. This is a genre that many 8/16-bit platforms sorely lacked as well, so if you're primarily a console gamer, you had to enjoy titles like these as much as possible because there were but so many to choose from.

Oddly enough, the NES port was actually first released in Japan for the Famicom back in 1988. It wouldn't see a U.S. release until 1990, and a PAL release till around 1992. Regardless of which version you play, the game might seem a little simple and a tad bit dated, but it is entertaining nonetheless. The game takes place in the 1940s, where you play as an amnesiac named Theodore "Ace" Harding, a retired boxer who now works as a private eye. The main objective of the game is to figure out who you are, why you are in such a strange predicament, and to clear your name. This won't be so easy however, as memories are powerful things and not knowing things can be pretty dangerous, especially when you play as a bigshot. Part of staying alive requires you to discern who is friend or foe and the game requires quite a bit of lateral thinking as opposed to other ICOM Simulation games like Shadowgate or Uninvited, which are a bit more surreal.

There are a lot of things to interact with and there is sometimes more than one approach to an obstacle or problem. Should you listen to a strange woman you can't remember, or knock her unconscious for the heck of it? Are you bored and just want to blow your brains out? It's up to you to decide the best course of action. The dialogue is pretty well-written for what it is worth and there are usually a few hilarious bits in ICOM games. The audio/visuals for the game are adequate and make fair use of the NES' limited color capacity, though not much of either is required to make this genre entertaining, though some detailed locales and atmospheric tunes always add to the experience. If you like point-and-click games, then I recommed playing Déjà Vu (you can also try Shadowgate and Uninvited for the NES while you're at it; I own this and both of those and they're all pretty neat). A sequel was also made (but not for NES) titled "Déjà Vu II: Lost in Las Vegas"

This is a video with about 20 minutes of footage condensed into 15 minutes. Enjoy.