It seems that remake and remastered versions of old classic video games are becoming a huge appearance lately on Google Play. First we reviewed the remastered Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded and now there is a remastered 20th year anniversary edition of Simon The Sorcerer which is making the rounds and is the subject of this review. Like in Leisure Suit Larry, this version of Simon the Sorcerer has included HD graphics, built from the ground up touch controls and better animations. So relive your experiences with Simon the Sorcerer or jump in for the first time.
Where Am I?
For those of you who played the original Simon the Sorcerer back 20 years ago in 1993 you’ll know the story. But for those of us who are new to the world of Simon you’ll want to know some background information. Basically the storyline in Simon the Sorcerer is you play as a teenager named Simon whose dog, Chippy, finds a ‘Ye Olde Spellbooke’ in his attic and when he throws it down a portal opens and Simon is transported to another world. Upon arrival he is accosted by a group of goblins wanting to eat him but he escapes and discovers he has been brought here to find and rescue the wizard Calypso from the evil sorcerer Sordid. Throughout the play through you’ll notice tons of little references and parodies of popular books and fairy tales like Rapunzel, The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, Jack and the Beanstalk and the Three Billy Goats Gruff which are much appreciated and quite funny.
What’s New?
I’m assuming for the most part that the main selling audience for this anniversary edition of Simon the Sorcerer are those who remember playing or watching the original version. Because of that I feel they would appreciate the new changes more so than new fans. The optional upscale to HD graphics is perhaps one of the biggest draws as it takes the familiar retro graphics and updates it just enough to get it to have a 21st century feel. Other aspects of Simon the Sorcerer are updated like the animations, icons and original music. Even with the remastered aspects the old retro gaming feel of ye olde days peeps through. However that kind of alienates any newer audience that may want to try it out which I’ll get to later.
Still Good?
I suppose the big question is how does Simon the Sorcerer stack up to today’s mobile market and since it is just a remaster of an old retro game that is a hard subject to get on. Simon the Sorcerer as a whole is the same game as it was back in 1993 when it was receiving top ratings. However, with just essentially minute graphical and animation changes for this 20th anniversary edition I don’t think that is enough to stand out. Sure the old fans of the original game will lap it up and would gladly spend the $3.99 price tag, but for new mobile gamers I don’t think they would. Gameplay is excruciatingly slow, which while that is how the old game played really doesn’t go over well in modern times. Even though the actual puzzles and adventure of it all were fairly decent and funny I still found myself bored and screaming at my screen (figuratively of course) for Simon to hurry up just walking… In all honesty even with all the new “fancy” changes in this edition of Simon the Sorcerer I don’t think it’ll be winning any new fans over.
