February 2, 2015

Yellow Brick Road

Synergy, Inc., 1995


Yellow Brick Road is one of the most obscure adventure games, brilliantly adapted from L. Frank Baum's venerated children's book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written in 1899 and published in 1900. The game is developed by Synergy, a Japanese company, which released many other obscure titles including Gadget, Zeddas: Servant of Sheol and not to mention Alice: An Interactive Museum, using amazing Quicktime technologies. You play as young Dorothy Gale, who after wearing the enchanted ruby slippers is magically transported from her Kansas home to this magical world of Oz. Following the Yellow Brick Road, you meet the Tin Man, who joins you in your quest to find your way back home. Next, you free the Cowardly Lion and together they travel to the Emerald City to find and rescue the Scarecrow from the captivity of the Evil Witch.

The movement in the game is displayed by nicely created 3D cut-scene. There are a few combat sequences in this game but they are not so hard as the game is basically developed with young kids in mind. The puzzles are quite logical and mostly inventory based. The game music is also adapted from the movie, The Wizard of Oz, released in 1939. All in all, Yellow Brick Road is a nice adventure for the whole family.