Torin's Passage
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Torin's Passage | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Developer(s) | Sierra On-Line |
| Publisher(s) | Sierra On-Line |
| Designer(s) | Al Lowe |
| Release date(s) | 1995 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: K-A |
| Platform(s) | MS-DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Mac |
| Media | Floppy disk, CD-ROM |
| Input | Mouse |
Torin's Passage is a graphic adventure game developed and released by Sierra On-Line, designed by Al Lowe. The game holds the distinction of being a family friendly game by Lowe, designer of the adult-oriented Leisure Suit Larry series of games.
Contents |
[edit] Gameplay
The player interacts with Torin and the in-game environments using a point-and-click interface. Placing the cursor over certain "hot spots" in the environment allows him to move around, examine things and pick up items. There is also an inventory system used to access the items Torin collects during the course of the game. The player can switch to Boogle as well, although he is mainly used to morph into various items. The items he can morph into replace the items in Torin's inventory. Any item can be viewed as a 3-D model by using the item viewer. The game has a variety of puzzles, from puzzles involving item collection to sliding puzzles. Points are given after solving puzzles. A hint system is included as an in-game feature, and the player can ask for hints after certain time intervals, at the cost of game points. The specific time interval can be set as an in-game option. The hint system can also be turned off entirely.[1]
[edit] Plot
The protagonist of the game is Torin, the son of a farming family on the planet of Strata. A witch named Lycentia captures his family with a magic spell, and he embarks on a quest to the dreaded "lands below" traveling to worlds beneath the surface of the planet in search of her. He is aided by a purple cat-like creature called Boogle, who is able to change itself into a variety of shapes.[2]
[edit] Characters
[edit] Torin
Torin is the prince of The Lands Above, but he doesn't know about his origin. Being kidnapped by his babysitter, who tried to save him from the evil warlock, he was later found by farmers, who adopted him. While growing up, Torin finds a mysterious creature that can change its shape and turn into different objects. Torin called it “Boogle” and became friends with him. After the mysterious disappearance of his "parents", the old traveler told him about the evil witch Lycentia, who has captured them. Torin then travels through all five worlds of Strata, having different adventures. In Pergola he falls in love with Leenah, the missing princess of Escarpa, who was trapped by little natives of this world. Torin saves Leenah and himself, but then they part: Leenah returns to Escarpa, Torin arrives to Astenia. When he reaches Tenebrous and meets with Lycentia, he learns her secret: she's his babysitter and was arrested for kidnapping by mistake. After sending Torin to Tenebrous, she became evil and helped the warlock, who’s really Torin’s uncle, Pecand (he’s also the old traveler). He also learns he’s the prince and must become a king because his real parents were murdered by Pecand. Torin frees Lycentia from the magic golden collar that prevents her from returning to the Lands Above. Lycentia becomes noble and helps Torin to defeat Pecand. Then they return to Lands Above with Torin’s “parents” and Boogle, who was earlier kidnapped by Lycentia’s sidekick, Dreep. Torin becomes the ruler of the Lands Above.
[edit] Lycentia
Lycentia plays the role of the main villain of the game (until the very end). While babysitting Torin, she kidnapped him to save from the evil magician Pecand, who killed Torin's parents. Upon her return, her intentions were misinterpreted and she was sent to Tenebrous in exile. The judges put the magic golden collar on her to stop her from returning to The Lands Above (the collar would smother her if she tried to do so). There, she turns into a witch and Pecand fools her, promising to get rid of her collar and making her his ally . Using a whirlwind, she kidnaps Torin's "parents". With the help of Pecand, Lycentia watches Torin with the intention of killing him in order to fulfill her deal with Pecand. When Torin arrives to Tenebrous, she orders Dreep, a blue animal she created, to follow him. Torin finds her and she tries to kill him. Her collar begins to squeeze around her neck and Lycentia falls unconscious. Torin touches the collar and it opens, releasing Lycentia from its grip. Lycentia awakens and realizes Torin is actually the prince that she tried to save long ago. She becomes good, casts a spell on Pecand and defeats him. After that, she frees all her victims from the crystals that they were trapped in. She returns back to The Lands Above along with Torin. It is not known if Lycentia was held accountable for her actions but it is assumed that Torin, now the king of Lands Above, must have pardoned her.
[edit] Pecand
Pecand is the king's spiteful brother and Torin's uncle. Using dark magic, he kills the king and queen, but Lycentia saves baby Torin. Pecand tried to manipulate her into helping him become the highest judge in the land and eventually the king. It was Pecand's plan to use Torin's adoptive parents as a "bait" for Torin. Then he, disguised as an old traveler, "helped" Torin by telling him that Lycentia was the one to blame. He then warned Lycentia of Torin's quest to find her. When Torin reached Tenebrous, Lycentia tried to murder him, but Torin was able to free her from the collar and thus, from Pecand influence. Lycentia became good and Pecand tried to kill Torin himself. Using magic, Torin threw him into the cauldron of lava, but Pecand survived. It was not lava, but a stew for Dreep (blue monster, Lycentia's sidekick and pet). Pecand attacked Torin again, but Lycentia cast a spell on him and froze him into the crystal. He fell into the Null Void and was never seen again.
[edit] Development history
Al Lowe states on his official website that he wrote Torin's Passage in 1994 after seeing the film Mrs. Doubtfire with his daughter. He states that while watching the film, he realized that audience was laughing in two different pitches: "high little giggles when the kids laughed at the slapstick parts of the film, and deep knowing guffaws when the adults caught something that they knew the kids wouldn't get." Lowe thought, "Why isn't there a computer game that my 9-year-old daughter and I could play that works like that?"[3] Lowe's daughter would take a small role in the development of the game, designing the maze puzzle seen late in the game.[4]
The game's developers included a variety of easter eggs in the game. Some of the more obvious ones occur near the end of the game. Several characters make cameo appearances at the same time, including Darth Vader, Yoda and Taylor from the original Planet of the Apes film. Hotaru Tomoe, also known as "Sailor Saturn" from Sailor Moon also makes an appearance. While the other characters were placed in there by the game's background artists, Hotaru was placed in the game by Bryan Wilkinson, an art tech working on the game. There are also various references made to Torin's Passage in a subsequent Al Lowe release, Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail!.[5] The final version also contains some unused content.[6]
Some members of the development team who worked on Torin's Passage went on to work for notable companies. Lead Animator Jim Murphy went on to work for Pixar and Lead Background Artist Bruce Sharp went on to work for Microsoft.[3][7]
The game was intended to be the first in a series similar to Sierra's King's Quest, but the declining popularity of adventure games put a stop to such plans.[3]
[edit] Reception
Torin's Passage was designed to be suitable for children, which surprised many of the fans of its designer, who was known for making rather "adult" games. In an interview Al Lowe stated: "I think many people misunderstood Torin's Passage, however. It was designed for a parent to share with a child, because I wanted a game that Megan (my then 11-year-old daughter) and I could play together."[8]
Critical reaction to the game is mixed, GameSpot's Jeffrey Adam Young gave the game a 7.0 out of 10, a "Good" rating. Young lauded it as an adventure game for players of all ages, although he commented that younger children and novice adventure game players might find some of the puzzles challenging. Young also noted that although the game is child-friendly, some of Lowe's characteristic toilet humor remains in the narrative.[9] The adventure video game website Adventure Gamers published a less glowing review in 2003 though, calling the game "A promising fairy tale that just never breaks through the wall of mediocrity."[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Wood, Claire. Adventure Gamers: Torin's Passage review. Retrieved on September 25, 2006.
- ^ Torin's Passage at GameBoomers. Retrieved on September 24, 2006.
- ^ a b c Torin's Passage at Al Lowe's Humor Site. Retrieved on September 24, 2006.
- ^ Game Trivia for Torin's Passage. MobyGames. Retrieved on September 24, 2006.
- ^ Torin's Passage Unofficial site: Easter Eggs. Retrieved on September 25, 2006.
- ^ Torin's Passage Unofficial site: Mysteries. Retrieved on January 9, 2007.
- ^ Game Credits for Torin's Passage. MobyGames. Retrieved on September 24, 2006.
- ^ verbosity - Leisure Time with Al Lowe. Retrieved on September 24, 2006.
- ^ Young, Jeffrey Adam. Torin's Passage review. GameSpot. Retrieved on September 24, 2006.
[edit] External links
