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Review by NightshadeBlack

January 10, 2020

This is my 29th review and completed adventure in the Nancy Drew series.

First, I’d like to start by dividing my review into two factions.n1) The game itselfn2) My personal detective work.

* PART 1 nnPLOT: Nancy Drew is off to the City of Dreams? [Is that right?] No? Anyway, she gets to rub elbows with a Soap Opera Star in the Big Apple. Oh yeah, there is the confusion; isn’t this supposed to be in Hollywood? Well, it’s all about climbing the ladder of goodwill and what better way than through the entertainment industry, right?nnINITIAL SCORE: 85nnCHARACTERS:nMattie Jensen: The girl of the hour. Stick with her and you’ll go far, kid. Well, all she did was sit around rehearsing lines, but that is the life of an actress. I did see her one scene she had acted which wasn’t bad. No, I don’t think she’s the culprit. Why is she dating around so frequently like that? Ick.

Mille Strathorn: That silly old bat. Loved her riddles [half have been done before in other venues]. I think she is getting a little senile, but I don’t think it was enough to be considered the culprit, especially since she owns the place.

Lillian Weiss: Man, she needs to get la…. wait, this is a family show. She was just a mean girl, but her abrasiveness was so strong that I doubted she was the culprit.

William Pappas: I only heard grumblings from his office. If he don’t physically appear in the game, he ain’t the culprit :PnnDwayne Powers: This guy was just falling apart! [Financially, second-guessing his relationship with Mattie, etc.] I am glad he cast me as an extra! Yaahhh!nnRick Arlen: He was a smooth talker and a couple of his one-liners made me smile, but I had him firmly in my target sight as the evil villain.

Phone-A-Friends: This has got to be the 2nd best interplay in the relationship of Nancy/Ned aside from the Captive Curse argument. They said they loved each other! That was amazing only Adventure # 2 into the series since I don’t believe I have heard it since. By game # 31, is the romance getting stale? This version of Bess had an odd accent and I believe this particular game was the most helpful George has ever been.

CUMUL SCORE: + 2 = 87nnSCORE/GRAPHICS/SOUND EFFECTS:nThe background music was a little blander than other games, but it didn’t detract from the ambience. You have to forgive the cartoonish graphics from 1999. Overall, it was fine.

CUMUL SCORE: Even = 87nnPUZZLES/MINI-GAMES: Like I mentioned before, the riddles were intriguing since it hasn’t been done again in the series. There were no mini games. :( In fact, I think HER went with plot and culprit motivations over cheaper filler material, which makes this game stand apart from the later adventures in the series. [And that got fans to trip over themselves with praise for the good old days.]nnCUMUL SCORE: - 2 = 85nnGENERAL IOTAS: A lot of little bugs involving linear plot being halted unless you were perfect with clue discovery. I think this frustrated fans and the later games featured this process less.

CUMUL SCORE: - 1 = 84nnADVENTURE ENDING: It was ridiculous in the scheme of things how bland it was. I am not necessarily complaining, but compared with other endings, this was definitely bottom 3 for HER all time.

CUMUL SCORE: - 2 = 82nn PART 2 *nI try to solve cases without any hints, walkthroughs, etc, even if it were tontake weeks! Well, it took me four days [7 hours] and I gave myself anDetective Score Of : 81nnMy Strong Points: The games I was given, I mostly aced.

My Weak Points: Swung and missed on the culprit.

OVERALL GAME SCORE: 82 + ⁸¹⁄₂ = 81.5 [ B - ]nnBOTTOMLINE: Cracks the Top Ten! Not bad considering the problems with computer programming in the late 90’s. Just goes to show that story can outclass most visual and sound appeal. Perhaps HER can Remaster THIS. The poorly released Secrets Can Kill didn’t really deserve the Remaster even though the nostalgia of the opening game was understood.

Thus far, on my list of the 29 completed ND games, TUNED ranks…. # 10 !!!!!nn1) GHOST DOGS OF MOON LAKE archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 90.7n2) GHOST OF THORNTON HALL archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 87.5n3) WHITE WOLF ICICLE CREEK archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 86n4) THE SHATTERED MEDALLION archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 84.1n5) HAUNTING CASTLE MALLOY archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 84n6) SECRET OF OLD CLOCK archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 83n7) TREASURE ROYAL TOWER archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 82.8n8) WARNINGS AT WAVERLY archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 82.5n9) BLUEMOON CANYON archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 82.1n10) STAY TUNED FOR DANGER archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 81.5n11) HAUNTED CAROUSEL archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 81.2n12) DANGER DECEPTION ISLAND archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 80.6n13) LEGEND OF CRYSTAL SKULL archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 79.3n14) MESSAGE HAUNTED MANSION archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 79.2n15) THE CAPTIVE CURSE archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 79n16) SHADOW AT WATER’S EDGE archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 78n17) SECRET SHADOW RANCH archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 74.7n18) SECRET OF SCARLET HAND archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 74n19) PHANTOM OF VENICE archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 73.5n20) THE SILENT SPY archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 73n21) CURSE BLACKMOOR MANOR archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 72.5n22) TRAIL OF THE TWISTER archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 72.4n23) CREATURE OF KAPU CAVE archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 72n24) THE DEADLY DEVICE archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 71.1n25) RANSOM SEVEN SHIPS archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 70n26) TOMB OF THE LOST QUEEN archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 69.7n27) ALIBI IN ASHES archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 68n28) SECRETS CAN KILL [REMAST] archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 67.7n29) LABYRINTH OF LIES archetypes config.toml content data layouts public resources static themes 67