Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
System: NES
Release Date: March 1991
Developer: Software Creations
Publisher: Taito
Genre: Action
The quest for the Holy Grail awaits you in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade! Indy is back on this European vacation after receiving his father’s diary documenting 40 years of his search. Enjoy stills that look like they’re right out of the movie. Can you figure out how to find the grail and then actually choose the right one? That’s up to you to decide.
The levels are played in the order chosen by the player. This begins with choosing to go for the Cross of Coronado or heading to Venice to find a picture of the grail. I chose the Cross. You’re thrown on to a boat and need to beat up a number of crewmen to lure out the captain. Indy can punch or kick with the A or B Buttons. Pressing them together allows you to jump. Double tapping a direction allows you to run and pressing the B Button then does a jump kick. You have a health bar and as you take hits it depletes. Draining the bar uses a life, which is tracked by grails next to the meter. Beating the captain, even if he’s invisible will get you the cross.
Venice requires you to play a slide puzzle in an attempt to see what the real grail looks like. This is incredibly important to know for the end of the game. I found the puzzle to be a real pain because it’s very obtuse. If you don’t put it together by the end, I hope you have a good memory. Rescuing dad takes you to a maze in Brunwald Castle. This plays the same as the ship, but you have to walk through doors and fight enemies to find your way to the exit. When you enter a room with a chair and a fireplace, you need to sit on the chair to open the exit to dad.
Marcus has been taken by the Nazis and is being held captive in a tank. You need to knock out a bunch of Nazis as you traverse the tank treads. There’s only so much time to beat them all up before the tank goes off a cliff. If you are punched off the tank, you lose a life instantly, but whip your way back up. I found that running jump kicks killed enemies instantly. Then the boss kind of just jumped off and committed suicide. Dad’s diary is found by going through a motorcycle chase in Berlin. This level is completely unfair. You need to jump over obstacles, avoid land mines, and whip Nazis. You get unlimited tries, but I decided to time travel my way through to keep my anger down.
The final level forces you to follow a path of steps that spell out Jehovah over and over again. Getting dad’s diary gives you the symbol you need to jump from at the end. Then you need to choose the grail. There are a lot to choose from. Hopefully you remember what it looks like, but even then you’re likely to choose poorly. But a screen shot from earlier can help you win! Then I realized in the fighting scenes you can press the Select Button to use the whip! Unfortunately, it isn’t as good as you’d hope.
Graphics: 1.5
The movie stills are cool, but the main game graphics are kind of poor.
Sound: 1.5
Music and sounds are okay, but the best part is the Indiana Jones theme.
Gameplay: 1.5
The fighting is not predictable in success. The motorcycle level is awful.
Difficulty: 1.0
Lose a level that isn’t the motorcycle level and it’s game over. At least it’s short.
Fun Factor: 1.0
It doesn’t make it fun to be Indy, though it should be.
Overall Rating: 1.3
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade earns a D+. Though better than the last Indy game, it’s not any good.