J.B. Harold Murder Club
System: TGCD
Release Date: August 1991
Developer: Riverhill Soft
Publisher: NEC
Genre: Adventure
It’s a case of whodunnit in the J.B. Harold Murder Club! Bill Robbins was seemingly living the high life. He was the chairman of the board at the Robbins Trading Company. He was young, married, and was well known around Liberty Town. Unfortunately, with notoriety comes a target. And this is what Bill had on his back, because late one night he was found… murdered! In the parking lot near Houlington College, he was stabbed to death in the early hours of the morning. Your mentor hands you the case and is dying to know “Who did it?”
You begin in the police station and most go around town, interviewing potential witnesses and suspects in order to figure it out. When you go to one of the places of interest, you will talk to the first person you see. You can ask them about themselves; their name, age, occupation, blood type, hobbies, etc. You can also try to gather intel on people of interest, though most people will know nothing. After going through that list, you can ask about their alibi and other keywords you’ve gathered.
I poked around for an hour and a half and didn’t really gain anything of note. So I checked a walkthrough to see how long it might be to get through this investigation. There were 84 steps, each with multiple things that needed to be done in order to proceed. No. Nope. No way. Uh-uh. Not happening. I guess Bill’s murder is going to go unsolved because I can’t sit through all of the questions and the voice acting. I guess I’ll never fill in the murder board, and Bill’s murderer will get away with it.
Graphics: 2.0
There are a lot of different character portraits that you run into and the ones I saw all look plausible.
Sound: 2.5
The voice acting is mostly decent, and that’s what you’re going to be listening to.
Gameplay: 1.0
Go to a place, ask about the same key words, rinse, repeat.
Difficulty: 1.5
I didn’t get far enough to see if you’re given the proper clues to piece together, but I kept unlocking new words…
Fun Factor: 0.5
The interface is boring. The story was boring. It’s not a fun game to play.
Overall Rating: 1.5
J.B. Harold Murder Club earns a C-. It takes way too long to get into. If you have the time and patience and want to solve a murder, then have at it, otherwise move on.