The Curse of Monkey Island proved that point-and-click adventure games could still be fun and Grim Fandango went some way towards proving that they can work in a 3D world. Now Hasbro are looking to further resurrect this popular genre.
Andy Smith

I remember Simon The Sorceror. He was a cheeky young scamp, wasn't he?
He certainly was. When Simon first appeared back in 1993, 2D point-and-click adventures were all the rage and Simon's particular angle on the genre was that the game's hero was a typically 'full of himself' teenager.

I seem to remember the plot being a little tongue in cheek...
Some would say downright bizarre. Simon managed to get himself transported to a world of fantasy and magic in an effort to defeat the evil wizard Sordid. As it turned out (in Simon The Sorceror 2), Sordid managed to steal Simon's body, leaving him lost and, well, bodiless. This is where this new, fully 3D instalment takes up the story.

Oh. Do go on.
Are you toying with me?

Possibly.
Don't.

Sorry.
Simon 3D starts with Simon's soul being reunited with his body on the roof of an Aztec temple...

Like you would...
Watch it. The rest of the game concerns Simon's attempts to get himself home.

I have that trouble on a Saturday night.
I've seen you. Traffic cones on your head might sound like a good idea, but if you could only see yourself. Anyway, the game's developers, Headfirst Productions, have stuck to the basic point-and-click premise with this game. They're keen to point out that though other adventure games have re-invented themselves in 3D, they've all moved away from the point-and-click genre as we knew it and concerned themselves with arcade scenes and lever-pulling, door-opening puzzles. Simon 3D, they reckon, will have good old-fashioned adventure puzzles and plenty of exploration - just in 3D.