Title: The Uninvited

Publisher: Kemco Seika

Release Date:  1991

    "LOOK OUT!!  The last thing you remember before blacking out was a shadowy figure appearing in the road in front of you.  You heard your sister cry out as you swerved the car into this tree.  You realize that you are alone.  Your sister must have gone for help."  Chyeah right!  We all know she was kidnapped, this is a horror game after all.  What you just read, before my little piece of commentary, was the introduction to, "The Uninvited."       

    You awake to find yourself outside of an old house, which you soon discover is haunted.  You later learn that this house was once inhabited by a powerful sorcerer and his apprentices.  One day a gifted apprentice, Dracan, became corrupted by the dark spirits of greed and power.  He then killed the other students, hence why the place is now haunted.  Your goal is to rescue your sister and thwart the evil Dracan.

 

Hint: Take the pendant from the letter to get the ball rolling.

    "The Uninvited," is a first-person point and click adventure in the style of, "Shadowgate," another point and click adventure released on Nintendo.  You are equipped with a few actions which include examine, take, open, close, use, hit, leave and speak.  Given these simple tools, you are to make your way through the haunted house by solving puzzles as well as finding keys and spells.Uninvited's simple gameplay and clever wit fuse well together to create a very fun experience. 

    Some of the puzzles however can be frustrating as some offer no clues to a solution.  For example, one particular ghost in the game is afraid of spiders, yet there is no suggestion to this.  Therefore you must use trial and error before finally figuring out that you have to throw the spider at him that you picked up earlier.  That's if you picked up the spider cider and figured out that you need to apply it to the banister, in the other room, to catch the spider that crawls along it.  "Examine," is your best friend as it offers the biggest hints to solving puzzles.  You'll soon be finding yourself examining everything the moment you walk into a new room.

The game sometimes prevents you from doing things you really want to, like when I saw this snake eat this innocent cat. I got angry and tried to use, "axe on snake," but no luck.

 

But, "axe on self," seemed to work perfectly fine.

 

    The game is also filled with items that you can pick up and store in your inventory to help solve later puzzles.  Many items prove useless, but it doesn't hurt to pick up just about everything.  If you missed picking up one particular item earlier in the game you'll be killed right before the game ends and will be greeted with this screen:

Apparently when you're dead death constantly points at you.

    "The Uninvited," is best played with a couple friends so there's more theories going around about the puzzles.  It's a lot of fun to bring out the Nintendo and try beat this game in one sitting.  It'll be sure to offer some delicious nostalgia...that and there's a lot of funny ways to kill yourself.  Uninvited will appeal to fans of, "Maniac Mansion," and the forementioned classic, "Shadowgate," both available on the Nintendo.  And if you enjoy your time spent with, "The Uninvited," try either of those games, or, "Deja Vu," on Nintendo if you're looking for a real challenge.