Alright Undertoads, it’s about time we wrapped up this MacVenture series on the NES.
You’ve see the others, but this time around, we’ve lost our memory on the mean streets
of 1940’s Chicago.
It’s Déjà vu on the NES!
Déjà vu is part of the MacVenture series from ICOM, and was published on the NES by
Kemco.
Like the other MacVenture games such as Uninvited, this game looks really good in full color,
and the inclusion of music is a vast improvement over the original Macintosh version.
But as you can tell, the interface begs to have a mouse over the NES controller.
Déjà vu plays exactly the same as Shadowgate and Uninvited.
There’s a menu of commands at the bottom, an inventory to the right, and all the action
contained in that tiny window to the left.
It’s pretty simple.
There’s no real animation, little in terms of sound effects, and repetitive music, simple
controls, and it’s awesome.
You play as Theodore Ace Harding, a retired boxer-turned-private-eye who’s luck couldn’t
get any worse, even if he walked under a ladder and smashed a mirror.
He’s lost his memory and has awoke in the worst place you could: a public men’s restroom
in Chicago.
Eager to escape your grime setting, you leave the restroom, roots around a closed bar, and
discover the owner plugged full of lead in his office.
The worst part is that you may be the one to blame for the murder, and if you can’t
get your memory back and collect the right evidence, Ace Harding will have to spend the
rest of his days in the slammer!
After you leave Joe’s Bar, you’ll walk the mean streets of Chicago, finding clues
in Joey Siegal’s penthouse apartment (he’s the dead guy, if you didn’t notice), the
bungalow of his cheap-perfume wearing secretary, and your own office.
As you send Ace around, you’ll use the various-and-typical- adventure-game-commands to search for the
items and learn more about the plot to frame ol’ Ace for a murder and kidnapping.
You’ll eventually recover Ace’s memory of at least who he is, but now it’s important
to get all the evidence in the case.
Some is fake and has been planted to let Ace take the fall for the kidnapping of some guys
400 pound wife as well as the murder of the bar owner, Joey Siegal.
You’ll uncover a tale of passionate romance between the secretary and her lover, and a
jealous Joey Siegal.
Ace’s fingerprints are all over the gun that shot Joey, and several fake notes and
clues litter Chicago that could lead the police to Ace.
That’s a problem, and it’s the main change from other MacVenture games.
The other games were very simple, almost a ‘get-through-the-puzzle-and-progress’
style of gameplay.
Déjà vu, while still holding a few puzzles, relies more on the player’s lateral thinking;
how could a private eye approach a situation?
Is it worth finding a key to a door or can you just shoot the lock off?
Instead of asking to come in, can you just punch the butler in the face?
I love that part.
Also unlike the other games, Déjà vu doesn’t offer a definitive ‘okay you’re near the
end’ section; once you think you have the right clues and figured out the crime, and
disposed of the fake incriminating evidence, you’ll have to take your chance with the
police.
If they find more clues that you didn’t, you’ll take the wrap and it’s game over.
It’s actually the most challenging part of the game, to make sure you got every clue
you need, and there are a ton of clues to pick up.
Déjà Vu is a lot of fun, and a compelling adventure, and if the NES isn’t up your
alley, then check this game, and it’s sequel, out on the Gameboy color.
Déjà vu offers players a trip back into the 40’s detective world, and it’s a fun
time, and one worth checking out.
Now if you excuse me, I need to punch this mugger in the face…
Sucko