Reply To: Hugo 3: Jungle of Doom Impressions


TigerQuoll
Participant
Podcaster
#5121

Out of the three games this is probably the one I had played the least when I was young. I probably only beat it once or twice before today.
The only puzzle that stumped me was finding the book. The game explicitly told me off for looking at trees and plants, but then this critical item is just hidden in a random piece of shrubbery!

Anyway, I would have to say it’s my least favourite of the three. The graphics may be better, but it lost some of its charm. Despite being set in such an exotic location, it has a lot less of the quirky, weird, unexpected and baffling elements that to me define the series.
It also strays a little too close to uncomfortably racist at times. (“Ullu wulla jumba”? Ugh…)

As for why this series is so beloved, I think it’s a combination of a few things, and it largely comes down to just how accessible the games are.
The games are short, (relatively) easy, and the shareware versions are basically complete. They are also full of very memorable and unique locations and set pieces. (Both for good and bad reasons. All publicity is good publicity!)
They were also very widely distributed – partly for the reasons above, but also because you can fit two of them on a single floppy if zipped.