What's the Story Odyssus?

*note this is another post from an old website*

Let us move forward by looking back on a game from my childhood Wishbone and the Amazing Odyssey.

Wishbone was a kids TV show back in the 90’s about a dog that would imagine himself as the lead character of classic stories and relate the story to something happening to him in real life. It was a wonderful show that got kids interested in reading. This was the only game that was created to go along with his show, but by the premise they were planning for more games but that never happened. 

The game begins with an FMV of Wishbone sleeping in a library. He wakes up and greats the player with some exciting news. He has a new machine that will bring his favorite stories to life! He chooses The Odyssey because of the advanture that is tied to it. After placing the book into the computer he is able to visualize the story. The first thing  he tries is to talk to Odysseus, but something goes wrong and he gets pulled into the story. It is up to you, to save him by finishing the story, and hopefully rescue him. Now it's onto adventure with help from your first mate Eurylocus and the goddess of wisdom herself Athena. 

This is defiantly a game made for kids, the humor is silly and simple, and the violence in the original myth is non existant. You also learn a lot about Greek culture but game doesn’t force you, you can explore Wishbone’s library to help solve puzzles and other trivia in the game. 

Recently I have descovered that I misses out on PC Adventure Games in the 90s, and looking back this was my first experience with a Point N Click

Adventure.  This is a kids game, so it’s not difficult to figure out how the puzzles, most of the answers are laying right next to the problem, but it is still fun and can be difficult as the game progresses.

If you know the story of The Odyssey all the elements are there, just toned down. When in Cyclops cave, instead of blinding the Cyclops with a hot pike of wood, they use a blanket. After Circe turns his men into Pigs instead of having sex with her, Wishbone plays checkers to get his men returned to normal. I think we are all thankful for that.

There are even a few deaths within the game. The Cyclops will eat a few of your men, and one of your men falls from a cliff and dies on Circe’s island. You have to bury him with a coin you won by playing a game with Agamemnon in Hades. If you choose to try and sneak past Caribous (basically a whirlpool monster) you will visit Hades himself and have to play a game with him to return. Even if you choose to go past the monster Scylla, six of you men will be eaten by the monster.

Also, you do go to Hades, and besides the internal damnation it doesn't look like a bad place to live. No iternal burnings are shown, there don't seem to be souls of the dead trying to cling to life by devouring the living. Heck, Odyssus was told to sacrifice a goat in order to summon Tiresias, but instead he leaves it tied to a tree. A tree that grows in hell...kids game logic.

If anything this game is pleasant and nostalgic as hell. I can remeber sitting on my Gateway 2000 for hours just becoming obsorbed in this story that made me want to learn more about Greek Mythology. Wishbone was created to help children become interested and learn about classic literature.  I wish this game had become a series. I would have to love to play other games based off of this great show.