Chris Jones and Access Software created the famed Tex Murphy series with this, their first adventure game. Made back in the 80s, it was not only one of the earliest adventure games, but pushed the technical boundaries of what was possible with old computers. Just as Tex Muprhy UNDER A KILLING MOON would invent the FMV (Full Motion Video) adventure game, Mean Streets was far ahead of its time and remains, despite its drawback, one of the best Old Time Adventure Games from the 80s.
Chris Jones and Access Software created the famed Tex Murphy series with this, their first adventure game. Made back in the 80s, it was not only one of the earliest adventure games, but pushed the technical boundaries of what was possible with old computers. Just as Tex Muprhy UNDER A KILLING MOON would invent the FMV (Full Motion Video) adventure game, Mean Streets was far ahead of its time and remains, despite its drawback, one of the best Old Time Adventure Games from the 80s. I still enjoy playing it from time to time.
Note that this review is based on the PC version of the game, but I suspect that the C64 is virtually the same, although the picture implies that it had lower resolution than a standard
PC.
In Mean Streets you play Tex Murphy, a detective of the future. You begin by investigating a disappearance and soon uncover conspiracies that could lead to world domination and destruction. The game heavily influenced by the cult movie Blade Runner, and features a flying car, scenes, sets, and costumes obviously borrowed from the film. One might call this the first Blade Runner inspired adventure game, but the game was not confined to being a rip-off of Blade Runner. The plot stands on its own quite well. Both the interface and puzzles are well done for the era, but the game does suffer from some notable drawbacks.
Perhaps I should begin with the drawbacks. The idea of blending genres was well intentioned, and frankly it is seldom been done as well as it was in Mean Streets, but adventure game purist will still despise the flight sim and arcade sequences. First, the game has quite a few arcade sequences. Tex must enter some areas were villains are lying in wait. You must dodge bullets and move your character closer to the entrance. These arcade sequences can be annoying, although part of me actually liked them. However, be aware that you need to stock up on ammo and not waste it. It can be a major pain to find out late in the game that you do not have enough ammo to win the game. Just use the bullets when necessary and you will have PLENTY available. The second drawback is the flight simulator added into the game. Once again, I did not mind the simulator as the controls were fairly easy, but it could be a pain to sit and wait for Tex to travel from one location to another. Third, the game does not have a build in memory in regard to clues. In other words, you WILL need a PENCIL and PAPER to play this game. WRITE DOWN all the clues you get and the codes that you will need to get to various locations. This aspect of the game may annoy some but it actually made me feel more like a detective precisely because it required me to take notes and follow clues rather than having the computer do this for you.
On the positive side are many elements. First the VGA graphics were spectacular for their day and still hold very well. Live actors were filmed for the "dialogue" boxes and Mean Streets was the first game to do this. Second, the sound was amazing considering that most computers at that time were incapable of digital sound. Access software devised something called "real sound" which used the old beep-beep PC speakers to create digital sound so that you could actually hear dialogue! Remember that this was BEFORE Soundblasters cards even existed! On a technical note, if you have the PC game, you will need to download DOSBOX version 0.65 or later if you want to hear the "real sound" effects. Real sound will cause a crash in windows and all previous versions of DOSBOX. Finally, was the wonderfully immersive story and puzzles.
The interface was unlike that of either Lucas Arts or Sierra. A menu at the bottom of the screen scrolls through your options. No mouse is required (or supported) for play. Of those adventure games that do not utilize a mouse, I can think of none that have a better interface (I have never been a fan of non-mouse interfaces for adventure games, but did not mind Mean Streets' interface).
The reader may be interested to know that Tex Murphy Mean Streets was actually remade as Tex Murphy Overseer, the last game in the series. The series thus began and ended with Tex's first case. It is really ironic and unfortunate, for Overseers' failure was in part the fact that it was a remake. Some may have felt that Mean Streets needed updating, but we felt that we had played the whole thing before, which we had. Personally, if they really wanted to remake one of the Tex Murphys, it should have been Martian Memorandum, for I still prefer Mean Streets despite all its drawbacks.
In short, Mean Streets is an old time adventure game that deserves to be called one of the true classics of Adventure Gaming. It began the famous Tex Murphy series and was light years ahead of its time. Even today it stands up very well to some adventure games which appear on the market.
