| Manhole, The | Cyan Worlds / Activision Publishing | 1988 | |
|---|---|---|---|
  |
The Manhole is a computer adventure game intended for children in which the
player follows a rabbit down a manhole and may explore the fantastic world beneath.
The game was first released on floppy discs in 1988 by Cyan, Inc. (now Cyan Worlds) and distributed through mail order. In 1989, it was produced for Activision as CD-ROM
version based on that floppy disc game. This version is notable for being the first
computer game distributed on CD-ROM. It runs in black-and-white on the Apple Macintosh
line of computers. The PC version came out after the original Macintosh version by
almost two years, but it sports better graphics and smoother animations. It was
created using the HyperTalk programming language by brothers Rand and Robyn Miller,
who founded the company Cyan and would go on to produce the best-selling adventure
game Myst. It's teeming with lively cartoon characters that
kids will like, as well as many educational tidbits disguised as mini-games to be
discovered. In many ways, the qualities that make The Manhole a unique and outstanding edutainment title are the same that later made Myst a best-seller: the freedom to
explore the rich, well-realized gameworld at your own pace, and one-click-does-all
interface. As a kid's game, The Manhole is even better at utilizing the concept. The
game opens with an simple-looking manhole cover; clicking on it leads to one of the
game's many exploration choices that make it replayable many times: should I do up
or down? Each location, many of which the player will miss on his or her first time,
is jam-packed with objects to play with, friendly cartoon characters, and fun
animations. In 1992, The Manhole: New and Enhanced was released with a 256 colour graphical update to the game and new CD audio tracks in the way of music. The gameplay and level makeup is exactly the same and it contains English as well as Japanese text. See also: Manhole, The: Masterpiece Edition |
||
|
1 2 |
|
||
|
1 2 |
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
