Shadoan, the sequel to Thayer's Quest, was once considered revolutionary. This game, brought to you by Rick Dyer of Dragon's Lair fame, tries to put you in control of an unlikely hero presented with the task of saving the fantasy world of Shadoan.
The opening animation is decent, though not as good as the Don Bluth Studios work done on Dragon's Lair and Space Ace. You are somewhat introduced to the basic characters and what you are supposed to accomplish, though details are sketchy. Unfortunately, the extremely vague quest is partnered with poorly written directions, abysmal control and unspecified objectives. Aside from that, the game is lacking the linear qualities of previous games. I found myself dying and restarting in an area I had never been to, with no hint as to what I needed to do next.
Aside from all this, your frustrations are not appeased by the manual (or lack thereof), nor the 'walk-through' booklet. For the latter, they reveal to you the final few moves in the game, not a complete run down of everything you can do. With so many other titles produced by Digital Liesure, including the acclaimed Dragon's Lair, it is unthinkable to purchase this product. Unless you are collecting the series of DVD games (Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair 2: Time Warp, Space Ace, etc.) stay as far away from this as you can.
