20000 Leagues Under the Sea
- Captain Nemo is a strange and dubious character. Keep on the right side of him, don't try his patience and, above all, don't annoy him; he'll isolate you with no regrets. Learn to know him.
- The Nautilus is a brilliantly run microcosm. You will have to familiarize yourself with things you know very little about. But be careful; the things you do may help or harm you now or later.
- The deep sea world is a marvellous world, but don't let yourself be carried away by your dreams; it is a cruel world without pity.
- Most important of all, don't forget that your aim is to tell people about this fantastic adventure; find your route and plot it on the map; keep a note of all the essential information which you will be given throughout your voyage, but don't forget to escape; choose the right moment.
This game was developed for the Atari ST first, ported to the PC immediately, and to the Amiga the next year. It is one game where PC gamers blessed with an EGA card did not fall short on the graphics, though Bach didn't sound half as nice over the PC speaker.
Actually the graphics were pretty bad on any platform, which is not a good thing for a game that relies a lot on atmosphere, the luxurious atmosphere of the Nautilus…
In the end, while it became to be considered something of a classic in the PC world, it made little impact on the Atari and Amiga communities and is rarely mentioned there. I did not find a single review for these platforms.
In 2000, there should have been a sequel by SouthPeak, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea: The Adventure Continues, but it was cancelled when it was already nearly finished, and all that remains are a few screenshots:
Based on Jules Verne's classic sci-fi story of the same name, this game faithfully captures the atmosphere and plot of the novel despite simplistic puzzles and banal dialogues. However, there are a few plot twists to keep fans of the novel curious to the end. Features some of the most obscure and convoluted puzzles that would become one of Coktel Vision's legacy.
I found the user-interface so bad that I just didn't want to use it, and the second thing why I didn't like the game at all is the fact that the graphics are bad. I'm not saying that old games should have good graphics, but 20000 Leagues Under the Sea has damn fuzzy graphics, which hampers the playing the game.
