Console: | Commodore 64 |
TV Standard: | Region Not Set |
Developer(s): | IntelliCreations, Inc., Pacific Softech Inc. |
Publisher(s): | Datasoft, Inc. |
Release Date: | 1987-01-01 |
Players: | 4 |
Co-op: | No |
ESRB: | E - Everyone |
Type: | Puzzle, Strategy |
221B Baker Street is a solid computer version of an underrated board game of the same name, which is similar to Clue! but with more challenging cases and innovations that evoke the feel of Holmesian London. As in the classic board game, up to 4 players first choose their alter egos from main characters in the classic series, including Holmes himself. Players then take turns travel through Victorian London gathering clues and solving mini-mysteries such as The Coded Message, The Clerk's Demise, and The Nettlesome Bride.
Like its board game counterpart, 221B Baker Street is full of innovative features. For example, you can use a Scotland Yard badge to seal off a site you've already visited, and use a Skeleton Key to unlock any location in the game. The mysteries are all quite short, but more involved than those in Clue! although the goals are similar (i.e. you must deduce the killer's identity, the murder weapon, and motive).
There are 30 mini-mysteries in the game, although they don't differ that much from one another. Still, with a solid user interface, bright, attractive graphics, and a large number of cases appropriate to the era, 221B Baker Street is a very faithful reproduction of the board game that sleuths of all levels will enjoy.