The Lord of the Rings, SNES Version

[TheAmazingOopah]

A few years back, my local video rental place stopped renting video games, and decided to sell all their stock games for reasonable prices. One game I bought there was The Lord of the Rings, for the Super Nintendo, a game or concept I didn't knew until then. Problem is, the version didn't include a manual, and the game itself is quite... unclear.

Now, does anyone know this game? Though the story is obvious, it's often very vague what to do next in this game, and the combat mode is rather lacking. Compared to other SNES RPG's like Terranigma, Chrono Trigger, Lufia or Secret of Everymore, the game is a bit of a joke, but I am willing to give it a second chance. So, if someone who knows the game could help me out a bit, that would be nice. Or, just talking a bit about the game, would be fun too. Know the game? Let me know.

[DesR85]

Sorry. Never heard of this game before. In those days, I have never heard of an RPG. Most of the games I've known and played are platformers and action titles during those days.

[TheAmazingOopah]

Originally Posted by DesR85

Sorry. Never heard of this game before. In those days, I have never heard of an RPG. Most of the games I've known and played are platformers and action titles during those days.

That's okay, thanks for the reply anyway. Have you played any other games for the Super Nintendo?

By the way, the Lord of the Rings game I mentioned is called The Lord of the Rings Vol. 1 - so apart from having extremely tedious dungeons and a sucky gameplay, the game doesn't go past The Mines of Moria, and is probably only a few hours long or so.
I came across a very nice review on this game on a game page, and just had to share it. Even if you don't know the game (or don't want to know it), the review is very funny. You could say that I share his opinion:

By Scott Sharkey 05/09/2004

Dear Mr. Editor,
I am writing to thank you for assigning me the task of playing and reviewing The Lord of the Rings Volume 1 for the SNES. I am taking the assignment as a compliment. No doubt you must have heard stories about my incredible resilience to pain and suffering, and reasoned that if the game didn't kill me it could only make me stronger. While your confidence is inspiring, I feel I should point out that Nietzsche was, in fact, completely full of crap. Whatever doesn't kill you can leave you maimed, crippled, and emotionally damaged for life.

I had borrowed this game from a friend many years ago. Not long afterward he informed me that if I ever tried to return the game he would tear off my leg and kick my own ass with it. I have kept it safely encased in a small lead lined box ever since, intending to consign it to a small unmarked grave along with my collection of Right Said Fred albums. For whatever reason I have failed to do this, and managed to find the game at the bottom of my closet. My search was aided by the baleful green glow escaping from the cracks in the box.

Plugging the cartridge in and turning on the power didn't cause it to whip out barbed chains and flay the flesh from my skeleton, but as time goes by I find myself wishing that it had. At least it wouldn't have involved a dozen hours of fetch quests. Aragorn, despite being sent by Gandalf to protect us idiot hobbits, stubbornly refused to come along until I gave him a flower. Legolas wouldn't join up until we found his bow, which he had "dropped somewhere." Not even Samwise would tag along until I managed to find Gaffer Gamgee's glasses, which he had somehow managed to lose at the end of several miles of bat infested tunnels. I don't know why I bothered with all this. After coaxing them to come along I discovered that they were all afflicted with artificial intelligence a couple steps below the average Pac-Man ghost, and were unable to travel more than a few steps before getting hung up on a bit of scenery or charging headlong at a ring wraith. They seemed pretty enthusiastic about nobly sacrificing themselves for my protection, so I didn't try to stop them. It is some consolation that once killed, these characters remained permanently, irrecoverably dead.

Near the end I was barred from entering Moria because I had failed to collect a previously unmentioned item in the miles of identical caverns behind the shire. I thought for a moment about backtracking halfway across Middle Earth to find it, but shortly after turning back I ran into a friendly Nazgul who offered to take the One Ring off my hands and save me the trouble. I decided to trust him with it. He had an honest face.

Anyway, I thought I'd write and let you know that despite your best efforts I have not yet actually killed myself-- if only because eating an entire bottle of Flintstones vitamins just isn't enough to do the trick (even if you eat all the little cars.) I'm eagerly awaiting my next assignment. Here's hoping it'll be something a little bit more fun than Lord of the Rings: Volume 1. Maybe I'll get to cut open my belly and play with my guts. That would be swell.

Sincerely,
Scott Sharkey II

[DesR85]

Originally Posted by TheAmazingOopah

That's okay, thanks for the reply anyway. Have you played any other games for the Super Nintendo?

It's been a very long time since I've played any games on that console. I can still remember Donkey Kong, Super Mario Brothers and Contra but as for the others, it's all a blur (not to mention that I can't remember their names ).