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"First Released: 1995 (PC) Now Available On: N/A Terry Pratchett&amp;#039;s Discworld novels whisk readers away to a magical world of trolls, wizards and dragons that rests upon the backs of four great elephants, which are in turn set atop of a great turtle slowly swimming through space. These comic fantasy novels have always been a goldmine of inspiration, and in mid-1995 British developer Perfect Entertainment dipped into that well to create what might have been one of the greatest point-and-click adventures of its generation.  Discworld was loosely based on the 1989 novel Guards! Guards! with protagonist Sam Vimes replaced by bumbling wizard Rincewind, and there were elements of other books, such as Moving Pictures, in there too. The game took its cues from other PC adventures like The Secret of Monkey Island and Simon the Sorcerer, but used a more streamlined control system than the verb table-based fodder that preceded it.  With a stellar voice cast spearheaded by Eric Idle, Rob Brydon, Tony Robinson and Jon Pertwee in place, unrestricted access to the source material and adventuring gaming in the midst of a golden age, what could possibly go wrong? Well for starters, a fire-breathing dragon wasn&amp;#039;t the only thing plaguing Ankh-Morpork in Discworld. The game was riddled with bugs, and its sloppy production values detracted from the experience.  Throw in some of the most illogical and frustratingly-difficult puzzles ever conceived and you have what might sound like a recipe for disaster. But there was magic in there too, which is why so many fans were able to see beyond its imperfections. The game&amp;#039;s story, humour and voice acting were first rate and did justice to the source material. To this day, we can&amp;#039;t help but recall Idle&amp;#039;s distinct tones whenever we read Rincewind dialogue in a Discworld novel. The Python did a bang-up job voicing the protagonist, but the contributions of Brydon, Robinson, Pertwee and the multi-talented Kate Robbins were equally important.  Discworld was an effective parody of both the fantasy genre and the point-and-click adventure, as well as an inspired adaptation of Pratchett&amp;#039;s much-loved novels. Storytelling was its greatest strength, and the tale it spun of inept wizards, insidious cults and dragons that only exist if you believe in them was backed up by some gorgeous visuals. Unfortunately, Discworld committed every cardinal sin in the adventure gaming bible with puzzles that defied logic and offered little in the way of appropriate clues.  We still haven&amp;#039;t quite figured out how we were supposed to know Rincewind had to use the butterfly with the lamppost to cause a miniature thunderstorm in the future (and for those unfamiliar with the game, this statement doesn&amp;#039;t make any more sense in context).  Making a game challenging is one thing, but expecting players to figure out that the best way to steal a fishmonger&amp;#039;s belt is to place a love-struck octopus down a nearby toilet and spike his caviar with prunes is another matter entirely. Discworld&amp;#039;s developers clearly operated on a different plane of existence to us mere mortals, but to give us such a rough ride in an age before internet walkthroughs were readily available was downright unfair. Yet, the desire to see which direction the story took next and spend more time with some of our favourite fictional characters helped us overlook the game&amp;#039;s bonkers design choices and persevere (and by persevere we mean pick up the phone and dial the Psygnosis hint line). Arriving at a time when there was still a sizeable market for PC adventure games, Discworld was reasonably successful upon release, but it went on to become more of a cult hit.  The CD-ROM title was subsequently ported to PlayStation and Sega Saturn, where it continued to divide critics, and it spawned a direct sequel the following year in the form of Discworld 2: Missing Presumed\u2026!? Discworld 2 was an improvement on its predecessor in virtually every respect, with spruced-up graphics and sound, more logical puzzles (thank the gods) and a catchy original song composition written and performed by Idle. Perfect Entertainment got it right the second time of asking, but we still hold fond memories of the original Discworld despite its obvious flaws, and have it to thank for piquing our interest in the world that Pratchett created. Do you have any fond memories of Discworld? Post a comment below!      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/retro-corner/feature/a588016/discworld-retrospective-interesting-times-for-pc-gaming/>