Note: This review is based on the 256-color version.

Being somewhat new to adventure games (I've only been playing for two years), I figured the old grognards on the newsgroups knew what they were talking about when they claimed that the Indiana Jones games were some of best that LucasArts offered. So, I ordered my copy of LucasArts Classic Games Pack and breathlessly loaded Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade, patiently waiting for adventure gaming bliss to wash over me. Instead, I found myself stuck in arcade sequence hell, nearly busting my keyboard while attempting to fight off Nazis with inept arcade controls.

At least the game looks good while you are pounding your keyboard into submission. The graphics are of a higher quality than those of later LucasArts titles such as the Monkey Island series. The animation is also on par with, and often exceeding, the usual LucasArts quality. Backgrounds as well are of high caliber, some being rather nicely detailed (especially the airport and caverns).

One would reasonably believe that LucasArts would have, at the very least, made the arcade sequences attractive considering the unreasonable amount of times they are seen. Actually, they are downright laughable, with about one frame of animation for every type of punch and block. I would have given the graphics a higher score, but because I kept seeing the same hokey action sequences over and over again, I give the graphics a C+.

Unfortunately (like most games that use the internal speaker), music is incredibly sparse, save for important parts or plot junctures. You would assume that, since this is an Indiana Jones game, the classic Raiders of the Lost Ark theme music would be used full force in those few parts where they do use musical accompaniment. It is, however, conspicuously absent. In place of the film's music is some horrible "cultural" music (it's supposed to sound like music native to the particular region but sounds like it was made by someone who has not even been within a 1,000 miles of the specific area). It's unfortunate that the classic Indy themes aren't utilized, and because of this, I give the music a D.

The sound effects, however, are a godsend. Every sound effect sounds like it should (unlike later LucasArts games such as Monkey Island 2). Not only that, but there are dozens of them, and they are all unique. Add to the fact that you never have to hear the same annoying sound being played ad nauseam in an area and you've got some sounds worthy of an A+.

Though the plot is directly from the movie, it is still pretty interesting, as the game takes a much more humorous stab at the Indiana Jones formula. A whole laundry list of in-jokes have been added to scenes that were cut from the movie, as well as Indiana Jones's personality changing to that of a chipper Englishman (one sees this in such lines as "I'll be back in a jiffy" and "Don't be a twit"). On top of that, this is the first LucasArts game to feature the infamous "I'm selling these fine leather jackets" line. The plot deserves an A for adding the above onto a already damned cool movie plot.

It is with a glum face I come to the actual gameplay. You would think no one, let alone LucasArts, could do wrong with all these fabulous ingredients. But alas, it is so! What were they thinking when they intermingled combat and mazes? Mazes are annoying as it is without having to settle a fight every single turn and they are, hard as this is to believe, even more annoying than usual in this game.

Mind you, there are ways to get around these fights, though with exploration for clues leading to fights, whatever enjoyment solving the puzzle lends is eliminated by the time you figure it out. The sad part is that those puzzles are the only really decent ones in the game. The others have solutions that are so blatantly obvious you'll spend little, if any, time solving them. All is not lost, however, with the addition of the biplane flying scenario, which delivers the goods in the arcade sequences but is too brief to leave any lasting impression. The gameplay deserves the D I give, for incorporating every adventure game bane under the sun.

If I could discard the horrible gameplay and music, this game would deserve an A. But since gameplay is what makes a game, I'm going to have to knock it back a few to that of a D. I normally would tell you to stay away from this game as much as possible, but since it comes with many other (and much better) games, I wholeheartedly recommend buying the Classic Adventure Games Pack, though certainly not for this.