Great Journey Preview – Welcome to Just Adventure +

Anyone who enjoyed – and misses – the lively inventiveness of the classic Humongous characters Putt Putt, Spy Fox & Freddie Fish need look no further than developer Rebelmind’s Great Journey for what may be the next big thing in children’s adventure games.

Granted there are no talking cars, fish or foxes anywhere in sight and the main characters are a young boy (or girl, depending on your choice at the beginning of the game) and a boat captain but the same spirit of childlike wonder and adventure permeates Great Journey as does any good adventure worth its salt.

Great Journey is an ecological themed game (I hear you out there saying ‘yuck, education’, but it’s not that bad, really) about a 10-year old boy who receives a post-card from his friend in Antarctica with a plea for help. Apparently, something bad is going on in his land – an unknown individual is secretly throwing out garbage onto the clean, white snow and the friend asks Tony for his help in uncovering the identity of this mysterious character before the snow melts. Before long, Tony and the captain set sail around the world (okay, I gotta ask – where are this kid’s parents?) and, of course, solve numerous problems and overcome many obstacles along the way.

Just Adventure was invited to play an exclusive 3-level demo and was impressed by the easy intertwining of inventory based puzzles and arcade sequences. The puzzles require some thought but are easily solved and if the player is hopelessly stuck there is a built-in hint system that, rather than providing the solution, prods them in the right direction. The arcade sequences are not your typical reflex-based situations but instead involve ecological based themes such as photographing whales or collecting garbage from an ocean port. The graphics are colorful and vibrant and add immensely to the overall feeling of pure fun.

While the subject matter may not initially seem to lend itself to a ‘fun’ atmosphere, Great Journey does a commendable job of immersing the player into believable children’s game world and if you manage to pick up a little ecological education along the way, well, as Martha Stewart would say, “That’s a good thing.”