Sherlock Holmes, undoubtedly one of fiction’s greatest master detectives, is also one of the world’s most widely used licenses. He has been portrayed in countless films, televisions series, radio shows, and many books and short stories other than what his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, originally wrote. The Guinness Book of Records lists him as the “most portrayed movie character.” I even have several mystery jigsaw puzzles featuring the intrepid sleuth, and I once visited the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London at – you guessed it – 221B Baker Street. One has to wonder whether Doyle, who at one point killed off his beloved protagonist (only to resurrect him due to public outcry), is pleased at the immense popularity of his creation, or whether he is rolling over in his grave.

With the recent success of the Sherlock Holmes PC games, Legacy Interactive jumped on the bandwagon and created a pleasant casual game, The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes, the first game to be licensed by Doyle’s estate. It is much like the Agatha Christie casual games from Oberon, but there’s more involved and the game doesn’t get tiresome after awhile.

There are sixteen cases to solve, each of which can replayed so that you can best your previous time(s) and score(s), as there is a time limit, and bonus points are given for working quickly. Each case opens with a short animation (with voiceovers!) of Holmes and Watson discussing the case with their new client. No, neither the animations nor the voices are anything to write home about, but they’re very nicely done for a casual game. From a detailed map of London, you must select a location to investigate. At the first scene, you must spot the differences between two pictures. Some of these differences lead into mini-games to help gather additional clues or suspect information. More clues can be found at the next scene, which is the typical hidden picture puzzle. You can collect hints along the way to aid you, and I admit I found myself using at least one per case, because some of the items are very hard to find!

When you’ve rounded up all of your suspects and their motives, you return to 221B Baker Street, where Holmes makes his final deductions. You must play a logic game and then a memory game to identify the culprit, and (in another animation) Holmes sums up the case. Many of the mysteries are, I must say, extremely well-crafted and worthy of Doyle himself. Overall, it is a fun experience. Some parts are easy and some are challenging, so the result is a balance in difficulty that provides for several hours of mystery-solving delight. Hurry up and buy your copy now – the game’s afoot!