Wish you could explore those old mansions in your town to see what treasures are hidden within? Midnight Mansion HD Episodes 1 & 2 by Actionsoft ($14.99) is your answer. Midnight Mansion HD follows the same formula that fans have come to expect.
The game is improved by allowing the fans to take advantage of their computer’s powerful graphics, enhancing their gaming experience and adding levels. Unlike the original Midnight Mansion, Midnight Mansion HD will run on OS X Lion. This version has also been split into two episodes, which can be purchased individually. Episode 1 is $6.99 and Episode 2 is $8.99.
You play Jack Malone, who starts out by exploring Hint House where you are taught how to use the controls. You must navigate your way through obstacles that include skittering spider skulls, spiders dropping from the ceiling, boiling lava, moving platforms, among many others. The animations when you get caught by a spider or other monsters are funny. Here you will also learn valuable hints at each ? that you encounter.
You can choose 3 levels of difficulty; Easy, Normal, and Hard. The ability to choose your difficulty level allows for plenty of replay value as you can replay each level on a different difficulty. You start in the Hint House and move on from there. The Hint House allows you to practice playing the game by showing you how to avoid the obstacles, move around, save, as well as showing you how to use your map and find objects.
There are numerous save spots if you need to stop for any reason. You have 6 lives in all the mansions except for the Hint House where you have 90. When you save in the other mansions, if you have less than 6 lives left, you will have 6 lives after your save. You can also earn extra lives by collecting coins.
As you explore the various mansions, you will need to flip switches to open grey doors, turn off electrical shockwaves, flip platforms, avoid being electrocuted, and surviving your encounters with the various monsters that are looking for their next victim. You must also find color coded keys to unlock their matching doors, as well as searching for objects that will aid you on your explorations.
These objects include shields to protect you when you run into monsters, a lantern so you can see in dark rooms, among other items.
While I found some challenges very frustrated, either because I kept dying or failing to move fast enough, it was very satisfying to complete the challenge and finish a mansion.
Midnight Mansion HD has 11 mansions to explore once you have completed the Hint House. Some of these mansions will need to be unlocked before you can explore them. If you wait too long to make a move, Jack will either tap his foot or play with his yo-yo.
The more you explore the mansion, the more that will show up on your map. The map will also show you where the doors, keys, obstacles, ladders, slide poles and coins are located. You can use the map to figure out where you need to go and how to get there.
The game is very intuitive to play with controls that are easy to use and can be figured out very easily. I found myself getting wrapped up in my Midnight Mansion adventure.
Danip
Platform: Mac
Specifications:
Any PPC or Intel Macintosh 1.4 GHz or faster processor recommended
Mac OS X 10.4 or higher Runs great on Mac OS X Lion!
Developer: Actionsoft
Publisher: Actionsoft
ESRB: N/A
Price: $14.99 (Or $6.99 for Episode 1 and $8.99 for Episode 2)
A playable demo is also available.
Official Midnight Mansion HD’s Website
| Review Score | |
|---|---|
| Graphics |  |
| Beautiful graphics that will take full advantage of your computer's video card yet stays true to the original game. | |
| Sound | |
| The background music fits the game and added to the atmosphere. | |
| Gameplay | |
| Very intuitive and fun to play. | |
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Improves on the original game while staying true to the original. | |
