Space Quest 2

The second part of the adventures of the hapless cleaner and the charming bummer Roger Wilco. After the victory over the Sariens, won in the last game, our hero did not rest on his laurels for long - obviously, saving his home planet is not enough to provide himself with means of livelihood for the rest of his life. Without thinking twice, Roger returns to the lesson he does best - cleaning the spacecraft. On the deck of one of them, we find him, who does not change his main principles - to work less and sleep more. But events take a sharp turn when Roger suddenly finds himself in the clutches of the minions of Sludge Vohaul, the mysterious and all-powerful villain who, as it turned out, was behind Sarienov’s army in Space Quest I. alive and again save humanity from enslavement. And we help him in this.

Both externally and through gameplay, the game is a direct successor to the first part, and one should not expect any radical changes from it. The main emphasis still falls not on manipulations with objects, but on performing the necessary actions at the right time. In the course of his misadventures, Roger will have to visit the planet Labion overgrown with jungle and face many deadly dangers prepared for him. And the word “mortal” here is not just a speech turn, but a hard fact. During the passage you do not have a dozen times have to see a small window, ironically telling about another untimely death of the hero. But do not be discouraged - because, like the previous part of the series, Space Quest II is filled to the top with wonderful humor (albeit rather black) and jokes that make you laugh out loud. Thanks to this, the study of the forests, caves and underground catacombs of Labion is not boring for a second. As in the first part, many traps set by caring developers seem a little dishonest - well, it’s impossible to see this damned hole with stakes in the grass with the naked eye, it’s just impossible! But this is one of the main features of Space Quest - you never know where death awaits you this time. So get ready to persist more often. In general, the complexity of the tasks offered to us is not too high, most of the necessary actions are quite logical, but the game itself seemed easier for me than the previous one. But I can not fail to mention that in at least one place you are guaranteed to get stuck, if you have not taken a vital object a couple of steps before, and no one will let you go back to it on the previous screen. Therefore, it makes sense to keep at least two or three slots for saving.

The duration of the game, perhaps, slightly exceeds the first part, but just that a little. The number of locations and actions required for victory is small, but there is already a familiar counter of points, recruited for a variety of events. Moreover, in order to complete the game, it is not necessary to gain maximum, so the most inquisitive and attentive players will deserve an additional reward in the form of a higher final result.
As for the graphics, then, despite all its limitations, the EGA-palette not only does not cause rejection, but also looks surprisingly nice and cute. All important objects are drawn in sufficient detail to avoid provoking excessive pixel-hunting, and the landscapes of the space base and underwater waterfalls are worthy of all sorts of admiration.

In general, Space Quest 2 is a worthy successor of the series, in the company with which you can spend a lot of pleasant minutes. If you urgently need to brighten up a failed evening, then the best candidate is not to be found.