Tass Times in Tonetown (1986)

Brainwave Creations

Amiga · Apple II · Apple IIGS · Atari ST/STE · Commodore C64/128/MAX · DOS · Mac

2.25 from 4 ratings

13 members have it in their collection · 7 backlogged · 2 wish listed

Your grandfather has invented a device which makes real everything he can see in his dream. All the strange places and creatures he can dream about really exist in an alternate reality. One of those creatures, named Franklin Snarl, traveled through the device to our reality and kidnapped Gramps, teleporting him into the crazy world of Tonetown. He hopes that … Read more
Your grandfather has invented a device which makes real everything he can see in his dream. All the strange places and creatures he can dream about really exist in an alternate reality. One of those creatures, named Franklin Snarl, traveled through the device to our reality and kidnapped Gramps, teleporting him into the crazy world of Tonetown. He hopes that Gramps will always remain asleep, which assures Snarl's own existence! Now it's up to you, the hero of the game to travel to the alternate dimension of Tonetown and to rescue your grandfather. You interact with the environment by either typing in commands, or choosing one of the action icons available as interface. The game, therefore, combines text-based interaction with the more modern "point and click" approach. Read less
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Details

Developers
Brainwave Creations
Publishers
Activision
Genres
Adventure, Point-and-click
Themes
Comedy, Fantasy

Release dates

  • 1986 (North_America) Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Atari ST/STE, DOS, Mac
  • 1986 (Europe) Commodore C64/128/MAX

Related

Bundled in

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Rating distribution

5 stars
0
4 stars
0
3 stars
2
2 stars
1
1 star
1
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Community All Reviews Statuses

scoopings

Review scoopings 3/5 · Aug 22, 2023

Peculiar, Interesting, Truly Blended Apple II-Style And Mac-Style Adventure Game

Preliminary: At first I was like "lots of games had GUIs" , and that's true, but this one is definitely unique where you literally press the Look/eye symbol then on the Jar. Interesting. It's like you're actually interacting with the screen you're given

Look: 8/10 I dunno how to explain it, but I got some Fifth Element vibes from certain …

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Preliminary: At first I was like "lots of games had GUIs" , and that's true, but this one is definitely unique where you literally press the Look/eye symbol then on the Jar. Interesting. It's like you're actually interacting with the screen you're given

Look: 8/10 I dunno how to explain it, but I got some Fifth Element vibes from certain screens (also peek the GUI element, tho as with the variety of verbs needed for a text adventure parser, I eventually began mostly using the text inputs anyway) enter image description here

Also, I can't capture it, but the screens had movement. Like the Alligator thing (Franklin Snarl) had some slobber dripping from his mouth and it kept reminding me of the Humongous Entertainment point and click adventures I am so excited to get to soon!!! Pajama Sam and Putt Putt and Freddi Fish were critical to my childhood. Anyway, none of the screens were particualrly striking, and there was no real exigency/urgency to the Look or Play, but it had this undeniable appeal and quirkiness and, well, cuteness. I mean cmon, this humpty dumpty guy lol enter image description here

Plus, it had this nostalgic feel, where I already felt nostalgia for it--largely thanks to the Look, even tho many screens were mediocre or just your usual Apple II graphic text adventure affair--despite never having played it before. I feel like this could have had that Humongous Entertainment feel/nostalgia for people who owned this.

Play: 7/10 Fun quirky adventure, I do wish the text was a bit more terse, tho it wasn't bad about that. Also, never a fan of having to "Get" an item after I already "Buy" an item. (yet I don't have to "Wear" an item like the Mask lol... ok). Parsers are always a bit silly.

Feel: 8/10 Really cool Feel to this. The Look, the setting, the "parallel world" that isn't toooo obnoxiously "haha we're clever and hip", the unique GUI (tho it really wasn't used enough imo). This is one of those games you want to like more than you may like :-p

Attachment: 7/10 Welp, I wound up dying by the Crocogator lol. Part of me wants to try again (I didn't save because I wasn't sure if I could with how I was playing it), but part of me is content. This would've been a game I could have built nostalgia for, if I played it back in the day and worked it out myself over time with lots of patience and savescumming haha. But as it is, cute, interesting, worth a try--but moving on. As I often say, if I return to text adventures, this likely should be on my list for mid-80s ones. Not that it was a favorite in actual gameplay, but its setting and Feel and Look make it worth revisiting some time.

Completion: I had the Mitts and was heading to get the Devil Playtime: ~30 mins

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