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Movies based on video games have sucked since the beginning of time, there have been very few exceptions, and now that Uwe Boll is directing more and more video game movies a year, it will become less of an exception. The same can be said for games based on TV shows or pop bands. But there are a few exceptions; Lord of the Rings was a wonderful movie, as were the game counterparts. The new Star Wars movies sucked, but Knights of the Old Republic is a fantastic role-playing game. But can this exception be given to a game from the early days of gaming, you totally better believe dudes!

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure was a great movie that is praised by critics alike. It is something you can show you kids and actually feel like they are learning something; it is a movie that was totally made for Keanu Reeves. This Lynx title of the same name is no exception to the praise received by the movie.

Most of these games that I deal with on the Atari Lynx are pretty cut and dry, just shoot and kill to get to the end of the game. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure allows you to actually create time a paradox and makes you think strategically on what you will leave in the past for you to use in the future, or vice versa. The game starts you off in ancient Egypt where the normal comments from passerbies are "be triumphant, dude". It seems that just your presence is the past affects everything the common folk do or say.

You can play as either Bill or Ted, or both with ComLynx. On your travels you will encounter tons of enemies, which you have to subdue with a song from your guitar. There really is no need to worry though as you never actually die, you just start at the last checkpoint. One very unique thing about this game is that the password system actually saves how what you had and everything by offering a unique encrypted password to use at the start screen.

Your main goal is travel through different eras of history in order to locate the musical notes and instruments and phone book pages that will help you find your bodacious babes. Just like the movie, this game offers a ton of fun and surprises. It is a great break from most the other bland shooter games I have reviewed thus far. The character models on screen look a little funky, but over all it is a very detailed game. The extreme strategy involved in this game along with the time travel makes this one of the better games I have played in a long time. You should totally pick this game up and party on, dudes!

You know it, and I know it. Most movie or TV-licensed videogames blow. It the disastrous trend of slapping on an established name to a crappy game started with E.T. for the Atari 2600, and there's been a mountain of atrocious attempts ever since. When will companies learn that licensing tie-ins with mediocre gameplay do nothing but insult our intelligence and ruin our faith in the offending company?

Well, you might be shocked to learn that those most excellent dudes from San Dimas, California have descended upon the Lynx in far out fashion! It's a unique game that's heavy on strategy. That's right; for perhaps the first time in their lives, Bill S. Preson, Esq. and Ted Theodore Logan will be forced to use their minds if they're to prevail in this one.

You control either Bill or Ted in a quest to rescue their bodacious babes from the most heinous Grim Reaper. Fortunately, he's left a trail of musical notes - but it extends through time itself. You must journey through the various eras of human history in search of the notes, various musical instruments and phone book pages that will help them find their chicks.

The thinking aspects comes into play when you find special objects in one time period that are essential to solving a problem in the past or the future. Often, you'll find hints that you've left yourself in a previous time period, which you have yet to place at the present time, but you must place now. It's confusing alright, but then again, this IS time travel we're talking about here. You really need to search through thoroughly in each era you enter, but the vast repetoire of hideous creatures don't make things easy. Humongous beetles, lions and vampire bats are just some of the enemies that you'll run into along the way. You'll also run across some off-the-wall non-playing characters, some of whome will share vital hints and information.

Just like in the movie, this Lynx game offers tons of surprises and it's an excellent deviation from the ordinary shooter/adventure games of its genre. The graphics more than hold its own, especially during the time-travel sequences, and the basic rock & roll music you'd expect from Bill & Ted's is appropriate, although it's standard fare. The puzzle-solving elements coupled with the intrigue of time travel really puts this one over the top. Highly recommended.


Title Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Publisher Atari
System Atari Lynx
Graphics 8
Sound 7
Gameplay 9
Overall 8
Reviewer Keita Iida