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Pajama Sam in "No need to hide when it's dark outside"
 Well, I tossed up whether or not to describe this game as a possible bedtime story. It is about bedtime, and about night journeys, and Darkness personified as the young superhero, Pajama Sam, goes about confronting his fear. So, too scary for a night-time read? Not in the least. Its humour is more likely to put vivid young imaginations at ease.
This title introduced Pajama Sam to the circle of Humongous friends a year or so ago and I'm certain that children will appreciate the opportunity to get to know him. He's a darling, and his first adventure is a delicious story, perfect for telling any time of day. Sam's search for his nemesis is wonderfully presented with the added bonus that kids are right 'in there' living and creating the story themselves. Darkness, of course, isn't quite as expected when Sam does finally meet up with him.
The game begins at Sam's bedtime and tonight's the night that the light gets switched off. He sits there, trembling, peering at his closet where Darkness has made his home. No good just sitting there, so he resolves to catch his tormentor in his special all-metal Pajama Man Lunch Box. But before setting off he'll also need his flashlight and mask.
After searching the room to find the necessary goodies the young adventurer is ready to set out on this magical journey. As it turns out the closet has Tardis-like qualities and waiting beyond is a marvellous world populated by all sorts of endearing characters including potential friends and helpers if Sam can solve a little problem for them. There's Otto, the nervous boat who is afraid of water, and King, the mine cart, whose wheels are rusted solid. And there's also the room of dancing furniture, the door without a knob, the wishing well that makes its own wishes and the laboratory for mixing coloured potions to see what magic Sam can conjure up.
Young adventurers might not see everything the first time around because, as with other Humongous games, there are different paths through this one. Things begin to go wrong almost as soon as Sam sets out, he meets the Customs Inspectors who confiscate his precious tools, and with each new game they are randomly hidden in the game world thus changing the story and presenting different problems to overcome. Even if players encounter the same problem it might be a variation on the last time around. For instance, the join the dots puzzle might require counting in single units or maybe in twos or tens, and the Doors of Knowledge will certainly have different questions to ask.
There's also some great fun to be had finding all the hidden animations and zooming around the mines once King is mobile. Hidden somewhere inside the tunnels is a surprise in the form of an arcade/strategy type game. Other extras include the 'Cheese and Crackers' challenge (Tic-Tac-Toe) and a hunt for twelve lost socks, which are once again randomly located to vary gameplay.
With this Pajama Sam title Humongous have produced a wonderfully entertaining game with an equally entertaining story. It belongs to the Junior Adventure series and is aimed at children 3-8. Maybe the younger end of this age group will need some help, but they won't need any encouragement to keep on playing. It wraps up loads of fun in a story that kids can join in and decide what do next. As with all titles in this series it runs straight from the CD, and there's a good hint file included as well as some in-game hints from a friendly tree.
Although it has no text option for hearing-impaired children, it excels in every other area ... graphics, sound, gameplay, story and user-friendliness. In this last respect it's all mouse driven with keyboard access for game controls and saving and restoring. Even if it were only half as much fun, it would still be a heart winner.
Copyright © Rosemary Young 1998.
All rights reserved.
System requirements:
Windows: Win 3.1, Win 95 or higher, 486/33 MHz, 8 MB RAM, SVGA (640x480) 256 colors, Sound Card, 2x CD ROM.
Macintosh: System 7.0 or higher, 25 MHz 68040 or Power PC, 8 MB RAM, 640x480, 256 colors, 2x CD ROM.
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