#26: Rick Dangerous (Core Design, C64, 1989)

It’s a depressing trend among this kind of pulp adventure fiction to totally uncritically emulate all aspects of old stories in the genre out of a nostalgic longing for a bygone era that never really existed. It leads to things like the infamous ‘monkey brains’ scene in Temple of Doom, or Ricky Lethal’s ‘lost Goolu tribe’ here, or, to use a somewhat more recent example, the cannibals who worship Jack Sparrow in the opening of the second Pirates of the Caribbean film. And there’s just no need for it. Racist caricatures as antagonists are not actually an integral part of the genre. You can capture the giddy action thrills and the wonder of exploration without them.

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And look, doing Indiana Jones as a video game is a pretty solid idea. ‘Ass-kicking archaeologist searches for lost relics in ancient monuments’ is certainly a plot that lends itself well to the medium. With just a little bit of tweaking, it could probably stand out from the shadows of its obvious inspiration, while simultaneously smoothing out some of its more troubling imperialist aspects. Rick Dangerous is not a great game, but still, there’s a flicker of something important buried, deep in its core.