SPACE QUEST VI: THE SPINAL FRONTIER
REVIEW (FULL GAME)
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YEAR: 1995
SIZE: 513 MB
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PLATFORMS: SCUMM
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+ Lovely SVGA Graphics
+ Wacky humour
+ Hilarious narration and dialect
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- Horrible Data order \ Homing Beacon puzzle
- History with Beatrice seems to have been forgotten
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STORY
After having realised his dream of becoming a ship’s Captain in the
previous game, Roger Wilco once again finds himself demoted to the
lowly rank of Janitor. Poor Roger.
All his heroic deeds from SQ V - saving the universe (again!) from the
Pukoid mutants, saving StarCon’s flagship SCS Goliath, rescuing
Ambassador Beatrice Wankmeister, and putting a stop to the
corrupted Captain Quirk - are thrown out the window. Instead, StarCon
now haul our hapless hero up on a long (and bizarre) list of violations
against rules and regulations. Hence, they strip him (literally) of his
Captain’s rank, and he must once again sweep floors and clean
windows. Poor, poor Roger.
We join Roger in his new post, aboard the SCS Deep Ship 86. When the
entire ship’s crew is granted shore leave on the planet Polysorbate LX,
Roger’s bad luck pops up again, when the transporter malfunctions,
and Roger ends up waist-deep in the pavement! Things only get worse
from here. It seems, someone has been watching Roger from afar.
And when that someone arranges for Roger to be kidnapped, he’s
determined to find out just WHO is after him, and WHY.
But when tragedy strikes, Roger finds himself in a race against time, to
save a dear friend, and put a stop to a diabolical master plan.
　
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GAMEPLAY
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Space Quest VI: A Spinal Frontier is quite a mixed bag. There is
definitely a lot to love about the game. But a move from Sierra
Headquarters to Dynamix Headquarters, as well as a change in the
production and development team part-way through the game’s
completion, resulted in a major shift in the way the game looks and
plays.
The drop-down menu featured in the last 2 games has gone. Instead,
you control Roger using a ’verb bar’ at bottom of the screen. The verbs
are: FEET (Walk), EYES (Look), HANDS (Pick Up), MOUTH (Talk),
POCKETS (Inventory), HELP (Self explanatory), CONTROL (Game Menu).
Your Score is displayed to the right of the Verb Bar, so you can see how
well you are doing.
When your POCKETS \ Inventory window is open, you can look at an
item using the ‘EYES’ verb to get more information, or manipulate that
item (open, close, combine with another item etc) using the ‘HANDS’
verb. You can also ‘CHOOSE’ any item to use it in the game. The
‘CONTROL’ verb takes you to the Game Menu, and from here, you are
able to Save, Load, or Quit your game. You can also adjust various
settings to your own preference. You can choose to have Speech or
Text in the game, or both. You can also adjust Speed, level of Detail,
Sound volume, and Music volume.
Space Quest VI has a new ‘Try Again’ feature, which is a handy addition. None of the previous games had this. The Space Quest games are
known for their hilarious Death Scenes. So now, when Roger dies (and
he can die a lot, hehe), the ‘Try Again’ feature takes you back to just
before he dies, and let‘s you… try again.
The humour in this game is just wonderful., and I love the banter
between Roger and the narrator. One of my favourite parts, is the
whole Information Super Highway concept, and having the Main Office
look like Windows 3.1 - that really made me chuckle. I really
recommend looking at, and talking to everything possible. Gary Owens
(the narrator) just nails it! However, there is a running gag about Roger
not losing his fish, which I don’t really understand.
Space Quest VI has one of the toughest puzzles from the entire SQ
series - the Datacorder \ Homing Beacon puzzle. The puzzle wasn’t
originally intended to be so hard. But some mis-communication when
the development team changed, resulted in a comic book, which gave
vital clues to the puzzle, not being included. Some hints were hurriedly
added to the game manual, but the confusion led to the tough puzzle
you see today.
The game ends on a slight cliff-hanger, with Stellar teasing Roger
about having to wait for his next assignment. Unfortunately, Space
Quest VII was never made, so we’ll never know what could have
happened between Roger and Stellar.
Personally, I’m quite disappointed that Beatrice seems to have been
abandoned. Sierra spent time building her up in Space Quest 4,
revealing that she is the future mother of Roger’s son… then
developing the budding relationship with Roger and Beatrice in Space
Quest 5. So I don’t really understand why they scrapped it here.
　
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GRAPHICS
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While the SVGA graphics in Space Quest VI are lovely to look at, the
move to Dynamix Headquarters gave the game an entirely different feel
from the previous SQ games. It’s a strange mix of cartoony graphics
and 3D graphics. The characters tend to look quite cartoony, and Roger
has developed a somewhat goofy walk-style. But some of the
backgrounds are 3D, and they look stunning. It’s a strange mixture, but
it works.
The game begins with a hilarious intro (skippable), showing Roger in
the spotlight, getting stripped (literally) of his Captain’s rank, as
StarCon gives him a thorough telling-off for violating rules and
regulations. But instead of firing him, they make him a janitor again,
because he is the best janitor around.
Conversations and narration is shown in a box at bottom of the screen.
Inventory items are shown as pictures, so you can easily see what
you’re carrying. The ‘EYES’ verb gives you more details about an
Inventory item, while the ’HANDS’ very allows you manipulate it. When
the Inventory window is full, simply scroll up & down to see more of
your items.
NPCs are beautifully animated, and get on with their own lives
regardless of whether Roger is there or not. For example, Commander
Keilbasa and the Bridge crew will carry out their duties quite happily,
without Roger watching over them. And who could fail to love the
Endodroid Hunter, with his endless search for the Endodroid? The
whole game is lip-synced, so character’s mouth’s move as they talk -
this was a fantastic achievement back in 1995! Roger’s ship - the SCS
Deep Ship 86, is in the shape of underpants! I love the mobile photo
booth, and the way it eats people, licks it’s lips, then gets up on it’s
spider-legs and moves on to lure it’s next victim (heehee). And if you’re
observant, you’ll notice that the film titles for the cinema in Polysorbate
LX keep changing. I love the view of the cockpit when Roger sits down
in the shuttle, and we see all the different buttons to play with. But my
favourite has to be when Roger dances on the rug! Simply hilarious!
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There is so much to explore and love about Space Quest VI!
　
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SOUND AND MUSIC
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Space Quest VI: The Spinal Frontier is fully voiced, and it’s fantastic to
hear everyone’s voices. Roger, the Narrator, and the Endodroid Hunter
are my favourites, but Commander Keilbasa and Sis Inny are fantastic
as well.
The soundtrack is pleasant enough, but not very memorable. Having
said that, if you leave Roger standing for a while and don’t interact with
him, he’ll start whistling the theme tune, which is a lovely touch.
The game has some lovely sound effects. Roger being pulled free from
the pavement at start of the game sounded like a rubber cork being
pulled out of a bottle, while the metal robot that freed him landed with
a loud clang. When you touch ET’s finger, you hear a lovely tinkle.
Street cameras in Polysorbate LX whirr busily, and the arcade dings
with the sound of arcade games. Medical equipment in the Sick Bay
beep & boop continuously. Panels in the shuttle open with a nice
‘clang’. Lights cackling on and off in the File Manager room was really
effective. And when Roger is miniaturised and injected into Stellar’s
body, you can hear him squelching around.
Give the game a try. It’s different from the previous Space Quest
games, but it’s still very enjoyable.
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