Released in 1989, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was the third film in the Indiana Jones franchise. It featured everyone’s favorite archaeologist doing what he did best: punching Nazis and searching for ancient relics. In this case, Indiana was searching for the ultimate treasure: The Holy Grail. The same grail for which King Arthur risked life and limb, facing down foes like the Knights of Ni and the Rabbit of Caerbannog (though that’s another story for another time).
That same year, Lucasfilm Games released Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure. Developed using the SCUMM engine (which was used to create games like The Secret of Monkey Island, and Maniac Mansion). Noah Falstein, David Fox, and Ron Gilbert developed the game, expanding on the classic adventure game format.
The story in the video game was very similar to the film, featuring Dr. Jones travelling with archaeologist Elsa Schneider, finding his father, Henry Jones, held captive by Nazis in Brunwald Castle, and seeking the Valley of the Crescent Moon. Players directed Indiana’s actions by clicking on various directions at the bottom of the screen, using commands like push, open, or pick up. The game also allowed options like “throw a punch” for action sequences. Another action sequence in the game took place over the skies of Europe, with Jones piloting a biplane and shooting at Nazi planes.
Unlike many adventure games, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, allowed multiple solutions to problems and presented multiple ways to complete the game. How you solved a problem affected your “I.Q.” or “Indy Quotient,” the game’s point system. The game also featured Henry Jones’s diary, which provided clues to completing your quest, including information that would keep you from “choosing poorly” when Indy went to identify the true grail.
The game was released on the Amiga system, as well as the DOS, Atari ST, and the MAC OS. Amiga Power later declared it one of the best games ever created for the system (ranking it number 28 on their list), and PC Power declaring it one of the 50 best video games of all time.
Shaun Jex is a lifelong gamer, a journalist, and pop culture historian.His love of video games began with a Commodore 64 he played growing up, late night sessions on his NES, Game Boy and Sega Genesis, and frequent trips to the local Tilt arcade. He edits the Citizens' Advocate newspaper in Coppell, Texas and writes about Disney and Walt Disney World history for Celebrations Magazine and the Celebrations Magazine blog. He runs a weekly vlog called "The MCP" dedicated to retro video games, and a channel with his wife Kara called "The Marceline Depot," dedicated to Disney, amusement parks, and travel.
