Waxworks

(Accolade, 1992)

From the same game design trio that helped make Elvira and Elvira II in prior years, this was a strikingly similar horror/thriller RPG game, except it had no Cassandra "Elvira" Peterson cameo this time (I guess the license to use her name/likeness had just expired), and was a totally different storyline. Your twin brother has been kidnapped to a bizarre wax museum, where each exhibit symbolizes a moment in your ancestors' history! As it turns out, an evil witch cursed your family long ago, so that each time twins are born, one of them will be possessed by evil powers. You must use the magical exhibits to go back to moments in time where your family had twins (you take the role of the "good" twin, searching for your evil counterpart). These areas are each quite amusing, including the foggy streets of old London (Jack the Ripper, allegedly, was an evil twin), an old mine (wierd mutants!), and even ancient Egypt (your ancestors helped build the pyramids? Cool.). You could even complete these four areas in any order! Afterwards, you must use artifacts from each moment in history, and go back in time to when the witch first cursed your family, stopping it from ever happening! While the overall story is a bit of a stretch, it was certainly an inspired concept, and led to a fun experience; almost as fun as Evira II...

Rating : Large Crater.

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