Daria's Inferno

by Pearson Software

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004U8GK
• Item Weight: 5 ounces
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: October 31, 2000
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,731 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Ms. Li is on a discipline rampage. Five items have been stolen from Lawndale High, and the principal plans to keep everyone on detention--forever--unless the contraband is returned. To make matters worse, Daria's English class is studying Dante's Inferno, and Mr. O'Neill's account of the classic poem is putting the students to sleep. Daria's Inferno has a simple enough premise: players become Daria as she searches for the missing items. Because she has fallen asleep in class, the junk is lost in a hellish dream landscape that's almost more terrifying than real life. Jane and Trent are your guides on this spiritual journey, and all the other Daria cast members make prominent appearances.

This game is quite remarkable in that it truly captures the flavor of the show on which it is based. Somewhat surprisingly, Daria's deadpan humor translates beautifully to an interactive format. Sly in-jokes abound, with lots of witty touches--visual references to classic European paintings, for example. Helpful tips come packaged in the form of clips from Daria's own favorite TV program, Sick Sad World. As she pursues the lost objects, Daria herself is pursued by a number of irritants: nagging parents, mall retail staff, and even Charles Ruttheimer. Too much contact with these forces can overload Daria with irritation, causing you to lose the game. Luckily, players who don't want to spend their gaming time dodging these pests can usually find a way to defuse them, whether it's by crushing them in a giant book, using a voodoo doll, or warding off Quinn with a pair of unfashionable clogs.

If there is a significant drawback to Daria's Inferno, it's that it's too short. There are only five missing items to find (to really draw a comparison to Dante's Inferno, there should have been nine), and the levels in which the items are found have some unfortunate repetition. Young players will find the game somewhat challenging, but its mature humor might make some parents uneasy. Teen and adult players will finish the game in a matter of hours. These factors make Daria's Inferno a game best suited to those players predisposed to love it--those who are already fans of the television program. --Alyx Dellamonica

Amazon.com Product Description

Voyage through the five circles of Daria's netherworld, as she finds herself lost in a nightmare she can't escape. Only you can help her wake up, by solving the mysteries of Miss Li's missing stuff. Five levels of gameplay feature all of the characters from Daria's show, as well as her characteristic commentary.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 30 minute pseudo-episode, yes..... puzzle game, no., November 7, 2000

By 

Don Morris (Morgan Hill, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daria's Inferno (CD-ROM)

Daria's Inferno, much like Star Trek: Borg before it, lives up to Simon and Shuster Interactive's apparent credo of: "Give them an easy, interactive episode to entertain them once or twice". If you missed Borg, it involved about 2 hours of playing time that could be watched as a ~40 minute "movie" when you were finished. Here, this is compressed for the MTV generation as about 1 hour of playing time for ~20 minutes of actual material. Guess they didn't want to worry about the second CD.

Graphics in the game are about what you'd expect from a 2D animation heroine - although the backgrounds in the "cut scenes" noticably lack detail, and the repetitive reuse of Trent for level transitions gets annoying. There's only about 20 minutes of material on this CD, couldn't they at least put a change in there?

Gameplay is, well.... insulting to Daria fans. This CD is marked as rated for teenagers 13+. Most Daria fans I've seen on the net are between 15 and 45 (I'm almost 30). The mindset needed for this game to be an actual puzzle would be about 5, however. Every object in the game has a use, but there are only about 30 total objects, almost all of which you literally CAN NOT miss. If their use weren't extremely obvious already (what would you try to do first with a garage door opener with a garage nearby, for example?) - the Sick Sad World segments spell it completely out for you. Kevin Thompson could beat this game in a day.

I must admit that there is one challenge however -- not getting so irritated at the interface that you use the CD as a frisbee. Movement of Daria is controlled with either the keyboard arrow keys (with _no_ use of diagonals on the keypad) or the mouse. Unfortunately, application of items on "irritants" aka enemies is _also_ with the same mouse button. Miss by a pixel and you walk straight into what you were trying to negate. I guess this was needed for the Mac port (I know 2+ button mice for Macs _exist_ but they are an option, after all...).

Setting aside the above -- is it worth it? Well, if you have a child of 5 or 6, sure. It's a fun little game. Otherwise, you _must_ be a fan of the show to enjoy this game. A rabid fan, possibly. There are gems for the fans, including an extended version of the show's theme "You're Standing on my Neck" by Splendora in the credits. Daria's comments throughout the game are also amusing, as is the storyline. As dream sequence

episodes go, I'd rather have seen this plot than "Depth Takes a Holiday".

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Simplistic, but fun., November 7, 2001

By 

Tabbyclaw (Tucson, Arizona United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Daria's Inferno (CD-ROM)

I'll be blunt. This is an easy game with fairly dull and repetitive graphics. But I knew that before I bought it. The real gem in this game is Daria herself. Her sarcastic humor is in classic form here, and I appreciate the decision to use all the original voice actors to play the characters in the game. Gameplay is pretty simple and a nice way to kill an hour or so with no replay value.If you're a diehard "Daria" fan, the fan experience isn't complete without this game. If you're not, don't lose sleep over not having played it.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Cute but way too easy, January 6, 2003

By 

Miranda Prince "Punky Monkey" (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Daria's Inferno (CD-ROM)

I can't call this game a total disappointment. I'm a big fan of "Daria," and the game was definitely true to the show. The characters behaved like they do on the show, the voices were all done by the original actors, and the game more or less looked like Lawndale.

Unfortunately, it's not much of a game. It's a combination of far too easy, and too much "hunt the pixel." It's worth playing for the Daria atmosphere, but certainly not for the game itself.