Customer Reviews

The Lord of the Rings, Volume 1

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This game could have been one of the best on SNES, but Interplay screwed it up. Well, lets start with the good. The graphics are REALLY good. Very detailed trees, characters, enemies, etc. The in-game animations are very fluid, almost life-like. Interplay does an excellent job of setting the atmosphere. A light fog covers the Barrow Downs, giving it a very eerie appearance. The music can be chilling at times. Interplay also did a wonderful job of scaling Middle Earth. The world is HUGE. This is one game where you will definitely need a walkthrough, or risk being left behind, as I later was. Now for the downsides to this game. In this game, you control one central character, while the others follow you around (Like Secret of Mana). However, these other characters will sometimes wander off-screen, usually ending up getting themselves killed. I might add that this is a game where one traveler won't survive. You NEED those other party members, especially when you get in a fight with 2 or more orcs. My next complaint is the graphics. Great, like I said before, but pretty soon all screens start to look alike. ESPECIALLY the caves. Speaking of caves, some of the mazes in this game can be really frustrating--even with paper and pencil handy for drawing maps. There are not that many enemies in this game: wolves, bats, snakes, orcs, barrow wights, and dark riders, but that's all I remember after many hours of playing this game. The towns are boring and uninteresting--you can't walk into any building, only see it from the outside. Finally, there are some mandatory quests that you must undertake that were NOT in the books. Your very first one will be to find someone's glasses in a large cave. Overall, this game will seem exciting and interesting at first, but after you play it for a while you'll probably start to see what I mean.

Why the Yoda reference, you ask? Tolkien has absolutely nothing to do with Star Wars. However, Interplay's attempt at a Tolkien game seems to have suffered from the same problem as LucasArts' attempts at Star Wars games. Awesome concepts, wonderful stories to work with, but ruined by poor execution.
First off, this game does have wonderful graphics, especially considering that it was an SNES title. Some of the music is also amazing, capturing the mood of Tolkien's story perfectly, in my opinion. That title theme, and the song that plays in the Shire... excellent. The caves and dungeons are dark and eerie, just as they should be, and the forests are very lush and realistic. The sound of that wind blowing in the cave is simply chilling if you're really into the game.
Unfortunately though, there are some major flaws to this game which, in my opinion, make it unworthy of a purchase. For one, the multiplayer aspect is very poorly done. Like Secret of Mana, this is an action RPG with real-time battles. However, instead of being able to give instructions for the CPU to follow (like Mana's Action Grid), you must hold a button to guide their actions, which results in your controlling ALL of the allies at once--press Left for one person, and your entire party moves left, press Attack and everyone swings. Do not even consider relying on the CPU to guide them. They sometimes stand perfectly still and let an enemy attack them without even attempting to defend themselves. Or, even more often, they become utterly foolish and go wandering off alone into some odd parts of the woods. They are usually killed by an orc out there before you can find them.
That leads me to another flaw: characters cannot be revived. If someone falls in battle, they are gone permanently for the rest of the game. If Frodo falls, the game is over.
A third flaw is that the game, for some strange reason, uses a PASSWORD system instead of a battery save, with long and tedious passwords to boot. This is just completely impractical for an RPG.
Finally, there are two last things that really kill the game. One is that there is too much dungeon crawling--WAY too much. In fact, that is pretty much all you do for the entire game. The other is that there are too many odd events added to this game that are totally inconsistent with the book. This usually doesn't bother me too much, but this game just takes it way too far. They've made all sorts of completely unacceptable story twists, just to give an excuse for you go wandering into all these dungeons.
Ultimately, this game could have been an excellent addition to the Super Nintendo's already impressive list of RPGs, but it fails badly. I'd say stay away from this game, but get the soundtrack if one exists.

This game is a real stinker. Your party members wander off constantly and moments later you'll hear them grunting as they're be slaughtered by an troll. After playing 10 minutes of this game you just want orcs to kill you and you're whole party. This game was a big letdown.

It could of been better but it was still really good. Maybe it was just because I like the movie and the book?but probaly not. If you are debating wether to by it or not, because it is expensive or because you just can't decide then trust my opinion, You should defiantly by it!

I bought this game because I really love both the movies and the book, and I wanted to see how a 1994 game was alike the Lord Of The Rings games who are now coming out by Electronic Arts. Well, the first thing I've noticed was the soundtrack, it's one of the greatest soundtracks for the SNES. Sweet melodies while in the Shire, darker ones while in some kind of caves, more misterious while in some fields. Very good, indeed. Well, as I've noticed other people saying in here, this game's graphics are indeed impressive, very good, both the characters and the landscapes are well-designed. So, technically, the game is very worth your money.
Now, the game is a little weird, unlike EA's. You play as Frodo in the beggining of the game, I don't know if you can change your character, because I'm really at the beggining of the game. Frodo's health isn't very large, I don't know, but I think you get power-ups throughout the game. I'm kind of stuck in the first ten minutes of gameplay, because I don't really know what I'm supposed to do. Look for Sam's glasses? Help Pippin to get out of those fields? I still don't get my objective. But, even though this game is a little weird.. It's one of the greatest for the SNES. Worth you money if, unlike me, you can figure out what to do. Hope my review was helpful.

I had high hopes for this game seeing so many positive review, but I was severely disappointed. I enjoy a challenging game, but this is impossible. Probably the worst part is the controls. There is a full second delay from when you hit the attack button to when he lunges with his sword, plus you can't attack and move at the same time. The companions are incredibly aggravating and literally walk away from you and die. Plus the overworld is sprawling, and Frodo moves extremely slowly. I love Lord of the Rings and old games like Zelda, but avoid this one. The graphics are nice enough but don't make up for the terrible game play.

grafics are great. you would expect deep combat. very little violence.story begins same as the book.the passwords are challenging.I highly reccomend the hobbit game if you liked this game.

...one of the best SNES games. This game made me buy the books, so I'm paying my respect to Interplay for introducing me to Tolkien's world. As someone said below, this game has amazing graphics and some of the most beautiful songs (the opening theme is just splendid). But, besides all the problems cited by the other reviewers, one particular made me almost quit playing: What is Legolas for? The instructions manual states that he is kinda valuable in the game but he doesn't shoot any single arrow in it! Moreover, I didn't know that Gandalf should die in order to beat the game, so I spent almost one hour trying to kill the Balrog. A Volume 2 would be quite welcome if Interplay didn't screw up.

This game is one of the most engrossing and well done games I have ever played. I wasn't able to stop playing it! If you like older rpg's such as Secret of Mana, or any of the Final Fantasy series, you will be happy to have bought this game, it would be an excellent addotion to any collection.

....every time someone plays this game. While based on the classic books, which defined modern fantasy fiction, the game itself takes liberties with the story to the point where it is barely recognizable. Substandard graphics (even for the time that the game was released,) slow gameplay, and poor sounds detract even further from the enjoyment of the game.