I'm also adding two more books I have, the two Virtual Reality gamebooks that weren't reprinted as part of Critical IF. I assume that they weren't reprinted because they were written by Mark Smith (of Falcon, Duel Master and The Way of the Tiger fame) instead of Dave Morris. They're apparently Smith's only gamebooks done alone, without Jamie Thompson (in which case he's much better working as part of a team.)Darth Rabbitt wrote:So I've gotten a few gamebooks over the holidays and also had a few that I considered running at times on top of that. In alphabetical order (with all quotes coming from the respective back covers). Choose up to 7 different gamebooks!
Give Yourself Goosebumps Special Edition #1: Into the Jaws of DoomGive Yourself Goosebumps were among the first pieces of interactive written fiction I read, and I still have the whole series. The writing quality isn't very good but if anyone has a Goosebumps itch this will scratch it. Most were basically Choose Your Own Adventures with no game mechanics (some not even really trying to be spoopy in any way) but this one has inventory management, die rolling, and as the back cover gushes about, a One True Path (the later Special Editions were less ambitious).TALK ABOUT A JAWBREAKER!
Help! You're trapped in the Hall of Science. And a mad Super Computer wants to keep you there forever.
Escaping is the ultimate challenge. Because in this book, there's only one way out. That's right. Make one mistake--and you're cake!
The Hall of Science is filled with tools you can use to protect yourself against a terrifying T-rex, a rampaging robot arm, and other enemies. But look out! The giant mutated germ will make you sick. And the pendulum will hypnotize you...to death!
The choice is yours in this scary GOOSEBUMPS adventure. It's packed with over 20 super-spooky endings--but only one way out!
Storytrails #3: The Evil of Mr. HappinessMost of what SGamerz said about the Storytrails series in the LP of the first one is true here. This one is essentially a Bond story.You have been recruited by the CIA to investigate some very strange happenings on an island in the Caribbean. Can you carry out your dangerous mission in the face of killer bats, trained assassins and the evil Mr Happiness himself?
Storytrails #4: The Haunters of Marsh HallAnd this one is a horror story. As far as I can tell they all cover different genres.You have become the owner of the mysterious Marsh Hall. You find yourself alone at night in a mansion that is haunted by . . .
Can you survive the terrors of the night - and learn the secret of Marsh Hall?
Virtual Reality #4: Necklace of Skulls
I actually have the Critical IF re-releases of these books (in which this book is #3 in the series). I don't know how heavily they differ, if at all, but I'm listing them first and foremost as the Virtual Reality versions since those are the ones that the other two in the series that have been done here are. Mechanically they're similar to the previous two VR books, barring a couple of different skills. This one is especially notable to me since I can't think of a single other gamebook that focuses on Maya culture.The sole survivor of an expedition brings news of disaster. Your twin brother is lost in the trackless western sierra. Resolving to find out his fate, you leave the safety of your home far behind. Your quest takes you to lost jungle cities, across mountains and seas, and even into the depths of the underworld.
You will plunge into the eerie world of Mayan myth. You will confront ghosts and gods, bargain for your life against wily demons, find allies and enemies among both the living and the dead. If you are brave enough to survive the dangers of the spirit-haunted western desert, you must still confront the wizard called Necklace of Skulls in a deadly contest whose stakes are nothing less than your own soul.
Virtual Reality #6/Critical IF #4: Twist of Fate/Once Upon a Time in Arabia
I have heard that this one was heavily revised (certainly it was the only one to have its title changed.) I also love that the villain is basically described as and is literally named after the bad guy from Disney's version of Aladdin here.You have made a powerful enemy. Jafar, advisor to the Caliph, plans a coup that will put him on the throne of Baghdad. You are the only one who can warn the Caliph, but who will listen to a penniless adventurer? Especially as Jafar's assassins who are scouring the city to find you.
You will go in search of the fame and fortune that will give you the means to expose Jafar’s treachery. Striking out from the city, your travels take you to the furthest corners of the world. Your travels take you to ghoul-haunted oases, magical palaces, lost cities of gold, and uncharted isles full of mystery and danger. Threatened by bandits, fire wizards, thieves and fearsome creatures, you must risk all in your determined quest to save the kingdom.
Virtual Reality #1: Green Blood
The first Virtual Reality book is probably the most generic and least ambitious of the lot. There's a clear difference between the way the two Virtual Reality books I have are written and the Critical IF re-releases are. They're a lot drier and more linear than the others, although without the Virtual Reality versions of the other four I can't tell if the others were originally just as linear but rewritten.The evil Westermen are destroying the once beautiful and idyllic Forest of Arden. The trees are being torn down and used to fuel the raging smelters that are making deadly weapons and engines of war. In your desperate quest to prevent the annihilation of the forest you must face many dangers. But will you be able to stop the heartless mercenaries and their Infernal Machine as it smashes the very heart of the forest, the Tree of Life?
Virtual Reality #3: The Coils of Hate
While Green Blood is probably the most generic Virtual Reality book, I think that this one is the weirdest (despite being part of the same setting, as Godorno is mentioned in the beginning of Green Blood.) You play a fantasy Jew analogue in this book, which I think is a first for gamebooks. It's not very subtle but it is at least sympathetic to the Judain's plight. One character in the book is described as a "mulatto," which really wasn't OK even in 1993. This book also apparently takes place on Orb, because Tyutchev the motherfucker (of the GMPC trio) makes a cameo (although it's mentioned that he's from "far away") and Cassandra the warrior is mentioned. So Orb has systematically oppressed Jews and uses outdated terms for mixed-race people, and I don't know how I feel about that.Alone in the labyrinthine streets of the ancient city of Godorno, you frantically attempt to save your people--the Judain--from their tyrannical ruler, the Overlord. Terrified of being hunted down, the Judain have gone to ground. But now there is an even greater menace: Hate, the very embodiment of all that is sinister, has invaded the city. Its tentacles emerge from the sewers beneath the city. Will you be able to vanquish Hate and prevent the annihilation of your people?
Note: I don't have PDFs for either of the new books, and my scanning FFs in earlier LPs nearly wrecked my copies of some of those books, most of which are easier to come across than these two. So I probably won't scan them, if that's alright. (I also don't have PDFs of Haunters of Marsh Hall or Into the Jaws of Doom but those don't have illustrations so it's moot).
Runner ups will probably be run in order of how many votes they got (if any).
