Not as bad as others say but definitely not a classic.

User Rating: 6 | J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings: Volume 1 SNES
I don't understand why people hate this game, sure it's no classic, but is deserves more than a 2 or a 3 in the ratings.

Lord of the rings Episode 1 covers a large portion of the "Fellowship of the Ring" for those familiar with Tolkien's work, and begins in the Shire with Frodo inheriting the one ring of the dark lord Sauron. As the story progresses, Frodo journeys onward with old and new friends alike to various towns and geographic markers across middle earth on his quest to destroy the one ring. From the Shire to Lothlorien, Episode One is at times both enjoyable and exciting, though somewhat repetitive and reluctant.

Graphically "Episode 1" was decent, with charming music and ambient effects, and sported a 5 player multi-player system. On the downside of the multi-player feature, would be players had to wait until another member of the fellowship was unlocked or found to control that player. Also, though somewhat humorous at first, all players had to remain close to the first player as those who wandered away exited stage left and had difficultly navigating back to the group. This often times resulted in a deviation from the quest and a search party for lost hobbits.

Sure some of the quests are pretty lame, but look at what there was to cover? Frodo, accompanied with Sam, Merry, and Pippen travel to Rivendale, meet some Elves, go through some mines and then it's on to Episode 2. Besides, considering that Interplay wasn't given creative rights, I think they did all right.

Overall, though Lord of the Rings Episode 1 was entertaining for what it was, it wasn't without errors or frustrations. A decent game but clearly not a classic.