The best adventure game you've never heard of.
Noctropolis literally transports you into the comic book. As a book store owner and comic book collector, the main character is throw into this world and soon becomes its city's protector, Dark Sheer, taking over the mantle from the recently disappeared hero of the same name. You follow your way through the city, following the breadcrumbs of mystery as to the disappearance of the original Dark Sheer, followed by his sidekick and former lover, Stilhetto.
Let's get the b-movie acting out of the way, first. Noctropolis uses full-motion video for the majority of sequences. They're picture-in-picture style, with the character in question speaking in front of a blatant green screen. It's a fun addition to the game when ordinary text would have been fine. Honestly, although the acting is certainly not Academy Award winning, you can't deny the fun that the actors are having, most especially the villains, like Greenthumb and the psychotic doctor. If you're familiar with the acting on, say, the old Adam West Batman television show, then you know the kind of fun, campy acting to expect.
Interaction in the game is your typical point and click and, as Yahtzee says, "rub every item against everything else" style of adventure games. Fortunately, a lot of times, when you select the right item from your inventory, the game will automatically put it to its proper use. It takes a little of the fun away from figuring out a puzzle, but it also saves some time killing frustration.
One unique aspect of the game, one I'm surprised hasn't been repeated by other games, is the death timer. After facing a deadly supervillain, you find yourself poisoned or bleeding to death. It becomes a race back to your lair, where you must plunge yourself into the dark water pool that, like a Lazurus Pit for Ra's Al Ghul, heals you. Most times, the game gives you more than enough time to get back to your headquarters, but it certainly can be exciting. For example, after a run in with a psychotic surgeon, you must first get through his confusing maze, solve a very tough puzzle (one that I, personally, had to repeat many times) and get back in time to heal from your wounds.
The graphics are amazing for its time, with fully painted backgrounds that are jaw-dropping. The game doesn't really falter graphics-wise until the action, which is stiff, due to the dated fully-filmed/photographed style for the characters. Given that it's an adventure game, not action, things like martial arts performed by Stillhetto look incredibly silly.
If there's one thing, out of the entire game, that's worth the price of admission, it's the music. The game score, including the fantastic opening theme song, is moody and fits the tone of this dark, Gotham City-like metropolis perfectly. Even in the twisted moments of the game, such as a dream sequence that takes place in a macabre amusement park, the score is right along with it. As an added bonus, the CD version of the game can be played in any music player (starting with Track 2) for you to enjoy.
It's a great crime that Noctropolis has been forgotten. Fans of adventure games and even quasi-adventure games like Nightshade for the NES would enjoy it. The deep world with its fantastic, iconic villains, is ripe for a remake. Imagine being able to leap between the "real" world and Noctropolis, fighting crime in one and investigating the real world for clues, as well. Imagine traversing across rooftops as Dark Sheer, bleeding along the way, rushing back to your dark water pool.
Sure, the game is campy and dated, but it's hard not to be pulled into his atmospheric charm.