Bible Adventures
Platform: Nintendo Entertainment System
Region: USA (Unlicensed)
Media: Cartridge
Controller: NES Gamepad
Genre: Platformer
Gametype: Licensed
Release Year: 1991
Developer: Wisdom Tree
Publisher: Wisdom Tree
Players: 1
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True story: when I graduated from St. Catherine's elementary school I was given the RELIGION award after the graduation mass. No joke! So when I play games from Wisdom Tree I am reminded that we should be good to each other, fair, courteous, and honest. I live by these rules every day and often pass them along to the little girl I keep chained up in the cellar. This game is actually three in one, and for some strange reason (perhaps my holy past), I kind of like it! Weird stuff happens, but nothing out of the ordinary by Bible standards.

Gameplay:

In Noah's Ark, the player must round up animals and food -- sometimes by knocking animals out or catching fruit thrown by a monkey -- and carry them onto the Ark. Noah's health is recharged when the player reads Bible verses that are scattered around the four levels.

In Baby Moses, the player controls Miriam, Moses' sister as she tries to save her brother from the Pharaoh's decree that all male Hebrew children be killed. In order to do this, the player carries Moses from one end of the level to the other, in a manner quite similar to the way in which characters in Super Mario Bros. 2 carry vegetables. Moses can be thrown around without harming him, but enemies cannot be harmed in any way. If the player completes the level without Moses, the game says "Good Work, But you forgot Baby Moses." and the level must be restarted.

In David and Goliath, the player starts out controlling David as he herds sheep and avoids predators such as lions and bears. The player then obtains a sling and goes on to dodge guards, scorpions, and stones before he fights Goliath's shieldbearer and ultimately Goliath himself, whom the player must strike once in the head to defeat.

All three of these mini games have identical character control fluidity to another NES game, Menace Beach. The sound effects for picking items up, throwing them, jumping and even a bird are also identical to Menace Beach, both games even contain a bird that picks up the character and carries them to a different part of the level. In Menace Beach, the bird carries you to a previous area, reversing your progress, while in Baby Moses, the bird carries Miriam to a further area, but makes her drop baby Moses, forcing her to go back and get him.

Criticism:

The game has been criticized for being overly didactic (e.g., gameplay is broken up by Bible verses), for being highly derivative of Super Mario Brothers 2, and for generally bad gameplay. Nevertheless, it sold reasonably well in Christian bookstores. It was featured on Seanbaby's EGM Crapstravaganza: The 20 Worst Games of All Time as the 19th worst game ever.

Reviewer: Santulli Slant
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