Space Quest 2 was originally released in 1987... I never owned an original copy of the game, I got a pirated copy of the game from a friend on a 3 1/2 floppy disk. So I never got to enjoy the comic that came wit the original game explaining how Roger went from Hero to Zero again, you can view it here. SQ2 might be my favorite in the series, and I can't really explain why, especially since the first time I played it I became absolutely stuck at one point and had to call Sierra On-line's famous hint line (I'll tell the story when we get there) Let's get this second game underway:
This time with an improved track of the theme song (brought to you by the Tandy 1000's superior sound chip)
The title screen is followed by a short introduction catching players of the original up and introducing new ones to Roger Wilco and his amazing exploits and then we're dropped once again in to the game with no more direction than a blinking parser and a sweeping Roger (space dust is the worst!):
As Roger dutifully goes about his janitorial duties:
Guess we better see what it is, so we have Roger look at his watch:
Wow! The future is awesome, a digital watch with three functions! Let's see them all! Pushing 'H':
Pushing 'T':
Finally, pushing 'C':
Well, he doesn't seem to friendly... Wonder how I get inside, anyway... There don't seem to be any doors...
We last left Roger Wilco outside in the cold of space with nothing more than his wrist watch and his boss' order to get back inside, but how?
There aren't any doors! This puzzle is so great because it can really stump you, until you solve it (The first time I did, it was an accident):
You can walk on the walls! Awesome, and the only thing around here is that discolored patch on the "ceiling":
Ok, Roger takes a quick look around before changing and then checking those lockers over there to the right out:
Those two objects sound really useful (they don't, but this is an adventure game and I'm sure we'll find some ridiculous use for the two of them.) A quick look at our inventory shows, that we have four items right now (I wonder what every happened to Roger's golden mop?):
I've wondered what the last one was for... Though I've never tried turning it off, until now! So, we'll see what happens in the near future with it. With nothing else to do here, Roger exits stage left. As soon as we enter the next screen our boss starts yelling at us:
I wonder what Roger ever did to piss him off? That's okay I'm surrounded by my friends, so I'll just talk to them:
"Hah, those guys, what kidders! I don't owe them any money, they're just trying to be funny..." Anyway, since no one wants to have lunch or go get some coffee, I better head over to that shuttle:
Tube travel, the future sure is neat! That platform though is decidedly 19th century fare, onwards. Exiting the tube Roger enters the ship:
*THUD*
No more than 2 minutes into the game and Roger's already had the crap beaten out of him!
Before we continue on with Roger's tale it's important to look back on all the ways I've killed him in these first 5 minutes or so of the game: There is more than one generic death message after you die in Space Quest 2, Here's all of them right now:
Roger Wilco, Deep Space Explorer:
Roger Wilco, Germaphobe:
Roger Wilco, Base Jumper:
I'm just going to let the game "speak" for itself:
That's the big reveal? A guy dressed in a nice suit with a briefcase?! Seems somewhat anti-climactic... That name sounds familiar too...
Where have I heard that name before? I know from the original Space Quest on that cartridge that also gave us the detonation sequence for the Star Generator:
But, this sack of flesh calls himself Sludge? Was his brother one of those "sissy pants scientists" who changed the purpose for the Star Generator project? Or did Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy forget the original name and couldn't be bothered to check? I've never heard this discrepancy explained or even brought up before but it always bothered me, a little...
This fleshbag won't shut up:
Finally, he's done, That forced work in a mine doesn't sound too fun though:
If Roger doesn't think fast he's going to be stuck doing menial labor for the rest of his life, but without the chance of slacking off!? He also can't help but think these goons look an awful lot like the Apes from Planet of the Apes... As the hovercraft slowly makes it way to mines, the story takes a sharp turn to the right:
I can safely assume Roger lived through this, as I the player had no control over it! In the next post the adventure begins in earnest!
Last time we left Roger plummeting from the sky, much like a lead parakeet... Hopefully he survived the fall:
Goons, Just like mattresses, only living! Roger takes a quick look around to get his bearings and then starts looting:
Roger takes the card and slips it into his pocket before heading over to the wreckage and poking around:
(That beeping was coming from the PC speaker and it was annoying!) This place doesn't look too bad... Roger was in need of a vacation anyway... A nice stroll in the woods would be good for him:
Okay, so there are some man-made hazards that have to be avoided, but it still seems like a nice enough place, Roger heads east to further explore his jungle paradise. Mushrooms! These are so good sauted with a little butter, Roger won't be going hungry in his new home, now let's just cut one of these down somehow...
Forget a vacation life on a jungle paradise! Everything here wants to kill me! Roger decides he has to get off this planet (and he'll have many more opportunities to stick to that directive) Moving back to the wreck site, Roger can't help but feel like he's being watched:
The foliage is just too think to the west to continue so Roger tries heading north:
That might be leading me a little, but I better go check it out:
Oh, look a cute little alien is playing "hang upside down in the tree" just like Roger's childhood friends used to played with him! He doesn't look happy about if, better get him down:
As Roger unties him the little get runs off into the brush before disappearing completely the pink guy, looks back:
Roger felt he made a connection with the little guy there, back westward:
You never know when a spore will come in handy! Roger continues exploring, heading eastward again to get up on that ridge to check that machine out:
How convenient (and improbable) that Galactic Post Office would put a box on an uncivilized, man-killing jungle planet. Roger is finally able to mail that order form for the Labion Terror Beast Mating Whistle:
Roger grabs the whistle and gives it a blow, nothing happens! Must be broken... Stupid free whistle... Heading back:
That can't be good...
Thinking quickly, Roger's forte, he ducks behind some bushes:
Poking around Roger eventually finds his way here (it's North of the spores):
Hey, there's our friend and he's picking berries. I should do that too! But, what's this thing in front of me:
Having learned a lesson about strange xeno-plant life, Roger treads carefully:
Roger tried eating them, but the things tasted terrible... Thinking they'll be important later though, Roger stuffs them in his pocket, before heading eastward again (east from the upper part of the screen where the goon patrol was). A swamp and another little guy, who seems to be smearing something over himself before running into the water:
Roger decides to follow the little alien's example and smears the berries all over himself, before heading into the swamp:
(in that last image you should notice two eyes on stalks peaking over the water, I never seemed to catch them when they were open though, sorry!)
Every attempt on Roger's life by the local fauna and flora only makes Roger hate this stinking rock more! He vows to escape and if he can have this damned planet blown to smithereens! Moving deeper into the swamp, Roger finds a deep spot and decides to investigate:
Now with a glowing gem, Roger returns to the surface:
With nothing better to do Roger decides to scale the tree:
Anyone catch anything weird in those last two images? Let me know, I'll explain it in the next post if no one sees it... Also, deaths and inventory.
"Your score jumped 90 points, then your score got reduced to zero.
Yup! and here's how it's done. There's a glitch in the game on this screen that will allow you to get a higher than 250 score, (the max amount of point for the game is 253. If you use it once reaching that score it simply resets the counter):
When you first climb the tree. the game takes over with Roger slowly scaling it, as this happens though you can repeatedly type in the command "climb tree" netting you 3 points each time. Sierra' assigned numerous commands to the function keys, F5 to save or F7 to restore, F3 instantly retyped your last entered command. All that is required to get the highest score is to quickly push F3 and Enter over and over as Roger slowly scales the tree.
Getting discovered by the flying goon:
Climbing trees:
Playing with Root Monsters:
Swimming without Berries:
The looted Keycard:
A spore:/
A Labion Terror Beast mating call whistle
Some berries:
A a glowing gem:
Roger careful creeps across the log (I'm pretty sure that fall would have broke his face) and keeps moving east:
Where'd that come from! Roger just can't win.
That dream sounds as shitty as the game its based on!
This doesn't look promising... But, maybe that big grey brute is just like Roger, looking for a friend? Roger takes a closer look at his prospective new best friend:
That isn't encouraging... In an attempt to communicate Roger yells at the alien:
Roger continues talking to the alien, which eventually gets his attention:
This is it! Roger's going to get a hug from his new best friend!
Well being cooked and eaten might be an acceptable way to show friendship in his culture... Sadly, Roger will never know... Rewind back to the big lug looking at us intently and walking toward us. Roger chucks the spore he found earlier at the guy:
How did I know the spore would be effective, because the first time I played this game I walked on one of them and then spent the most boring 4 minutes of my life watching Roger lie there as the computer told me over and over again that I was paralyzed... Roger searches the disgusting mass of flesh and finds:
Roger quickly takes the key and uses it on the gate, this freak could get back up at any moment:
Roger slips out of the cage, grabs the rope sitting on the rock and heads north, just in time to see a shuttle leave the planet off in the distance:
Roger vows to, somehow overcome his incompetence and, get off this planet!
With no place else to go Roger heads back to the chasm, and heads down, by tying the rope to the log (not the stump!):
Whoa, even Roger isn't dim enough to think that big guy is looking for friends! That cave has potential though! Roger begins swinging back and forth, trying to build up enough momentum to carry him over to the western face of the chasm and the cave (I had to save and reload a number of times here as the game requires you to push back and forth to build the momentum and you never quite know when you have enough... I also failed to capture an image of Roger mid-air, sorry!):
With nothing else to do here but stare at the giant ape, Roger heads into the cave:
Wow, it's dark in here! If only I had something that glowed and previously spent time lighting up a cave... Think Roger think! Oh, yeah that gem, Roger whips it out:
Good thing too, as I don't think that shrieking thing was friendly. Roger moves further into the cave:
If you somehow managed to get to this point without untying the little alien back in the jungle, these guys would have killed you here. Requiring a reload back to when you first landed on the planet! Same can be said with the spore in the previous entry if you didn't pick it up you can't get out of the cage and end up dinner...
Roger forgets to hold his breath (both times):
Roger attempts to defy gravity:
Roger falls off his log bridge:
Throwing the spore prematurely:
Then just like the death when we just tried talking to him:
Admiring the view of the launch-pad:
Walking off the cliff north of the cage screen:
Walking off yet another cliff:
Tying the rope to the stump:
Getting up-close with the Ape monster:
Taking the rope all the way down:
Missing the swing:
There's so many more! That's enough death for awhile, I think!
After calling me a beanpole the little aliens scurry to the south leaving Roger alone again, Roger noticing his glowing stone is gone, picks it up near the cave entrance where he must have dropped it, before heading south as well:
Ahh, look that cute little pink guy is wearing clothes! He thinks he's people! What's that you're talking to me?
"Sounds great! What's the word?" "Hello?" Where'd he go? He didn't tell me the word! How am I ever suppose to leave this stupid canyon? What word? Roger sat around and sulked for awhile, before calling Sierra On-line's Hint Line, where a helpful person told him that the word he had to say to leave the canyon was "the word" "Really? That's it? Just say 'the word' and the aliens will let me go?" The helpful person on the end of the line said yes that was it "That is the dumbest puzzle ever, and I resent that this stupid conversation is going to cost me real money, you suck!" *CLICK* Yup, Roger simply says "the word" and those cute little pinkys get to work:
Roger having been in a dark cave before whips out his glowing gem:
Or not... Hmmm... I know I have to use the gem here, I don't have anything else that will illuminate anything... Where else could I put this thing? (Besides up Mark Crowe's or Scott Murphy's ass) Roger finally settles on stuffing it in his mouth:
A maze! And done completely in the dark! As long as you head down and to the right you'll be okay. It might take you a little back tracking but it isn't too difficult. I got through this after not playing for a year on my first try without being eaten:
Wow! This place is pretty! Well worth sucking on that stupid rock while avoiding unseen horrors:
Next time, I share a little story, Roger gawks a little and maybe, just maybe... We get off this rock!
As a young man playing through my pirated copy of SQ2 (I think the disk also had PQ on it!) for the first time young Falselogic got stuck in the Pinky's canyon. Why? Because up to that point he'd never seen a Abbott and Costello skit, or a Jerry Lewis sketch, or any Monty Python skits and had never thought before about word games... so, little Falselogic was stuck, worse, no one else in his small network of PC gaming nerds had ever played, or beat SQ2. He was effectively stuck. He went to his parents and begged them to let him call Sierra's pay-for hint line. After deliberations his parents decided he could make one call to the hint line service if he agreed to pay for the costs. lil'falselogic quickly agreed and called the number, agreed to the charges (I believe it was $2.50 for the first minute (minimum charge) and a $1 for each additional minute) and then moved through Sierra's labyrinthine auto-system before being told that the word to say to get out of the canyon "the word." Even little Falselogic knew that was bunk when he hung up. But, after tasting the sweet nectar of cheating to get ahead in an adventure game, I, apparently, had a very hard time not calling again. Anytime I ran into the most minor speed bump I'd hop on the phone and call the line again to get the answer... remember this is a automated prompt service that requires you to navigate through a series of questions before it gets to your game, section, and then particular problem, all while charging you. By the time the next bill game I'd beaten the game and owed my parents 54 or so dollars in phone charges! Lil Falselogic then spent the next 3 months working off his debt! Story time over!
Roger just can't get enough of this place:
Look at all that prose they dedicated to a scene that we already see on the screen! Roger tired of misty droplets moves east:
Two ways to go huh? Well the word for left in latin is sinister, so that way is right out, right it is!
That might not have been a good choice either...
Roger Lives!:
But seeing as there isn't anything to do here he moves eastward:
Where, it appears, there is nothing to do... Running through every item in his inventory Roger finally gets to his free whistle:
Aww, look a blatant rip-off of Warner Brothers' Tasmanian Devil:
Again, Roger slowly goes through the entire contents of his inventory before stumbling upon an answer, that still makes little sense to him and me to this day, tosses the cubix rube to the Beast:
Yup, all slavering wild animals are interested in puzzle games! Roger moves through the newly created hole to the north and grabs a rock from the pile of debris on his way through:
We've finally made it back to the landing platform! Let's hope there is a ship on it:
Drats! There's a guard up there... I bet they've had problems with Labion Terror Beasts... What is Roger going to do? Well, he could do a number of things, but the one that gets the most points is this:
That's right! Roger used a soiled jock-strap and a rock to sling a rock at the guard's head incapacitating him, and causing him to fall to the ground where he split his skull! Roger is a cold-blooded killer! Roger slides the card he got at the initial crash site (if you forgot to search that body, so sad you're fucked) and heads on up:
Now where is the entrance to this thing?
Thanks unknown narrator! Next time, Roger flies into the great blue yonder! Also more ways for Roger to meet his maker!
Roger clambers into the shuttle and takes a look around:
Okay, those controls seem easy enough. Roger presses the power button, switches the attitude dial to vertical, and pushes the ascent thrusters and he is off:
Roger gently pulls back on the stick and he's off!
Despite the planet Labion's numerous attempts (you haven't seen all of them yet) to kill Roger he has somehow avoided them all and made it off this planet! What next? Wrapping up some deaths and then the endgame
Walking off the ledge after swinging to it:
Entering the cave without a light:
additional unpleasant sounds
Entering Canyon without saving Pinky:
Waiting in the cave too long before using the gem:
Going the wrong way in the maze:
Swimming in the river for too long:
Take the wrong fork in the river:
"Play" with the Labion Terror Beast:
Letting the Guard see you:
Hiding from the Guard and making a noise to get him to leave to the south and then following him:
Calling the Guard:
Throw the rock at the guard (sans jock-strap):
Falling off the platform:
Go back down the platform elevator after going up:
After powering up ship, turning the attitude dial to vertical, and turning on the ascent thrusters, Roger pushes the stick in the wrong direction:
Alright, Roger is off of Labion, he's got a ship and he's getting out of here!
Just several more hours (years?) of this and we should be somewhere...
Roger struggles with the controls, even attempting to shut down the ship, but nothing seems to work:
Guess like Roger has to save himself and his world again... But where to start? Next time, exploring the asteroid, meeting new friends, mucking things up!
Looking around it looks like Roger was 3 options... go west, east or south (down). Down right now is a bad option and you'll see why when we cover deaths... West or east lead to the same screens, so it doesn't really matter which one you take:
An elevator! Let's read all about it:
Just a little sampling of the odd and quirky text you can find in these old Sierra games if you look hard enough for it... Roger pushes the 3rd floor button (there is no second?) and heads down... I just realized for the first time that the floors are arranged in reverse the top one being 1st and the bottom one being the 5th, huh...
Walking down the corridor Roger notices that the interior design here is a little drab and repetitive, he'll continue to notice this as he explores the asteroid:
Further down the corridor Roger finds a door and eagerly opens it, unreasonably thinking that behind it he'll find freedom:
Not quite, but Roger picks up the familiar tool and finds its presence comforting... and then continues down the corridor till he reaches another elevator and heads down to the 4th floor:
Wandering down the corridor Roger comes upon another closet and in it finds:
Roger picks it up... He can't think of any scenario in which it will be useful, but he knows he's in a Sierra game and so everything he finds he knows he will need at some point! Back down the corridor he comes upon:
This is going to be different... Roger holds his breath and plunges into the men's room:
GROSS! as Roger notes that this is a unisex bathroom! He does notice though that his bladder is starting to hurt, and heads into the one empty stall:
GROSS again... There is no way Roger is using this bathroom, he'll just have to hold it... He does grab some toilet paper though, never know when it could come in handy. You exit the bathroom and head down the corridor again, into the elevator and down to the 5th floor:
Unlike the other floors this one seems to be some sort of prison level? Oh well, another closet let's see what it has for us:
Roger grabs the wastebasket and then picks up the overalls:
Roger grabs the lighter and departs As Roger heads down the corridor, one of the jail cells begins opening!
Roger picks up his pace, he's learned his lesson and is no longer look for friends in all the wrong places! He gets a glance of the beast over his shoulder as he runs for the elevator:
Roger enters the elevator, slams the one button the doors close just before the strange creature was able to join him in it! Close one, Roger! Back on the first floor, Roger heads down south to explore the last level (the 2nd) of the asteroid:
Please let me know if and how you figured out this next puzzle all by yourself? Roger heads down the stair from the landing platform to find himself:
Ok... We'll just go to left then
... I mean the right:
... Or just wait here for awhile:
Awww, come on! Can't a janitor get a break? This is quite the predicament!
What to do... What to do... Let's see what do I even have in my inventory? Jockstrap? No. Glass cutter? No. Wastebasket? No. Toilet paper? No. Glowing Gem? No. Plunger? Plunger! That just might work:
And now Roger is free to move about the corridor:
Roger heads down the west end of the corridor:
Okay, so we won't go to the west! Crap! It seems there's more of those damn robots to the east as well! What do we do? Maybe it has something to do with the sprinkler system that appears to be only on this one level of the asteroid? We'll find out next time! Inspired by the sprinkler system, Roger decides to commit a little arson. He fills his wastebasket full of toilet paper, drops it on the ground and uses his lighter to set the whole thing aflame:
The hosing seems to have done a number on those robots too:
Roger heads to the east, as odd unexplained feelings keep him from exploring the western end of the long corridor:
Well, Roger's made it into Vohual's sanctum sanctorum but the mad scientist has managed to shrink Roger down to insignificance!
Falling off the Landing platform:
Falling off the walkway to the elevators:
Going to the second floor and falling into the pool:
Using the plunger too soon:
Getting too close to the floor waxer:
Using the lighter in the bathroom:
Getting to close to an inmate:
Getting too intimate with a released inmate:
The terrible thing about this is that the game lets you walk a few screens before anything happens... Making you hope against hope that there was no death involved just an awkward moment between you and an Alien Setting a fire after freeing a wallbot:
It's been awhile since I did one of these. The key to the cage:
The rope:
The stone:
The plunger:
The glass cutter:
Toilet paper:
A lighter:
The wastebasket:
The wastebasket after I fill it with TP:
That is it for items, folks! There's only one more and I'll just show it to you in the narrative! We're getting close to the end here!
We left Roger in the lurch last time, in the process of being miniaturized by Sludge Vohaul:
Roger is in luck though, Vohaul put him in a glass jar and he just happens to have a glass cutter on him:
Roger doesn't progress to the west for fear of running into Vohaul which leaves him only one option to crawl into the nearby vent:
Not much in here to understand, best to read the literature first
Roger moves over to the button (it's the red thing behind the pump (which moves up and down?!)) and pushes it:
Roger crawls out of the vent:
Now that the disgusting sac of flesh has collapsed Roger feels safe enough to move westward:
Roger heads over to the switch and pulls it:
The little screen is asking us Enlarge or Shrink, Roger:
Hopping along Roger types in "enlarge" and then moves back to the glass case:
Back to normal size, Roger notes that the clones are missing and that one of Vohaul's monitors, the one on the far right, is blinking. Also, the fat man appears to be lying all over the floor, another body for Roger to search, he gets close to the body and:
No loot? Boo! Those four letters might be important though. Roger takes a closer look at the screen:
Since he's only got one code he types it in and crosses his fingers!
Victory! Roger has managed to save his planet from the horror of relentless salesmen! That GENERAL STATUS has Roger worried, though he doesn't quite know what either one of those words mean, anything being CRITICAL can't be good though... The only way out seems up the stairs:
Roger investigates the box and finds inside an oxygen tank and mask, which he takes and then puts on, recalling the external condition of the asteroid:
(I think this the first instance I can think of in a Sierra game where they try to express distance in a single screen, as Roger turns the corner, which you notice is obscured, when he walks into view again he is smaller. They use the effect again in the next screen)
I also like how that second tube screen has the asteroid as red, a subtle reminder to the player that everything is not well here. Exiting the tube leaves Roger here, if he walked to the east he'd end up back at the elevator screen (I'll show you in a bit) so he heads west, where he walks through a series of corridors:
That doesn't look friendly! You'll also note that I've already typed in the next command, as we now have to turn around and run away from this mechanical menace, hiding in the external tube, so that it passes us before we can go further down this corridor (though we won't we just need enough time to open one of those escape pods and get into it before the robot gets us.) Speaking of such, what is that thing anyway?
Back in the external tube:
After the enlightening commentary and warning by the game (which also informs that Roger has slipped back on the mask) Roger turns around and exits the tube and heads westward. He is soon followed by the Marrowmatic:
Again, I've typed my command in beforehand, as the robot doesn't give you much time to open the pod and get in it, in fact I've never cut it closer:
Roger better push it then!
The game goes through the countdown til reaching zero:
WooHoo we beat the game! It's over! Thanks for watching folks, we will see you back here for... Wait a second! I don't have a perfect score! What'd I miss? Find out next time in the shocking conclusion to Space Quest 2!
Roger and I both thought we'd beat this game to a pulp but the score and this warning destroyed our illusions:
Roger looks around his tiny surroundings:
A chamber! let's open it:
250 out of 250! That is more like it! And we've come to the end of Space Quest 2! I've got to show you the remaining deaths and where the escape pod corridor leads to, but it's pretty much done! Thanks for following and stay tuned for Space Quest 3 (arguably the best game in the series).
Waiting around in the Glass Jar:
Falling off Vohaul's desk:
Visiting Vohaul while tiny:
Shrink yourself again instead of returning to normal size:
Falling off the Stairs or Platform:
Take too long stopping the clone launch:
Don't bother wearing the oxygen mask in the exterior tube:
Take too long to get off the asteroid (not actually 40 minutes):
Play with the MarrowMatic:
Take too long getting into the sleep chamber:
And that is it folks! In a few days I'll be starting up Space Quest 3! Any requests or suggestions on how it is played?