Once belonging to an eccentric 19th century magician named Carno, the house and surrounding grounds are strange to say the least, replete with bizarre torture devices, outlandish architecture, austere portraits, lots of secret rooms and one grab-happy haunted bed. Players take on the role of Adrienne, controlling an FMV sprite of the actress who portrays her (tastefully dressed in another 90s phenomenon: high-waisted jeans). As her photographer husband begins converting a second-story bathroom into his personal darkroom, Adrienne decides to explore the house. A young married couple, Adrienne Delaney and Don Gordon, buy an old mansion located outside of what appears to be a coastal town in either New England or the Pacific Northwest. %Gallery-178177% The story of Phantasmagoria is pulled straight from traditional horror tropes. And, like Mortal Kombat and Night Trap before it, Phantasmagoria's realistic and often gruesome depiction of its characters stirred up controversy. Like CD-ROM sensation Myst, all the characters are rendered using full-motion video, while the environments are all composed of static, pre-rendered 3D backgrounds. Released in 1995, it was smack in the middle of publisher Sierra's adventure game heyday. In some ways, Phantasmagoria is the quintessential 90s game, borrowing elements – intentionally or not – from some of the decade's biggest phenomena. (Maybe I'll tell you about my family's PCJr in a future column.)
PHANTASMAGORIA GAME PLAY PC
My family didn't have much of a PC at the time, but Danny and Mikey had a 486 beast that could run Windows 95 and a glut of incredible games I couldn't get at home. I played the majority of the game on my friends Danny and Mikey's computer. Not that I could have told you who Roberta Williams was when I first played the game in the mid-1990s. The only reason this column exists is because I wanted an excuse to write about Phantasmagoria, an adventure game created by industry pioneer Roberta Williams.
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