ADVENTURE #00
Jim Jacobson seems to have been one of the earlier Eamon authors, writing some
of the better examples of dungeon adventures with a light hearted fantasy
atmosphere typical of the 1980s (they rather reminded me of fighting fantasy
game books). 

Yet in Eamon deluxe these adventures have some quite advanced features and
interesting specials. This is partly due to Jim's earlier work, but also because
Frank has added many modifications to the games, as well as smoothing a few of
the games' issues, such as providing alternative solutions for some of the more
obscure puzzles.

The thing that really shines in these adventures is the setting and characters.
While originally one adventure would reference elements from another such as the
powerful wizard Trezore, Frank has expanded these so that the status of the
characters you meet is remembered adventure to adventure, and people you meet in
one, will pop up in another if they get out alive, (though you can always delete
and edit the file that saves this info if you want to start fresh).
<paws>
This adds a very nice overall continuous feeling to the whole pack. Plus, many
of the characters have been customized to give comments or actions in various
situations, making them far more believable than the usual Eamon allies who just
run after you swinging at whatever you attack.

Most of the adventures have a distinct story of their own and quite dramatic
confrontations with boss like characters too, which definitely ups the ante from
the usual looting mission. Though puzzles do pop up, I found most to be fairly
relaxed, and even if not, Frank has provided hints to get you through if you're
really stuck.
<paws>
ADVENTURE #01
Though the original review puts this down as a short smash, grab and find your
way out dungeon, this is not really a true description of the Eamon Deluxe Cave
of the Mind since, possibly due to Frank's modifications, there is actually more
to this adventure than you might think. [Editor's note Roughly 50% or more of
the content in these adventures is new, Eamon-Deluxe-exclusive material.]

Firstly, while usually in these sorts of situations you are simply transported
to the dungeon and left by random events such as a cave in, here there is
distinctly a malign (or at least illogical), force at work, which you do get to
confront throughout the adventure. Several traps and enemies are set on you by
the villain directly, complete with taunts and evil laughter, and you get to
vanquish the menace at the end. This gave far more of a quest like feeling, only
enhanced by the fact that the friends you make here on this introduction to the
campaign are people you will meet later.
<paws>
Secondly, the design was very compact. Though this is certainly one of the
shortest games, each room had something interesting in it and I never felt I was
wandering pointlessly through excess corridors. The descriptions also contribute
to this feeling as most rooms have a nice background and appropriate enemies
inhabiting them. I also appreciated the few light weight puzzles, (indeed I
hesitate to call these puzzles at all since all seemed pretty obvious so long as
you explore everywhere and remember what objects you've got), though this is
undoubtedly much more a combat outing, albeit one with some fun effects to play
with. The chance to control a robot was particularly nice, - and to anyone who
has only seen the modern Battle Star Galactica, originally the Cylons WERE
clunking metallic robots with infra red eyes.
<paws>
Speaking of combat, fights are around the medium mark though a couple might be
tough for a character just out of the beginners' cave, but probably would be
easy for someone more experienced. Indeed, the fact that I wanted to keep my
companions alive gave quite a new spin to combat, especially with things like
critical hits and fumbles which I don't believe were included in the original
version of this game.

All in all a fun little intro to the pack combining a slightly light hearted
treasure and murder dungeon with (quite literally), an evil mastermind.
Definitely worth the short amount of time you'll need to play it.
<paws>
ADVENTURE #02
If Cave of the Mind was the prologue to this volume, The Zyphur Riverventure is
most definitely the first chapter, and a pretty great chapter at that. Right
from the start you're given a distinct plot and objective, indeed quite a heroic
one, rescuing a scientist from the clutches of villainy and preventing an attack
on the Eamon Guild. The setting is also radically different from the usual
underground dungeon, being a river surrounded by mountains and forests,
navigating the river with your boat plays a significant part of the adventure,
though the problem mentioned in the original review of needing to constantly
enter the boat before sailing anywhere seems to have been fixed by Frank.

Boating however does provide a challenge to navigating through the rather large
map, and understanding how the rooms link up along the river is certainly
necessary if you don't want to get lost, - though since the rooms are distinct
enough (as well as being thematically described), this shouldn't be too much of
a concern. Though this had fewer specials and effects than Cave of the Mind,
this went well with the overall more wild and naturalistic scenario, and what
affects were there were very nice, I particularly liked the appearance of the
villain here, it was appropriately startling.
<paws>
The companion system also comes into it's own in this adventure too, since
exploring out of the way places can meet some interesting allies who of course
you get to encounter later on in the set, and indeed since there are some
battles that would be quite hard for a beginning character solo, it pays you to
make friends. 

My only problem is that some of the enemies seemed a little random. The Black
Warrior's various henchmen came across very well (indeed they gave the whole
setup a rather James Bond sort of feeling), but the same is not true of the
wildlife which seemed distinctly out of place being composed of a collection of
Wind in the Willows rejects and general fantasy monsters. One in particular, the
dragon, (one of the hardest fights in the adventure) seemed rather lackluster as
there was no reason for it to be there, and you gained nothing special for
killing it. Likewise, you meet some unique allies like the egotistical Gold
Warrior and Doctor Benway from Interzone (whether from the William Burroughs
novel or Frank's own later adventure I don't know, but a character with distinct
personality either way). [Editor's note: he is from both.]
<paws>
Other allies seemed flat and rather purposeless however, such as the character
who is described as the professor from Gilligan's Island who seemed nothing but
a walking reference to the American TV program, though it's possible that this
reference is more humorous if you have seen the show in question.

There is also an interesting special (and one which challenges the loot and
pillage approach to most Eamons), but unfortunately you can finish the whole
adventure without tangling with it, (Though Frank's hints, particularly the "For
your amusement..." section, do help here).

Overall Treasure seemed a little low, but since it's distinctly a quest rather
than a cash smash this wasn't too out of place, and is made up for nicely by the
reward you get, indeed exploring fully can get some very nice rewards, though
just on description and exploration alone this one is worth a play.
<paws>
ADVENTURE #03
The plot here I found slightly uninspired, since like Cave of the Mind, you're
transported instantly into a dungeon and need to find your way out, but with no
direct villain involved other than the general demonic powers, (I presume Hades
mentioned in the introduction was just a polite way of talking about Hell, since
this seemed far more the western idea of the realm of fire than the underworld
of Greek mythology). 

Either way, it's a fairly traditional dungeon with a few traps and dirty tricks
thrown in, though thanks to saving and restoring this wasn't too bad even when
the traps were fatal. Descriptions overall were reasonable, giving an impression
of a subterranean complex one part Inferno, one part mental hospital with a good
serving of fantasy dungeon on the side.

Reading the original review, I get the strong idea Frank worked to make several
of the puzzles more logical, as well as adding in past friends and enemies to
run into along the way, all of which definitely contributes to the overall
experience.
<paws>
The only thing I found a bit disappointing was the Trezore spell, which
(especially given references to Trezore in Jim's other adventures), seemingly
should've helped more than it did.

Fight-wise things could get tough. Like several of Jim's other adventures there
is something of a final confrontation, albeit in this adventure one you just
seem to stumble into rather than a planned encounter, and you need a good set of
trusty companions there if you're a starting level character. Most enemies and
allies you meet seem appropriate for the setting, though there did seem to be a
couple of strange choices (what a tiger or a lady wrestler are doing in hell I
don't know).

Overall a solid example of a traditional dungeon adventure, and therefore
probably worth a visit, though not perhaps the most original adventure in the
set.
<paws>
ADVENTURE #04
Though the Eamon club review of the original seemed to rate this as a fairly
solid title, I felt slightly disappointed when comparing this to the other
Jacobson offerings. The initial setup seemed very promising, a distinct
objective in the form of a rescue, and a few rooms in, the need to escape, thus
it seemed almost a combination of the ideas from previous adventures. Quickly
however this feeling of novelty wore off, mostly and primarily due to the
setting. Compared to the distinct and colorful underground rooms in Jim's other
adventures, the dungeon here seemed mostly made up of extremely dull, rocky
rooms and passageways with descriptions that often duplicated the room names and
offered nothing in the way of scenery, in fact the only interesting rooms in the
entire dungeon were the Abductor's quarters themselves. This was compounded by
the map being fairly large with many empty stretches of corridor and dead ends,
and indeed a very short maze where all room descriptions looked the same.
<paws>
On the plus side there were some interesting effects and puzzles to play with,
though perhaps not enough to make up for the rather empty dungeon map, though
the Bandit mentioned in the club review was clearly fixed by Frank and now
serves quite a nice purpose as part of the rewards. The maze, though having
some switch back connections, was also far easier than some I've seen of this
type in text adventures, and so very possible with some trial and error.

Characters-wise, there seemed to be fewer around here, both allies and enemies.
Frank has modified some of the standard guards to have more interesting names
and descriptions and I believe, to wander at random. While the descriptions are
definitely good and provide some humor, there did seem to be a mild problem in
that I always seemed to run into all the monsters in a clump, rather than
wandering separately through the dungeon where they would've possibly been a
welcome break to the rather drab surroundings.
<paws>
Fewer allies seemed to show up here than in other titles, and indeed one (an
admiral), seemed rather out of place for an underground dungeon (he might've
actually been more appropriate to the Zyphur River setting). With the lack of
allies, fights are hard, even for a character who withstood the other
adventures. The confrontation with the Abductor and his minions in particular
took a deal of luck and strategic use of spells on my part. Though this fight
is theoretically avoidable, who's really going to enter the quarters of the evil
Abductor and not fight him?
<paws>
I was also a little disappointed that, being as this is the climax of the set,
more friends and foes from other adventures didn't show up, though it's
possible I just failed to befriend the right people earlier.

As far as rewards, things were pretty average; indeed I was a little sorry to
not get anything for the rescue, though since it was a quest adventure it was
satisfying just to complete the mission. While The Abductor's quarters has some
nice points such as the specials and a very tough and dramatic fight, it's
probably not one for those who are impatient with large maps or lack of
descriptions.
<paws>
ADVENTURE #05
Though this adventure doesn't share the visitor's file with the others in the
set, it still should most distinctly be thought of as the conclusion, since it
revisits several concepts from the previous outings, like riding in a boat
(indeed this could've been set along the Zyphur River), and some characters and
situations such as the wizard Trezore.

As a climax to the other adventures it works extremely well. Though a dungeon,
you have a distinct objective in mind, finding wizard Trezore and gaining his
help in defeating an evil wizard (though why you don't just take the usual Eamon
approach to wizard extermination is slightly unclear here). The adventure also
has a distinct structure, since almost at the start you are introduced to the
final objective, a door that requires certain items to get through, and thus
the rest of your adventure is spent looking for those items. 
<paws>
The setting and map are very nice, large but interesting with some good specials
and puzzles to play with, and some very nice descriptions and a good array of
enemies. I will confess that meeting Skeletor was a little out of place, but
Skeletor is so awesome I'll let that pass.

The Eamon Club review details this as a tough adventure both in it's combat and
in some of the puzzles. Frank obviously took this on board since right off the
bat you are introduced to two companions, one indeed who you'll have met and
another you'll have heard of frequently in the previous adventures. This pair
help you in battle, provide some comic relief, and also give rather
condescending advice, much of which actually involves giving out and out
solutions to the puzzles in the game while blatantly scooping up most of the
treasure for themselves. As an easy mode option this is pretty cool, and they
certainly provide some laughs, but with Frank's more than adequate hint system
I'm not sure how absolutely necessary these two were.
<paws>
I was also waiting to see this annoyingly smug duo get their just deserts, but
sadly it never happened, and in fact the sense of accomplishment from this
adventure is rather lessened because of this. It also seems that the only way to
remove this pair is to kill them, and since they're your allies that isn't such
a good direction (besides it'd be quite a tough battle). [Editor's note: That
actually isn't an option as there is special programming in place which doesn't
allow the player to do anything aggressive towards companions.]

Apart from the companions, the ending to the adventure also seemed a little
abrupt as well. It would've been nice to actually meet Trezore, or, - with the
way Frank has modified the games, for the friends whom Trezore rescues to be
some of the friends from previous adventures, but you can't have everything, and
the adventure is still a lot of fun.
<paws>
Despite it's problems, this is still definitely a great adventure to play and a
worthy climax to the campaign, and thus absolutely recommended.

As a whole the Jim Jacobson Adventures Deluxe were a great play. High fantasy
dungeon diving in the best tradition, but with enough magic and specials, not to
mention a very consistent setting  and great characters to give them a good deal
of personality of their own.
<paws>
ADVENTURE #06