The 1991 video game adaptation of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade for the Nintendo Entertainment System was, in a number of ways, a big improvement over the crappy Temple of Doom game that preceded it. I might even go so far as to call this one pretty playable! That’s a huge leap forward. Of course, it was still a licensed title based on a movie, which effectively limited how good it could be, especially in the 8-bit era.

After the legal mess of the NES Temple of Doom game changing hands between two publishers, the franchise license for the sequel was handed next to Taito, developers of the classic Bubble Bobble. Rather than dumb down an arcade game and port it to the home console, as happened with the last one, the new studio built Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade specifically for NES. Moreover, the sequel actually makes a good-faith attempt to adapt the plot of the film, to the extent that was possible for an 8-bit game in those days (i.e. not much).

Title:	Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Year of Release:	1991
Publisher:	Taito
Gaming Platform:	NES

The NES Last Crusade opens with a title screen and some cut-scenes that feature graphics with a fair 8-bit resemblance to Harrison Ford and a new chiptune rendition of John Williams’ theme music on the soundtrack. The images are entirely static, naturally, but some effort was exerted to remind you of the movie.

After you start the game proper, the graphics become a lot simpler, though are still pretty decent for the time. Your character sprite may not have a face, but he at least has the vague shape of a man wearing a hat and holding a whip. The environments are reasonably detailed, and a level set aboard a boat has a rather impressive (for NES) feature that the entire stage rocks back and forth under your feet, to simulate the boat rolling on the ocean waves.

Taito also provides some variety to the gameplay by letting players choose which order Indy should follow the clues to find the Holy Grail. You can start, like the movie does, by attempting to retrieve the Cross of Coronado from pirates first, or you can jump directly to Venice to find a drawing of the Grail and come back to the ship later. After each level, you’re presented with multiple-choice options for where to go next. Stages include traditional side-scrolling platforming, a top-down motorcycle chase, a rearrange-the-pattern puzzle, a beat-’em-up fight with Nazis on top of a moving tank, and eventually more puzzles in the Grail sanctum.

Gameplay is very difficult and frustrating, and I’m not convinced it’s all intentionally so. The controls mostly stink. Indy can either walk ridiculously slowly, or run with practically no ability to stop until you hit a wall or a bad guy. When fighting, you’re basically forced to mash buttons and hope for the best. As much as Indy punches and kicks (because Indiana Jones is known for his kickboxing skills, right?), your blows do very little damage to your opponents, whereas theirs will harm you much faster. Your whip can kill with just one snap, but it’s only useful when the enemy is a very specific distance away from you. Once step further or closer, you’ll never hit them, and they’ll run up into your face to deplete most of your life meter before you have time to switch back to fists.

The motorcycle driving level likewise has awkward controls and a limited view in front of you, the combination of which makes avoiding obstacles next to impossible. A Nazi castle is arranged as a confounding maze that I needed a walkthrough guide to navigate, and I swear I completed the Grail drawing puzzle before the timer ran out, only for absolutely nothing to happen and the game to tell me I failed anyway.

Ultimately, it turns out you don’t even need to complete all of the levels to win the game. You can skip some of them and still get to the Grail. If your goal is just to finish the plot as quickly as possible, those stages will seem entirely pointless. However, they may have more value on replay if you’re looking for something new to do.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is certainly not a great NES game, but for a licensed title based on a movie, it rates better than average – or at least more tolerable than many others of its kind. That’s something. I was interested enough to make an effort to complete it, which is more than I can say for most of these NES movie-based games I feel a compulsion to play.

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