Bill and Ted are totally radical, Californian surf-
The snag is Bill's Dad wants to send him to the military academy, which means no more band. Everything hangs on Bill passing his history exam, because if he fails, it's "att-ten-sion" time. A silly, ludicrous tale is about to be told, identical, in spirt, to the movie.
Wild Stallynz
Who can save them from this fate? Rufus can. A dude from the 25th century who wants to help them. Why? Well their band will one day save the universe from destruction. So he gives them a time-
The way to pass their exam is by stealing famous figures from the past and let them do the talking. The theory being dudes like Ghengis Khan, Joan of Arc and Billy the Kid, should easily adjust to the phenomenon of time travel.
It isn't as easy as it sounds though. The famous historical dudes don't want to come so you have to help Bill and Ted find an object that will tempt them back. Ghengis Khan, for example, is a sucker for Twinkie bars.
Once B and T have nabbed the famous dudes they have to take them back to the San Dimas' shopping mall. Once enough of them have been collected it's time to hit the history class.
The one time zone the payphone can't affect is San Dimas', so they must be swift. They need to get six dudes on the easy level and twelve on the ahrd level to complete their assignment. That's the adventure, can Bill and Ted gather the folks in time to save the Wild Stallynz (their band) as well as the world?
All the objects of Bill and Ted's desire are obvious. Each time zone contains one historical figure and one item to collect. The trick si leaping between the zones and uniting the right 'dude' with the right object.
The four levels vary in difficulty, increasing the stakes by adding more characters or linking the times in a more tenuous fashion. The objects required are always the same, as are the characters. Freud, for instance, always needs flowers to tempt him away from his mother. While they are not in the same location on the higher levels, the flowers still manage to do the trick. So by the fourth level you will have met all the characters and known the solution to all the puzzles, it is just you have to rush to bring the two together. First time round this is reasonably fun, later on it drags.
There are a couple of arcade sections involving simple jumps and dodging falling bombs. These could have formed an excellent foil to the slower-
Excellent?
Samples from the movie add a righteous atmosphere, with Bill and Ted continually saying "excellent", "bogus" and other snippets. The music and sound effects are triumphant but the graphics are not nearly narly enough.
Bill and Ted could have been 'triumphant', as the movie has scope for a radical adventure game, but this is little more than a frantic scavenger hunt. The presentation is excellent, with a little telephone directory included in the box. This is no substitute, though, for the shallow and unchallenging gameplay. The puzzles are obvious and repetitive. For very young players, Bill and Ted is perfect, but for older dudes: it's bogus!