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| Sierra is best known for it's puzzle and adventure games (most famous of which are the games from The Incredible Machine series, Dr Brain series and games from Quest series). Jones In the Fast Lane belongs to neither of these. Is that a bad thing? No, far from it! Made in 16 color graphics, and beeper sound (because there was no better thing back then), Jones In the Fast Lane stars a young individual trying to achieve his/her goals in life. |
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At the very beginning of this life sim, the player has to set his goals in life - what kind of an education, career, wealth and social life does she/he want. The higher the goals, the longer the game.
In the game, all revolves around the money. You'll need to have enough of it to go out (to movies, concerts, games), to pay the bills (doctor's bills, rent), to buy clothes, to educate yourself, to get a better apartment, to buy things for your flat etc. |
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 And the only source of it (money, that is) is a job (and a few lottery winnings, but they do not happen that often). Finding a good paying job is not as easy at first - you don't have enough experience or education, so you'll have to wok hard to earn money for your education, which will, later on, open the door to better (i.e. higher) paying jobs, which will in return give you more money and experience, so you could get more education, and so on. If there's anything that this game doesn't lack, it's losing your money. Every week, no matter what you do, you'll have some expenses, and if you do not have a job this could be a problem.
Time flow in the game is represented through work days. Every time you go to your workplace, and work (well, duh), one day goes by. Of course, you can go shopping, studying or investing your money, and then going to work, all in the same day.
There are random elements in the game, which should add to reality factor. Some of them are: being mugged (yeah, life sucks, especially if your rent is due next week, or if you need new clothes), losing your job due to depression, having to visit the doctor, repairing your furniture, sudden price jumps, winning the lottery etc.
The game screen is divided into two parts. The first part holds the picture of your character and statistics considering him/her (available via right-click). The second part is a map of the city in which you work, and where you play the game (by doing some of the things like working, investing your money, paying your rent, buying clothes, furniture etc). It might look a bit monotonous, but it isn't, because of the good gameplay. As far as replay value is concerned, the game has it, be it single player (where you can play alone, or against the computer) or multiplayer (up to four players supported) mode. One flaw (although not that big), is lack of multiple save slots. The game offers you only one slot to save your game (and that overwrites the previously saved game). This is, as I've said, not that big of a flaw, because you can easily finish the game without saving it. Another thing, that has surprised me, was the size of the game - only 610 kbytes. I don't know if this is the original size of it or not.
So, is Jones In the Fast Lane worth a try? Yes, it is. The gameplay is quite good, and so is the replay value. So, all you Sims fans out there could give this game a try ;) |
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| Reviewer: Abandon5000 |
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