Questprobe

Questprobe is a trilogy of graphic adventure video games featuring Marvel Comics characters. The three games are Questprobe featuring The Hulk, Questprobe featuring Spider-Man and Questprobe featuring Human Torch and Thing.

History

In 1983, Marvel Comics searched for a licensee for use of its characters in a home computer game, and approached Adventure International; its founder and CEO Scott Adams was interested in the venture as an avid reader of Marvel since his childhood, and the two parties agreed to a contract on December 1, 1983.<ref name=PowerPlay>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Marvel's ten-year license for Adventure's use of its characters was Marvel's first long-term license,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> as well as Adventure's first use of licensed characters. Adams, given unlimited freedom in creating the games, spent an afternoon coordinating a rough overview of the series with Marvel writer John Byrne, and Bob Budiansky would oversee the entire project. The series title came from Adams's attempt to formulate a title that would indicate the player's involvement in a search. The Hulk was selected as the star of the first installment because of his widespread recognition among general audiences,<ref name=PowerPlay/> and the game would be the Hulk's first appearance within the medium.<ref name="GameSpotSuperFun">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Questprobe featuring The Hulk was released on May 1, 1984, for the Acorn Electron, Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Dragon 32, IBM PC compatibles, and ZX Spectrum.<ref name="HG101">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The game's release was accompanied by a comic similarly titled Questprobe, with the first issue centering on the Hulk being tricked into saving a doomed planet.<ref name="RunReview">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Because wholesalers had no provisions for distributing comics, Adventure International decided to reduce the size of subsequent issues in order to package the comics along with the games.<ref name="MicroAdventurerReview">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In January 1985, Adams revealed that he was developing a second Questprobe game with Al Milgrom based on Spider-Man, and disclosed plans to release a new game every three to five months, with a projected total of twelve or thirteen games. Subsequent games involving Human Torch and Captain America were planned at the time, as were potential games showcasing Iron Man and a villain character.<ref name=PowerPlay/>

Cancelled X-Men game

The fourth title in the series was to include the X-Men. This game was partly coded by Scott Adams but never saw the light of day as a published game, as Adventure International became bankrupt during its development in 1986.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Comic book tie-ins

A Questprobe comic book tie-in was also released. Originally intended as a 12-issue miniseries, this series was canceled after issue #3 (November 1985) due to Adventure International's bankruptcy.<ref>Questprobe at the Grand Comics Database</ref> The story intended for issue #4, featuring the X-Men, was published in Marvel Fanfare #33 (July 1987).<ref>Marvel Fanfare #33 at the Grand Comics Database</ref> The events of the Questprobe comic book were later followed up on in the Quasar series. The Chief Examiner from the game and comics received an entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #2 (January 1986).

External links

• Template:Moby game
• Questprobe series at Universal Videogame List
• Questprobe series at the Interactive Fiction Database