While everybody celebrates the announcement of the Capcom Fighting Collection and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection, QuByte has quietly been re-releasing some oft-forgotten classics from the early 1990s. Dubbed QuClassics, we've recently seen modern console ports of both cavemen puzzle game The Humans and The Immortal, one of Electronic Arts' earliest fantasy adventure games. That's really cool, but are either of these games worth playing? To answer this question, I have decided to flip through the pages of Video Games & Computer Entertainment, Sega Pro, Mega Play and more to see what critics said when these games when they first came out. Join me for this debut episode of QuClassics Review Crew.


Before there were Humans, there were Lemmings. Okay, I'm not sure if that's true, but that's definitely the case when it came to video games. Seeing the worldwide success of Lemmings by Psygnosis, Imagitec Designs decided to create a similar puzzle game starring a bunch of cavemen. The result was The Humans, an instantly likable side-scroller that would not only get ported to everything from the Genesis to the Super NES to the Lynx, but also spawn two different sequels. This port of the game features both the 16-bit and portable versions of the game, though sadly ignores the 1995 and 2009 follow-ups.

When it came to the reviews, the critics were sharply divided. The highest score I could find was Dave's take in Mega Play, where he gave it a 92% and called it an "addicting game with plenty of levels to keep players busy." However, in the very same issue, G.O.G. gave the game a 75% and complained that it's "too slow." Like I said, the critics were divided.

When Mega reviewed The Humans in 1993, they focused more on the Lemmings similarities than anything else: "Not quite Lemmings, but pretty close. It's slightly repetitive, but fans of this style of game certainly won't be disappointed." Across the board, the British critics were more likely to give the game high scores than American critics.

You definitely saw this in the Electronic Gaming Monthly reviews, where the scores averaged to a mere 6.75. However, I think it's Video Games & Computer Entertainment who ends up doing the best job describing the problem with The Humans. In the same issue that gave us reviews of Star Fox and Bubsy the Bobcat, they complained that "The main fault with Humans isn't that it fails to live up to Lemmings, rather, Humans fails to live up to itself. Print ads, box art and the instruction manual have created the image of a game with humor. Humans would pull players in by amusing them, or so it seemed. What the image really does is try to compensate for the game's woefully unengaging and slow pace." Thirty years later, and now completely detached from the humorous adverts, perhaps gamers will have a chance to appreciate The Humans for what it has always been -- a rock solid puzzle game.

Long before Electronic Arts published Dragon Age, they gave us The Immortal, a dark and moody isometric adventure game released on the Nintendo Entertainment System, Genesis and a whole bunch of computers. You play an unnamed wizard who enters the Labyrinth of Eternity to rescue the hero's mentor -- Mordamir. The wizard will need to solve puzzles, avoid deathtraps and use a wide assortment of magic spells to kill the monsters of the maze. The game is best-known for its dark fantasy visuals, epic battles and oddly compelling story. And what's really cool is that this brand-new port features both the 8- and 16-bit versions of the game, which are different in some fascinating ways.

While it may not have been the kind of success that spawns multiple sequels, The Immortal was well-received by the critics. In fact, I think it's fair to say that many critics loved the game. I mean, it got a 5 out of 5 from GamePro, saying that "The Immortal conjures up an extraordinary adventure for 16-bit fantasy fans and action buffs. Its only drawback is that once you solve the game -- you've solved it. This is a linear adventure, which makes replaying it much like re-reading a good whodunnit novel after you already know whodunnit. Of course, trying to solve the game can drive you nuts. If you want to add some major magic to your video gaming life, fire up The Immortal."

You also saw similar high marks from the completely unrelated Sega Pro, which ended up giving the game a 94%. "What a corker Immortal is. Blood 'n guts fans will adore it as will hardened arcade adventurers. I love the way you can chop an enemy in half, blow his brains up or make his skin fall away from his body. Excellent!" It's also worth mentioning that fellow British publication Mega Tech gave it an almost identical score of 93%.

Believe it or not, even the lower scores are still pretty great. Mean Machines Sega gave it an 85% and called it a "classic." "The Immortal's greatest strength is the wealth of fiendish puzzles found in every room. There are some sections which might drive you mad, but won't stop you from playing." Video Games & Computer Entertainment also liked The Immortal, but complained that the adventure was too short: "The only major drawback is that the seven levels leave you wanting more. This is no Gauntlet-sized epic, but offers more detail and less length. Adventure game fans have been the most patient -- and most ignored -- of video game players. Finally, they've got something to celebrate: An ingenious game that does justice to the classic sword-and-sorcery genre." Short but great seems to be the consensus. Give it a download and see for yourself.