The last time I spoke with Tony Tough it was to retain his services to uncover the identity of the scoundrel who had pilfered the preview of his upcoming game from the Just Adventure site. That was a year ago. Now Tony is back – okay, so Tony’s not quick, but like a boomerang he always returns – for his latest, and only, adventure Tony Tough and the Night of Roasted Moths.

Now Tony is not your average private eye. In fact, think of Tony as a pint-sized Columbo, outfitted in a yellow slicker and hat. To be more exact, he’s a gnome-sized, nasal-voiced hypochondriac momma’s boy who left home at the tender age of thirty to work for Wallen & Wallen Investigators, a private detective agency. Now, ten years later, he’s still diligently toiling on the same case involving a pumpkin-headed, candy-thieving psychopath who takes great pleasure in stealing innocent children’s Halloween candy. But Tony is about to embark on an even stranger adventure as Pantagruel, his purple pet tapir, has been kidnapped sending Tony on a desperate search deep inside a demented carnival populated with a peculiar cast of characters.

Night of Roasted Moths is what could be considered a ‘retro’ game. It is a 2D point-and-click comically animated adventure game in the tradition of the Lucas Arts classics Day of the Tentacle and Sam ‘n Max. In these days of technological advancement and too-realistic graphics that add nothing to the gameplay, many publishers were just too cowardly to take a chance on Tony Tough. But luckily, Howard Horowitz of Got Game Entertainment got guts and he realizes that a good adventure game – or any game for that matter – is about the story and not about the graphics.

Yet, I’m glad to tell you that Tony has wonderful, colorful graphics that will flood you with memories of games enjoyed in years past. The majority of the game revolves around a dingy carnival housing exactly the ménage of characters you would expect – a bearded lady, a fortune teller, a pitiful clown - and a full assortment of rides – a ferris wheel and the tunnel of love – and a pizza shop, hot dog stand and a pirate-themed restaurant.

It is though the small touches that most impress. A boy sleeping in the bearded lady’s tent has a snot bubble blowing in and out of his nostril. A stuffed cow hanging on the wall of Tony’s office has a peaceful look on its face, until you pull the tail of the cow (which is hanging in a different office) and then one of its eyes bulges crazily outward. The foreground of one of the carnival scenes consists of the ducks in a shooting gallery. This is the type of fun details normally not found in many of today’s too-serious adventure games.

The voice-acting provided by AudioGodz is top-notch, Tony has a nasal, whining quality that, if not done to perfection, could have quickly become annoying. Some of his one-liners and observations do occasionally fall flat, but it has to be difficult to maintain a constant level of off-the-wall humor throughout the game. As a whole though, the writing is top-notch and I know from past experience (ahem, Monkey Island) that something I may not have found humorous might put the person next to me in hysterics. The rest of the cast is cartoony over-the-top as befits their characters and there honestly is not a clunker in the bunch. The clown in particular is hilarious and his descriptions of his balloon animals will leave you rocking with laughter. A bit more carny music could have added greatly to the atmosphere as would have more outrageous sound effects.

It’s the puzzles though that make or break this type of game. Not only must they be ludicrous, but logical, they most also fit seamlessly into the absurd surroundings. The majority of the puzzles, and the game, revolve around Tony’s attempts to collect the ingredients needed to concoct a potion that will give a fortune-teller the ability to locate the missing Pantagruel. This game of scavenger hunt does become trickier and more complicated as the game progresses, but there almost always seemed to be some sort of visual and especially verbal clue, to push me forward. Once the game progresses pass this point to the actual search for Pantagruel, not only did the puzzles become much more difficult, but it seemed that logic went out the door and I found myself simply trying everything in my inventory in hopes of making the correct choice.

The inventory items are nicely handled and scroll across the bottom of your screen. They are numerous, but at least there are no red herrings in the bunch. The entire game is from a third-person perspective and all movement is controlled via your mouse. A right-click on the mouse opens a screen that allows you to Talk, Use, Take or Examine any item or person.

So is Tony Tough another classic in the mode of Day of the Tentacle? No, but it has been so long since we have had a comic adventure game that I think it is a relief to just have some fun and enjoy some ridiculous puzzles (and, might I add, puzzles that are purposely meant to be ridiculous). Plus, it is a wonderful first effort by Prograph and if they continue to develop games, then it is only a matter of time until this small company matches the legacy of Lucas Arts. More background music and sound effects would have been welcome as would have more of an appearance by a certain character (but I don’t want to give away any of the plot here!). But keep in mind, that for all of the adventure gamers who have played the Lucas Arts classics, there are just as many, if not more, who have not and Tony will be their introduction to this world of absurd humor and for them, Tony Tough and the Night of Roasted Moths could become their classic gaming moment.

Final Grade: A-

System Requirements:

Windows 9x/ME/XP
Pentium 200
32Mb RAM
300kb Hard Drive Free
CD-ROM 8X
Direct X 6.0 or higher
Mouse
Keyboard