Be that as it may, Little Big Adventure — Twinsen’s Quest was clearly created with love for the original. And the fact that many of the staff had pristine portfolios was compensated for by the experience of Didier Chauffray, who had been around the block a few times in game development. At least, it tried to compensate for it. Let’s see how successful it was.
The task of two bodies
The game still takes place on the planet Twinsen, which is located (as you might guess from the name) between two suns.
The planet has two inhabited and constantly illuminated hemispheres, so don’t be surprised that the poles look like a desert and the equator is a chain of snow-capped mountains. Twinsan is inhabited by four races: spherical Spheros, human-like Quetsch, Grobo (elephants standing on their hind legs), and Rabbit Rabbits (no explanation needed here, I think).
The main character of LBA is Quetsch Twinsen (no changes here either). He wants to save the planet from the evil doctor (and dictator) Fanfrock. Fanfrock has mass-produced clones to increase his army and placed teleports throughout Twinsan so that, if necessary, elephants with clubs can immediately punish the rebels.
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All of the protagonist’s adventures are, in essence, a struggle against the regime, helping the rebels, and regular escapes from prisons on different islands. Add a touch of magic and trademark humor to this, and you get Little Big Adventure in all its glory. The remake didn’t change anything radically, but some new details are surprising, to say the least.
First, Twinsen now has a younger sister, Luna. It is she (and not his beloved) who is kidnapped by Fanfrock at the beginning of the game. Twinsen’s bride is also present in the plot, but she leaves him a year before the events of LBA to join the rebels. Zoe has gone from being a damsel in distress in a pink evening gown to a feisty rebel. All of their frivolous flirting has been cut from the game. The most they get is a kiss at the end.
References to Twinsen’s father and Luna were added to the story, suggesting that the characters inherited their magical powers from him. In the original, the hero was simply chosen on his own, and no magical relatives were mentioned.
The expansion of the family made some changes to the plot. In the 1994 LBA, Twinsen starts out in a prison-hospital (he was sent there because of a denunciation: he had prophetic dreams, and Fanfrock tried to get rid of everything magical), in the remake we are first shown a cheerful world before the clones took over, then Zoe’s departure and the rebellious spirit of her sister, who attacks one of the doctor’s soldiers. Twinsen stands up for her and is sent to prison for it.
What’s great about Twinsen’s Quest is that almost all of the NPCs’ lines have been preserved exactly as they were, and, as it turns out, they haven’t lost their sharpness and humor in 30 years. The only thing that caught my eye was the muted theme of sexuality — which is actually surprising for the amorous French! Here’s an example.
There is a mini-quest in the game — to get past the guard. In the original, Madame Rabbit seduced him at our request by striking a suggestive pose against the wall of the house. In the remake, the girl asks us to bring her a rebel costume (for this, Twinsen’s Quest replaced the stable with a clothing store), and then simply teases the grave robber in it. Combined with the cut flirting with Zoe, all this suggests that the developers deliberately decided to remove any hints of sex from the game.
At the same time, the combat is, unfortunately, still just as awkward. Twinsen can attack both up close (with his hands or a saber) and from a distance by throwing a magic ball, which you still have to get used to hitting. The clone enemies have much more annoying and unpleasant weapons in their arsenal, so it’s better not to stand near them: that’s the only way they can take away your health. The only thing that saves you in such an unequal battle is that the enemies quickly lose interest in the main character as soon as he moves away a little.