Destination: Treasure Island 1.5

Destination: Treasure Island is a first-person Myst-like puzzle adventure game set in the world of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel, Treasure Island. The events of the game take place after the events of the book; Tom is the grown-up captain of his own ship, at least until mutineers force him to make off on his own, following a trail of clues left by Long John Silver for a worthy treasure hunter. Although the puzzles are heavily item-based (in my opinion, the developer's easy way out), there are quite a few intriguing logic-based activities as well. Plus, you can learn how to tie a mean rope knot.

Graphically, the game holds its own. Rather than deal with the black magic of creating convincing 3D character animation, sequences of intense action are portrayed in 2D comic format, while idle 3D characters populate the prerendered island environment. I have always found the level of detail made possible by prerendered scenes remarkable, and Destination: Treasure Island makes the most of the format.

Although the storyline is rather cheesy and contrived (one scene forces you, out of questionable necessity, to melt down all your gold in order to obtain the "true treasure" of love), it is also very kid-friendly. As with most item-based puzzles, there are times you may be better off looking at hints online than searching every crevice in the game world for a hidden item you didn't know you needed. Still, probably worth the price and will satisfy most puzzle adventure aficionados.