If adventure has a name, it must be Indiana Jones. Since the first film, developers have fought to translate the series into gaming: along the way, Indiana Jones has accumulated a collection of games covering genres from platformer to top-down RPG, from brawler to point and click adventure.

Most are average. Some are famously bad. A few are among the worst on their platform. In the coming days, we’ll receive a preview of the next game in the collection: Machine Games’ upcoming Indiana Jones game.

But what would the perfect Indiana Jones game be? You might say that it’s an action game, with shooter and melee elements, as you battle across elaborate set pieces. There may be some slight exploration, or vehicle sections, but it’s focused toward moving you along and anything outside of action set pieces features as a palette cleanser. Endless momentum, like Spielberg trademarked on the silver screen.

But does that capture the heart of Indiana Jones? Let’s consider a few games that embody what makes the series special.

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is not only the best Indiana Jones game to date, and not only a technical marvel that advanced video games as a whole, it’s one of the truly great games. It’s a landmark experience that still holds up today. While it may have a very simplified brawler minigame, it’s primarily a point and click adventure. As you navigate huge, beautiful pixel art areas, you feel like you truly are exploring ruins that haven’t been seen by another human in thousands of years. You really are solving the devious puzzles that bedevil Indiana Jones. The characters all fit the tone and world of the films, and Sophia Hapgood is one of the best characters in the franchise. Smart writing, and an understanding of the heart of the films, helps the game impress more than 30 years later. That is Indiana Jones.

The early Tomb Raider games are the best effort at capturing Indiana Jones without his name on the box; but up through Angel of Darkness, each Tomb Raider entry is primarily a puzzle game. Each area presents a new puzzle, which you solve largely through Lara Croft’s abilities and manipulating the environment. Lucasarts attempted to capitalize on the style, yet Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine misses the mark; it may look like Tomb Raider, it may control like Tomb Raider, but it’s mainly an action game, and the sense of adventure is lost. Only brief moments, like free exploration in Egypt, capture the heart of the experience. The early Tomb Raider games succeed because each game is an extension of sequences like Raiders of the Lost Ark‘s cold open: puzzle solving, exploration, adventure, and a dash of action film flare. That is Indiana Jones.

The second series of Tomb Raider games — Tomb Raider: Legend, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, Tomb Raider: Underworld — succeed because while they aren’t puzzle games, they go all-in on the exploration and adventure. The occasional massive fights feel out of place, compared to the exploration. But solitary, quiet exploration levels, like the entry into Avalon, have stayed with me for years. As Lara Croft’s researcher explains that everything about King Arthur is bunk, foolish, and unworthy, she descends through a decaying tourist trap and into the full magic and light of the real Arthurian world; he is silenced. That is Indiana Jones.

Pathway is a tactical strategy game developed by Robotality, with a cast of characters inspired by adventure films and pulp magazines. The game asks you to play through both the red line travel segments, managing your fuel and supplies as you explore the wilderness, and take command of battles. You are making up the plan as you go. You are engaging in the massive battles, but without losing the knife’s edge thrills of being outclassed and outgunned, and where surprising turns can change the course of the adventure as good and evil clash. That is Indiana Jones.

But what would the perfect Indiana Jones game look like?

The weakest Indiana Jones games to date have been solely action games, varying as the mood of the generation dictated. The best Indiana Jones games to date, whether that adventure has his name or not, put an emphasis on genuine exploration, on puzzle solving, on adventure, on making up the plan as you go, and just enough action for spice. It doesn’t fit neatly into a conventional genre box, or mix of set-pieces. Each game is unique, placing these core aspects in different orders: but each one is there, and of primary importance.

Each successful Indiana Jones game uses its unique mechanics to take you on a real adventure. After all, if adventure has a name…

Featured Image: Lucasarts

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