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Saturday 7 October 2017

GOOSEBUMPS: ESCAPE FROM HORRORLAND


Between 1992 and 1997 over 60 books were released in R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series. During this time, a television show, a board game, several gamebooks and as much merchandise as a Disney movie came to market. In 1996 at the height of that media blitz, Dreamworks Interactive in partnership with Microsoft gained the rights to develop a video game for Windows. The result is Escape to Horrorland, an FMV adventure that boasts Hollywood production value and the involvement of Steven Spielberg.

The Hollywood connection doesn't stop there either. Big-name actors pop up in the later portions that genuinely surprised me. Jeff Goldblum and Isabella Rossellini both have small roles towards the end of the game, but both were still big names at the top of their game. With the recent release of Independence Day and Jurassic Park: The Lost World only a year away, Goldblum was hailed as the highest-paid actor in the industry. That's quite a catch for an adventure game aimed at kids.

Perhaps that's down to Spielberg's involvement. In fact, one could say that the overall quality of the game could be down to him. It eschews computer-generated images for the most part in favour of miniature sets and costumed creatures. The effect is incredibly immersive. Played in the first-person, the other actors will often talk straight to you directly making you an active participant in the story. They have a personality and acting ability (along with a decent script) which is rarely associated with FMV adventures. It owes a huge debt to cinema, while still being first and foremost a game.

The story begins with your best friend, Lizzy, coming to you in a panic. Her family have been sucked into a portal to Horrorland, a ghoulish theme park for monsters she and her family have visited before in the book 'One Day in Horrorland'. Naturally, the two of you get sucked in too. Landing in Werewolf Village, you soon find your bother, Luke and his friend Clay trapped in stocks, desperate for you to release them. The village is surprisingly empty, but it's littered with evidence of the beasts that live there.

It won't be long before you encounter one of them, though. And when you do, you come upon one of the better-executed scares I've seen in a video game of the era. The werewolf is created with costume and make-up instead of dated CGI which still makes it stand out to this day. It has a believably articulated maw that is more frightening and realistic than anything the show has produced. The camera shifts as you fall to the floor and scramble to safety, but our silent protagonist still manages to catch a good glimpse for our benefit.

How the backdrops interact with the live actors is also very impressive. The areas are explored with 360-degree panoramic views and any action won't stop if you're looking the wrong way. Each and every point is alive with little animations, which makes the whole game a pleasure to explore.

While the game itself is pretty easy (it is for kids after all), exploring the horrific theme park perhaps holds the biggest draw. There are entire sections that are not necessary to complete the game but are there anyway and fully realised to boot. For example, early on in the game, you can snoop around a werewolf's residence. You won't be able to enter until you feed the man-eating plant guarding it a juicy steak so it's a puzzle in itself to enter. Inside there's nothing really needed but it's filled with spooky images and visual gags. There's even the man-beast's pin number to be found which will unlock a quick game of Battlezone - that classic arcade game - on the local ATM machine.

Another welcome addition that can be completely ignored is the quick-travel trash cans. These aren't your simple menu-driven conveniences but 3D action levels in the vein of Wolfenstein 3D. You don't have a weapon so you have to be extra careful of the garbage monster that scuttles around down there. The best tactic is to trap him using the many door switches nearby.

So this maze-like section isn't really as convenient or as fast as simply walking above ground, but you will find loads of precious coins strewn around. These can be used as currency to get clues from a mystical wall golem, but more importantly, they act as a lifeline. Every time you get hit, a coin is taken away. Don't worry though, as you're bound to find many throughout the game. There are 777 strewn all over the place and are actually a good excuse for snooping around everywhere. You know you're about to encounter something big when a mass-load of easily found coins surround you. That being said, I never dropped so low that I died, even with a lot of the hits being unavoidable.

There are some negatives that spoil the otherwise handsome production. The first flaw comes when you're being chased through the woods by a vampire. You have to follow the voice of Lizzy who is ahead of you, but the stereo sound didn't seem to work well for me. This made it a frustrating guessing game but I guess you may have more luck if playing with headphones. Some animations later on in the game become quite laughable, which is at odds with the quality that has come before. Defeating Isabella Rossellini's character ends in a joke that wouldn't be out of place in a Monty Python animated sketch. The game is also far too easy, with only a small number of puzzles. Considering the target age group, it's understandable but also a moot point when you factor in the large environments that more than keep you entertained.

I was late to the party when it came to R.L. Stine's super-popular supernatural series for kids. My first experience with the author came with an earlier Scholastic series called Point Horror aimed at the older teen crowd, even though Goosebumps was more probably more fitting for my age group. By the time this long-running series began, I'd moved on to the likes of Stephen King which I was still way too young for).

Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland captures everything that made the series so much fun with an attached budget and production value that wouldn't be seen again until the 2015 movie starring Jack Black. Perhaps because of the name, I thought it would be a cash-grab with lazy design and gameplay but it is anything but. A highly recommended game that both kids and adults will get a kick out of.


To download the game, follow the link below. This exclusive installer uses the DOSBox Daum build of DOSBox 0.74 running Windows '95. Manual included. Tested on Windows 10.

IMPORTANT - Remember to shut down the emulated version of Windows before exiting DOSBox. This could potentially result in errors, lost saves and corrupt data. Press Ctrl-F9 when it is safe to do so.

File Size: 1 Gb.  Install Size: 1.48 Gb.  Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ

Download


Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland is © Dreamworks Interactive
Review, Cover Design and Installer created by me

Like this? Try These...

Goosebumps - Attack of the Mutants  Shivers  Clandestiny

42 comments:

  1. I was in the "gifted" classes in elementary school and for some reason we were allowed to play this when we had free time in there. I have no idea why this was a thing.

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  2. I cannot get this to install, when I run the installer it stops at 3% and crashes, please help! ive tried everything in the FAQ

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    1. Does it crash or does it hang? At 3% it's unpacking an iso over 1GB in size. Be patient and it should complete

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    2. Mine stops at 3% as well, in the installation client it says file CD\GB1.iso is corrupt or unreadable.

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    3. This means it cannot find part 2 of the installer. Information about this can be found in the FAQ

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    4. I read over the FAQ, Ive made a folder, made sure all are installed, ran things in compatability mode- nothing changes the 3%

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    5. I know it works, because I've tested it myself. Even PCGamer used this build to play it for an article ( https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/lets-all-relive-that-time-jeff-goldblum-played-dracula-in-an-fmv-goosebumps-game/ )

      Just keep the installer running for a few minutes and it will get past unpacking the iso and fully install. Also compatibility mode is not necessary. The installer is a Windows 10 package.

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    6. I have the same problem

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  3. Is there a tutorial video anywhere on how to install and play this game? I downloaded dos box and mounted my c:\ drive, but when I try to open the application called Install-GB1, nothing happens. Any help would be appreciated.

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    Replies
    1. You don't need an additional version of DOSBox, it's all included. You run Install-GB1.exe as if it were a GOG installer. It's all prepacked for you.

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    2. Thanks! Whenever I save a game though, it crashes and when I load the file it crashes as well. any ideas?

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    3. I don't recall any saving issues, but I don't have the files to hand at the moment to check. Have you tried running in admin or install outside of program files. I'll also note that the DOSBox Daum save state (the emulator saves rather than the in-game saves) will not work for Win 95 games. There's more info about the quirks of each program I use in the FAQ.

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    4. Thanks for the response. I actually figured it out and I realized I used a different method without the emulator. I used the DL ISO's and burn them to a CD.

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  4. Any advice on how to play this on a macOS X (10.14.6) ?

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    1. Wondering the same. was just reminded of this game and would love to revisit it!

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    2. I don't support MAC, but other users have mentioned that other games work well using WINE. Can't help beyond that I'm afraid.

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  5. Install-Gb1.D02 has a decryption error when i tried to download it.

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  6. Any way to get the sound to work?

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    1. Are you talking about the sound stutters? There are points in the FAQ detailing why that is the case and a couple of possible solutions. Basically, Windows '95 emulation needs a high-end machine to run smoothly, especially with a graphic intensive game such as this.

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  7. Thank you i've been looking for this a long time. Thanks for a clean download and ad-free site i really appreciate it. Is there anywhere i can send a few bucks to support the site?

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    1. nevermind i just found the paypal link. you should put it in your top level navigation!

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  8. Hello! Thanks for your amazing work! I'm now playing through Goosebumps and just wish to mention that the section where you have to follow Lizzy's voice through the forest is actually easy (though figuring it out is not), you only have to pay attention to the words she use. She utters three different phrases ("This way", "Over here" and "Come to me"), one of them means left, one means the middle path and one means right.

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    1. That's good to know. I never caught on to that, and only succeeded through trial and error.

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  9. Mine hung at 3% for about 10 full minutes then it completed successfully. Be patient and give it time, should install eventually.

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  10. Thank you so much for providing me with a way to revisit this game after all these years.

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  11. Thank you so much for this! I've been trying to revisit this game for over 10 years! It works great and plays so smooth.

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  12. Thank you much! this is my all time favorite game from a kid, I have gone through three copies of this game and so happy I don't have to mess around with getting to work on windows 10! you don't know how much this means to me that I can finally replay this game again

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  13. Hi, so I downloaded the game from another site: "https://igg-games.com/goosebumps-escape-from-horrorland-free-download.html" and everything seems to work out up until the point of opening the game itself...that's where the screen is black apart from the upper left corner where the game is. Now one could try and play the game like this if desperate enough yet the amount of focus it would take to focus on the small box in the corner is insane- if anyone can help out/suggest something or be helpful in regards to getting this game up and working for windows 10, I'd truly appreciate it. I see youtube vids up of this game so surely its possible, ppl are just being very stingy with the how for some reason..

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    1. I used DOSBox DAUM running a virtual Windows 95 to get it working. I didn't have much luck playing it natively. The image being in the upper left is due to the desktop not knowing how to display lower resolutions. What you're seeing is probably a 640x480 game playing on a 1920x1080 display (or whatever your resolution is). You can right click the executable an under the Compatibility tab select "run in 640x480". That might help with the IGG-Games version, though I suspect you might come into bugs elsewhere.

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    2. Thank you so much for your reply! I will continue looking into it, especially since I rly miss playing this game it was imo a rly good game for its time- will update on here if I find another solution. Again tysm!

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  14. Any one try running on steam deck? Any tips on giving it a go?

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  15. having trouble getting sound, anybody know of a fix? I have a higher end pc.

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  16. "shut down the emulated version of Windows before exiting DOSBox"

    How do I do that, exactly? Also, the game runs but I get the black borders around the edges when it's in fullscreen mode. So the picture is a tiny little box. I want 1920x1080 at least, how do I fix that?



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    1. The game will play in 4:3 so you will get a pillarboxed view. If it is smaller for you, try changing the Output from the DOSBox config. From the install folder, open DOSBox.conf in Notepad or equivalent. Change "fullresolution=original" to "fullresolution=desktop". That should help. If you want stretched widescreen, change "aspect=true" to "aspect=false"

      Shutting down the emulated windows means exactly what it says. This package emulates the operating system (actually, it's emulating an operating system (DOS) running an operating system (Windows 95) running the game), not the game itself so in order for the virtual hard drive to update so that files such as saved games will remain, it has to go through the shut down process. When you close the game using the main game menu, you will be at a Windows 95 desktop. Click on the START button on the bottom left then select shut down. A message will then appear to say you can close the DOSBox emulator.

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  17. I installed CrossOver for macOS (version 23 for macOS Ventura). Used this installer. Installation worked, but game did not launch.

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  18. Ok, possibly stupid question; how do I switch to disk two?

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  19. Never mind, I finally figured it out.

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  20. I have tried to install this game for days and days exhausting all the troubleshooting options I know of, to no avail. I repeatedly get this error around 14% on the installation:

    250.img: This file contains invalid data. (error 21FC)

    I even tried installing it on a different machine and got the same error. Does anybody have any tips to help me out with this? I'd really love to play it.

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    Replies
    1. This is because it can't find one of the files. Make sure all 6 files have download properly and are in the same folder before running the installer. Just did a test and it works.

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    2. Thanks for answering so quickly Biffman, you were right! I redownloaded the files and it worked this time. Not sure what happened, but it's all good now.

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  21. Does this download package include the dosbox to run the game? I tried downloading the game through another website and it would only play the intro the the screen would go back. Any help would be appreciated

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    1. Dosbox is integrated into it.. You simply click the icon after it installs and it should work just fine.

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