Déjà Vu: A Nightmare Comes True!!

Déjà Vu: A Nightmare Comes True!!

Amiga - USA - 1st edition.

Developer ICOM Simulations Publisher ICOM Simulations Published 1985-??-?? Platforms Amiga, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, DOS, Macintosh Classic, NES, Windows 3, Windows Mobile Genres Adventure, Graphic adventure, Passive puzzle, Puzzle, Themes Hard-Boiled, Mystery Series MacVenture, Déjà Vu Distribution Commercial

Déjà Vu: A Nightmare Comes True!! is a graphic adventure puzzle video game created by ICOM Simulations and first released on Macintosh Classic in 1985, and then ported to a bunch of different platforms including the NES by Kemco on 1988-11-22. This was the first game in the MacVenture series, and the first to use the MacVenture engine.

In the game, you awake from unconsciousness in a bathroom stall. You don't remember who you are and you have needle puncture wounds in your arm. Looking around for clues you discover a man shot to death and a whole lot of people looking for you, but you don't know why. You have to use the few objects you find to uncover your hidden past and find out what happened before the police catch you and ask you questions you can't answer.

Personal

Own?	Yes. NES USA port. Partial box and cartridge.
Won?	Yes. NES port.
Finished	2010-03-24.

After becoming a fan of Shadowgate which I bought from a Kroger movie rental when they were liquidating their NES games, I also picked up Uninvited and Déjà Vu. This was my least favorite of the games because I found fantasy and horror to be more interesting narratives than hard-boiled detective stories, but I still enjoyed the game. I ended up getting stuck a fair way in on my first play, and it wasn't until many years later that I worked at it enough to beat it.

Review

5	4	5	6	3

Best Version: NES

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• The interface is nicely intuitive, if a bit slow to work with.
• The script has some pretty interesting sections, and the game does a good job at keeping you in the dark for awhile as you piece together the story.
• Most of the ports of this game have great artwork.
• The NES port has wonderful music composed by Hiroyuki Masuno.
• I like how you can destroy evidence that would be incriminating to yourself allowing you to present your own narrative to the police.
• Several ports let you print a certificate upon completing the game.

Bad

• Death is far too common. Thankfully, the game is pretty forgiving with the reloading.
• There are a lot of useless items that clutter up the inventory, which adds a little complexity to the puzzle solving, but is really annoying.
• The muggers impose an artificial time limit to the game which isn't necessary.
• There are a couple ways to put the game in an unwinnable state, but they're pretty obvious.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Boxes

• 

  Home computers - World. This box was used for most regions and ports. It's a photo of various objects common in detective novels with lettering similar to that of a ransom note. It's a decent box.

• 

  Apple IIgs - Gatefold. The gatefold contained the full photograph with the additional syringe and pills.

• 

  NES - USA. Nintendo of America would never allow whiskey and cigarettes, so a unique cover was made. It shows a private detective holding a picture of the scene he's in. Two dangerous looking silhouettes are seen in the background. I really love this painting, but I don't care for the color of the title.

• 

  Famicom - Japan. Uses the computer photo, but includes a katakana title.

• 

  PC-9801 - Japan. The box actually has a completely different photo setup in the same style as the US box. It also uses a nice faded lettering for the Japanese title.

Documentation

• 

  Manual - Macintosh - USA.

• 

  Manual - Amiga - USA.

• 

  Reference card - Amiga - USA.

• 

  Manual - Apple IIgs - USA.

• 

  Reference card - Apple IIgs - USA.

• 

  Manual - Game Boy Color - USA.

• 

  Manual - NES - USA.

• 

  Manual - PC-9801 - USA.

• 

  Hint book.

Screenshots

• 

  Macintosh.

• 

  Amiga.

• 

  Atari ST.

• 

  Commodore 64.

• 

  MS-DOS.

• 

  Apple IIgs.

• 

  NES.

• 

  PC-9801.

• 

  Windows 3.

• 

  Game Boy Color.

Graphics

• 

  Graphic sheet - NES.

Videos

Longplay, Macintosh.

Longplay, Amiga.

Longplay, Apple IIgs.

Longplay, Commodore 64.

Longplay, Game Boy Color.

Longplay, NES.

Play Online

Famicom, MS-DOS, NES (Sweden), NES (USA)

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	There are three women, but none are very important.
Bechdel test?	Fail	Women never speak to each other.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	Everyone in the game is white.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Titles

Language	Native	Transliteration	Translation
English	Déjà Vu
Japanese	ディジャブ - A Nightmare Comes True!!	Dijabu	Déjà Vu

Links