Questprobe
Marvel's first long-term video game license spawned three graphic adventures.
Questprobe is a trilogy of graphic adventure video games featuring Marvel Comics characters, released for home computers in the mid-1980s. The series was notable as Marvel's first long-term licensing agreement for video games and included tie-in comic books. The three released titles star the Hulk, Spider-Man, and the Human Torch and Thing.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Graphic adventure; Interactive Fiction
- Developer
- Adventure International
- Creator
- Scott Adams
- Platforms
- Apple II
- Atari 8-bit
- Commodore 64
- MS-DOS
- Acorn Electron
- ZX Spectrum
- MSX
- TRS-80 Color Computer
- Released
- 1984-1985
- First release version
- Questprobe featuring The Hulk
- First release date
- May 1, 1984
- Latest release version
- Questprobe featuring Human Torch and the Thing
Facts from the source article.
History
Marvel Comics began searching for a home computer game licensee in 1983 and approached Adventure International. Scott Adams, Adventure's founder and CEO, was an avid Marvel reader since childhood and agreed to a contract on December 1, 1983. The ten-year license was Marvel's first long-term license and Adventure's first use of licensed characters. Adams was given unlimited creative freedom and spent an afternoon coordinating a rough series overview with Marvel writer John Byrne; Bob Budiansky oversaw the entire project. The series title came from Adams's attempt to indicate the player's involvement in a search. The Hulk was chosen for the first installment due to his widespread recognition, and the game marked the Hulk's first appearance in the medium. Questprobe featuring The Hulk was released on May 1, 1984, for multiple platforms. A comic titled Questprobe accompanied the game, with its first issue centering on the Hulk being tricked into saving a doomed planet. Because wholesalers had no provisions for distributing comics, Adventure International reduced subsequent issues' size to package them with the games. The company initially announced plans for 12 games. In January 1985, Adams revealed he was developing a second game with Al Milgrom based on Spider-Man, with plans to release a new game every three to five months for a projected total of twelve or thirteen. Subsequent games involving Human Torch and Captain America were planned, as were potential games showcasing Iron Man and a villain character.
Comic book tie-ins
A comic book adaptation of Questprobe was planned as a twelve-issue miniseries, but only three issues were published, ending in November 1985 after Adventure International went bankrupt. The X-Men story meant for the fourth issue later appeared in Marvel Fanfare #33 in July 1987. The comic's plot was continued in the Quasar series. Additionally, the Chief Examiner character from both the game and the comics was included in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #2, released in January 1986.
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