A short entry for what seems to be yet another MicroIllusions C64 game that was never to be, with Hanna-Barbera’s Jonny Quest (not to be confused with the Hi-Tec released game) . Advertised in Info magazine issue 30 in the US (1990), it also listed Lazer Squad underneath and described the platforms for both titles as being C64, Commodore Amiga and Atari ST.
The game was the first of a number of episodes planned, with this first episode described as follows:
“Jetting away from their Key Palm island, the Quest team is off on another intriguing mystery in the jungle darkness of Guatemala. Who is stealing the great Mayan artifacts? What secrets wait in the hidden Temple of Tikal? What is the splinter of heaven?
Jonny Quest and the Splinter of Heaven possesses all the Action and suspense of the animated series. Plus you choose the course of adventure with interactive dialogue and hands on fighting sequences. The world is yours to explore, and you will feel like you’re in it as you solve puzzles and combat enemies while attempting to solve the mystery.
Episode One is just the beginning! Stay tuned for further installations in this ongoing series of stand alone adventures!”
Essentially it seems to have been an arcade adventure game which was very much in the same style (possibly engine) as Scooby Doo, which was found in recent years. Was it perhaps even done by the same developer?
Well, Peter Ward confirms it wasn’t done by him – but was being done by a different solution. He recalls seeing and playing the PC version, but that no C64 version was ever started in the end.
None of the conversions were sadly ever released, which was likely due to Microillusions losing the licence from Hanna-Barbara due to putting a comic book in their Jetsons game without permission.
VP of product development, Sean B. Barger explained via the comments that the other main detail was that the CEO’s father took over the business and would not pay the quarterly minimum for the Hanna Barbera licences. Although HB were no doubt angry at the comic book release, this was the real reason why all the games were cancelled.
According to Hall of Light, the game was eventually released as Jonny Quest: Curse of the Mayan Warriors by Hollyware for MS-DOS systems in 1993.
So what of the original game, was the C64 edition ever started?
Contributions: Darren Gurney, Peter Ward, Sean B. Barger
There was a comic included with the Jetsons game released by Hi-Tec ?
I bought my copy at a store in the early 90s. No conic.
Not the Hi-Tec edition, but in the Microillusions Jetsons game.