Software:Sid & Al's Incredible Toons

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Sid & Al's Incredible Toons
Sid & Al's Incredible Toons
In-game screenshot
Developer(s)Jeff Tunnell Productions
Publisher(s)Sierra On-Line
Platform(s)MS-DOS, Macintosh
Release1993
Genre(s)Puzzle
Mode(s)Single-player

Sid & Al's Incredible Toons is a puzzle video game developed by Dynamix and released by Sierra On-Line in 1993.

Summary

This video game is designed with the same style as that of The Incredible Machine, except that the game takes place on a cartoon stage instead of a laboratory. The game focuses on the humorous adventures of the game's two main characters, Sid E. Mouse and Al E. Cat (both puns on 'city mouse' and 'alley cat', respectively), as each tries to make life unbearable for the other. It features 100 puzzles and an editor, which allows players to design their own puzzles. The main objective of the game is to finish a "puzzle-piece" photograph by completing each puzzle. When each puzzle (or level) is completed a missing piece on the photograph is replaced.

Sid & Al's Incredible Toons is the predecessor of The Incredible Toon Machine.[citation needed]

Critical reception

Reception
Review score
PublicationScore
Electronic Entertainment8 out of 10[1]

The game received positive reviews from critics. Computer Gaming World in 1994 said that "Sid & Al's Incredible Toons was "exactly what I wanted from a sequel to The Incredible Machine, with more challenging puzzles, "hysterically funny" animation and sound, and "a host of small improvements". The magazine praised the many possible reactions from combining characters, the "66 different objects", and the manual, concluding that Sid & Al "will certainly show up on best game of the year lists".[2] Wiz rated it 90,[3] PC Games (Germany) rated it 89,[4] Power Play rated it 89,[5] Tilt rated it 86,[6] Power Unlimited rated it 85,[7] Freak rated it 80,[8] High Score rated it 80,[9] and PC Player (Germany) rated it 78.[10]

Giving the game a score of 80 out of 100, Electronic Entertainment wrote "Sid & Al's Incredible Toons from Dynamix combines the logical game play of The Incredible Machine with wacky animated cartoons - Rube Goldberg meets Wile E. Coyote".[11]

Sid & Al's Incredible Toons was a runner-up for Computer Gaming World's Strategy Game of the Year award in June 1994, losing to Master of Orion. The editors called Sid & Al's Incredible Toons "a difficult game to describe because it moves beyond the boundaries of the genre into a new generation of software toys".[12] In 1994 PC Gamer UK named Sid & Al the 24th best computer game of all time.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Kawamoto, Wayne (March 1994). "Sid & Al's Incredible Toons". Electronic Entertainment 1 (3): 90. 
  2. ↑ Harris, Neil (February 1994). "Saturday Morning Fever!". Computer Gaming World: 148–150. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=115. 
  3. ↑ "Sid & Al's Incredible Toons for DOS (1993) MobyRank - MobyGames". MobyGames. http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/sid-als-incredible-toons/mobyrank. Retrieved 15 September 2014. 
  4. ↑ "Sid & Al's Incredible Toons for DOS (1993) MobyRank - MobyGames". MobyGames. http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/sid-als-incredible-toons/mobyrank. Retrieved 15 September 2014. 
  5. ↑ "Kultboy.com - DIE Kult-Seite ber die alten Spiele-Magazine und Retro-Games!". http://www.kultboy.com/index.php?site=t&id=3347. Retrieved 15 September 2014. 
  6. ↑ Fredo_L. "Le site des anciennes revues informatiques - www.abandonware-magazines.org". http://www.abandonware-magazines.org/affiche_mag.php?mag=28&num=326. Retrieved 15 September 2014. 
  7. ↑ "Sid & Al's Incredible Toons for DOS (1993) MobyRank - MobyGames". MobyGames. http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/sid-als-incredible-toons/mobyrank. Retrieved 15 September 2014. 
  8. ↑ "Sid & Al's Incredible Toons for DOS (1993) MobyRank - MobyGames". MobyGames. http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/sid-als-incredible-toons/mobyrank. Retrieved 15 September 2014. 
  9. ↑ "Sid & Al's Incredible Toons for DOS (1993) MobyRank - MobyGames". MobyGames. http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/sid-als-incredible-toons/mobyrank. Retrieved 15 September 2014. 
  10. ↑ "Sid & Al's Incredible Toons for DOS (1993) MobyRank - MobyGames". MobyGames. http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/sid-als-incredible-toons/mobyrank. Retrieved 15 September 2014. 
  11. ↑ "Sid & Al's Incredible Toons for DOS (1993) MobyRank - MobyGames". MobyGames. http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/sid-als-incredible-toons/mobyrank. Retrieved 15 September 2014. 
  12. ↑ "Announcing the New Premier Awards". Computer Gaming World (119): 51–54, 56–58. June 1994. http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=119. 
  13. ↑ Staff (April 1994). "The PC Gamer Top 50 PC Games of All Time". PC Gamer UK (5): 43–56. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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