Software:The Pink Panther: Hokus Pokus Pink

Short description: 1997 video game

The Pink Panther: Hokus Pocus Pink
Developer(s)	Wanderlust Interactive
Publisher(s)	Simon & Schuster (North America)
Artist(s)	Brian Gaidry
Writer(s)	Emily Kapnek
Composer(s)	Jared Faber
Series	The Pink Panther
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release	NA: October 18, 1997
Genre(s)	Adventure, educational
Mode(s)	Single-player

The Pink Panther: Hokus Pokus Pink is a musical adventure computer game for the PC released on October 18, 1997 by Wanderlust Interactive. It is based on the 1990s television series The Pink Panther, in which the traditionally non-speaking title character speaks audibly, and is a sequel to The Pink Panther. Like its predecessor, it teaches players about six countries as the Pink Panther explores them to solve a mystery. The places Pink visits are: Siberia in Russia , the Dead Sea in Israel, Indonesia, Borneo, Kenya, and Ancient Greece .

Gameplay

Armed with a book of knowledge that contains information on the indigenous people, languages, clothing, entertainment, art, history, nature, and foods of each pertinent area, players guide Pink on a quest spanning six countries across the globe to undo the accidental magic of an aspiring boy wizard. Players will need to find objects that can be used or traded to acquire items to solve puzzles and advance the story. Helping Pink travel between locations is Spot, a sentient, speaking black hole that he steals from the warlock Strangeblood's magical forest laboratory.

The game features ten original songs and over 300 fact-filled pages containing information and photos of the countries in which players find themselves. It is also characterized by comic graphics similar to those from the animated shorts.

Plot

After the successful events in The Pink Panther: Passport to Peril, the Pink Panther has given up his life as an agent for Inspector Clouseau and now works as a door-to-door-salesman. However, his more slow-paced life is soon interrupted as Nathan Periowinkle Jr., son of a wealthy lunatic dentist and antique teeth collector, steals utensils from the warlock Strangeblood and accidentally transforms Violet, the young daughter of two guests at the Periowinkles' dinner party in their mansion, into a giant, anthropomorphic wombat (with some bat-like physical features). It falls to Pink to find Strangeblood's book of cryptically-worded spell reversals so that he can undo the transformation before Nathan's parents discover his activities.

Violet wishes to become an "immortal, magical ninja princess mermaid". Upon stealing the book and escaping from Strangeblood through Spot, the sorcerer's pet black hole, Pink gathers the ingredients to complete the potion, including an improvised black belt, while receiving unexpected help from Strangeblood to drain the Dead Sea. Violet drinks the potion and changes into her ideal form but falls asleep in midair after eating a poisoned apple. Pink then searches for the right ingredients to awaken Violet and is revisited on his journey by Strangeblood, who magically reattaches a shark's fins. When the new potion fails, Pink again improvises a third ingredient, this time a Greek salad, and Violet becomes possessed by Echidna of Greek mythology, interrupting the party and demanding audience with Zeus. In Ancient Greece, Pink rescues Athena from being trapped in Zeus's head, tricks two gorgons into turning themselves to stone, and convinces Poseidon to travel with him to the Periowinkles' mansion. Strangeblood arrives at the party and exorcises Echidna, freeing Violet and restoring her original form. Poseidon catches Echidna, depicted as his granddaughter in this universe, and departs.

The party ends with only one couple buying a set of teeth from the "Stars Byte" collection being auctioned off. Dr. Periowinkle and his wife then reprimand Nathan for causing so much chaos and threaten to send him to dental school, but Nathan confesses that he only wanted to be a magician. Strangeblood consoles Nathan and explains that he intentionally caused the events of the story to test the boy's magical skills, intervening only as necessary, and Pink makes a positive case for Nathan despite his failures. The warlock recruits Nathan as his apprentice, brainwashes Dr. and Mrs. Periowinkle into agreement, and takes him to his forest laboratory. Pink remarks that, no matter where he goes or what job he pursues, a fantastic adventure will always await him.