Questprobe featuring The Hulk - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Questprobe_featuring_The...

Questprobe featuring The Hulk

Questprobe featuring The Hulk is a 1984 graphic
adventure video game developed and published by Adventure
Questprobe featuring
International in collaboration with Marvel Comics and The Hulk
Commodore Business Machines. It is the first installment in
Questprobe, a series of graphic adventure games. It was
intended to consist of twelve installments, but only three were
released before the developer's bankruptcy. The game's
narrative follows the Marvel superhero Hulk and his human
alter-ego Bruce Banner, who must explore the mysterious lair
of the Chief Examiner. The graphics and story outline were
created by Marvel artists and writers. Critical reception was
generally positive, with much of the praise going to the visuals.
Reactions to the gameplay were mixed, especially upon the
game's budget re-release, by which time it was considered
dated.

Contents
Gameplay
Plot Developer(s) Adventure
International
Development and release
Publisher(s) Adventure
Reception
International
References
Designer(s) Scott Adams
Citations
Programmer(s) Scott Adams
Bibliography
Artist(s) Mark
External links
Gruenwald
John Romita
Gameplay Jr.
Kem McNair
Questprobe featuring The Hulk is a graphic adventure game in
Writer(s) Scott Adams
which the player controls the Hulk and his human alter ego
Bruce Banner. The player can move between locations within John Byrne
the game's environment by entering one of four directions Bob
(north, south, east, and west), and can examine objects in Budiansky
search for clues to advance the narrative.[1] The game features
a 120-word vocabulary, and the parser can only register Series Questprobe
commands up to two words in length, generally in a verb/noun
format (for example, "open box").[2] Commands consisting of a

1 of 6 2021-10-15, 12:44
Questprobe featuring The Hulk - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Questprobe_featuring_The...

single letter may also by Platform(s) Acorn

entered to expedite Electron
gameplay time (for
example, "u" or "d" to Apple II
move up or down).[3] Atari 8-bit
Although lethal scenarios BBC Micro
may be encountered, dying
Commodore
An example of a graphic from merely results in the
player being deposited in a 64
the Apple II version of
Questprobe featuring The Hulk. limbo-like room, where Dragon 32
The player has entered "bite the player may enter "go IBM PC DOS
lip", allowing Bruce Banner to down" to descend a flight
ZX Spectrum
transform into the Hulk. of stairs and resume
gameplay without penalty. Release May 1, 1984
[4][5] The game's graphics
Genre(s) Graphic
can be toggled on or off.[3] The player can save their progress adventure
by entering "save game" and assigning the current game to one
of four code letters (A, B, C, or D), which can be entered to load Mode(s) Single-player
the game at a later time.[6]

Plot
Bruce Banner awakens to find himself bound to a chair in a mysterious chamber. He bites his lip to
transform into the Hulk and free himself, but gas fills the room and permeates his skin, reverting
him back to Banner. He explores his surroundings, which consist of three dome-shaped buildings
and a grassy field surrounding them; Banner is able to transform into the Hulk outside of the
domes. He happens upon an astral projection of Doctor Strange, who advises remembering
Nightmare and encourages him to "look for Scott's next Marvel Adventure at [his] favorite store"
before vanishing. In an underground cavern, the Hulk encounters Ultron, who has trapped Ant-
Man in a cage. The Hulk gathers a swarm of army ants from the field, allowing Ant-Man to control
them, incapacitate Ultron, and free himself. Throughout his exploration, the Hulk amasses a
collection of gems. Upon retrieving all of them, the Hulk is approached by the Chief Examiner, who
leaves him with the password "Aria".

Development and release

Questprobe featuring The Hulk was created in collaboration between Marvel Comics, Commodore
Business Machines, and Adventure International designer Scott Adams as the first installment in
the Questprobe series.[7] Marvel had granted Adventure International a ten-year license for
exclusive use of their characters in adventure games. This was Marvel's first long-term license, as
most licenses last only one or two years.[8] The series outline was written by Adams, John Byrne,
and Bob Budiansky.[9] To attract new players, Adams deliberately designed the game on a
beginner's level by simplifying the puzzles, leading Adams to admit that "Anybody who has played
a lot will finish the game in a day".[10] The graphics were adapted by Kem McNair from artwork
created by Mark Gruenwald and John Romita Sr.[9] Between 50 to 70 drawings were created for
the game, each ranging from 100 to 4,000 bytes in size.[7] The Chief Examiner's appearance was
modeled after Adams,[10] and the passwords he gives in each of the Questprobe games are names
of Adams' own children.[5]

2 of 6 2021-10-15, 12:44
Questprobe featuring The Hulk - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Questprobe_featuring_The...

The game was released on May 1, 1984, for the Acorn Electron, Apple II series, Atari 8-bit family,
BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Dragon 32, IBM PC DOS, and ZX Spectrum.[5][11] The game was made
available in text-only cassette formats and disk formats that include graphics. The game's release
was accompanied by a comic similarly titled Questprobe, with the first issue centering on Durgan
the Philosopher, who tricks the Hulk into saving his doomed planet.[7] According to Adventure
International U.K. managing director Mike Woodruffe, many wholesalers had no provisions for
distributing comics, and so were not able to supply retailers with it. Because of this, Adventure
International decided to reduce the size of subsequent issues in order to package the comics along
with the games.[10]

Due to the bankruptcy of Adventure International in 1986,[12] the Questprobe series was cancelled
after three games.[5] That same year, the Hulk installment was re-released by U.S. Gold under its
"Americana" budget line.[13]

Reception
Reception
Review scores
Publication Score

Crash 8/10[14]

Zzap!64 65%[15]

Computer Gamer 16/20[16]

inCider [17]

Personal Computer Games 26/40[18]

Run B[7]

Reception of the original release of Questprobe featuring The Hulk was generally positive, with the
visuals receiving particular acclaim. The White Wizard of Personal Computer Games regarded the
graphics as excellent, but was also thankful for the option to toggle them off to decrease loading
times.[18] Steve Gould of Page 6, deeming the game "the best Graphic Adventure of any kind that I
have seen", commended the size and detail of the visuals as well as the elimination of flickering in
comparison to past graphic adventure titles.[4] Derek Brewster of Crash praised the graphics for
their rich detail (singling out the transformations between Banner and the Hulk) and fast loading
times.[14] Noel Williams of Micro Adventurer acknowledged the graphics as attractive, but
considered them to fall short of those of other software companies. He appreciated the
illustrations' stylistic accuracy to the comics as well as the close-up images of the game's collectible
items. However, he was annoyed that the transformation from the Hulk to Banner slowed the
gameplay's pacing.[10] John Jermaine, writing for Run, was pleased by the accuracy of the visuals
to the comics and admired the artistry of the backgrounds.[7] Brewster and Tony Hetherington of
Computer Gamer singled out the transformations between Banner and the Hulk as their favorite
images.[14][16]

The White Wizard, while observing that the game design was primitive, considered it to be
"furiously addictive" nonetheless.[18] Gould appreciated the gameplay's "devious moves and hidden
dangers" along with the lack of negative consequences for dying.[4] Brewster criticized the

3 of 6 2021-10-15, 12:44
Questprobe featuring The Hulk - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Questprobe_featuring_The...

repetitive gameplay, which he said was exacerbated by the identical interiors of the domes. [14]
Williams regarded the ZX Spectrum version as unfriendly due to its faulty parser, judged the
presentation of the screen messages as crude, and was irritated by the game's commercialism,
citing the game's tendency to advertise a hint book when "help" is entered.[10] Jermaine liked the
concept of gaining and controlling the Hulk's powers, and considered the game to be the best
graphic adventure he has played, but was disappointed by the absence of audio.[7] Tom Benford of
Commodore Power/Play said "If you're an experienced adventure game aficionado, The Hulk is a
must-have. If you're new to this sort of gaming, it will make an excellent entry program into the
world of adventure games."[19] Brain J. Murphy of inCider said "Based on the fun I've had and the
fun yet to come, I recommend you take a look at the Hulk episode of Questprobe."[17]

The budget re-release's reception was more mixed. Hetherington acknowledged the high difficulty,
but proclaimed The Hulk to be the best Questprobe entry due to the character's simple set of
powers.[16] The White Wizard, writing for Zzap!64, remarked that the game's design had become
antiquated since its original release, citing its two-word input, limited vocabulary, and illogical
puzzles.[15] A reviewer for ZX Computing Monthly lambasted the game's design and programming
as poor, and remarked that the visuals have not aged entirely well. The reviewer added that while a
few of the puzzles were fun, they were made harder by the aforementioned faults.[13]

References

Citations
1. Adams 1984, p. 3.
2. Adams 1984, p. 4.
3. Adams 1984, p. 6.
4. Gould, Steve (August 1984). "The Software Reviews: Quest Probe – The Hulk" (http
s://archive.org/details/Page_6_Magazine_10/page/36/mode/2up). Page 6. No. 10.
pp. 37–38.
5. Kalata, Kurt (July 14, 2019). "Questprobe Featuring The Hulk" (http://www.hardcore
gaming101.net/questprobe-featuring-the-hulk/). Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived (h
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20190718201951/http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/q
uestprobe-featuring-the-hulk/) from the original on July 18, 2019. Retrieved
September 14, 2021.
6. Adams 1984, p. 7.
7. Jermaine, John (January 1985). "Software Gallery: Questprobe: The Hulk" (https://ar
chive.org/details/run-magazine-13/page/n15/mode/2up). Run. No. 13. IDG
Communications. p. 14.
8. Gould, Steve (August 1984). "Scott Adams Interview" (https://archive.org/details/Pa
ge_6_Magazine_10/page/18/mode/2up). Page 6. No. 10. p. 19.
9. Adventure International (May 1, 1984). Questprobe featuring The Hulk
(Multiplatform). Level/area: Opening credits.
10. Williams, Noel (September 1984). "Adventure International: The Incredible Hulk" (ht
tps://archive.org/details/MicroAdventurer11-Sep84/page/n7/mode/2up). Micro
Adventurer. No. 11. Sunshine Books. pp. 8–9.

4 of 6 2021-10-15, 12:44
Questprobe featuring The Hulk - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Questprobe_featuring_The...

11. "Questprobe featuring The Hulk advertisement" (https://archive.org/details/Page_6_

Magazine_10/page/18/mode/2up). Page 6. No. 10. August 1984. p. 18.
12. Smart, Tim (27 January 1986). "Blue Skies Turn Black At Scott Adams Inc. Debts
Force Company Into Bankruptcy Court" (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2579114
6/blue_skies_turn_black_at_scott_adams/). The Orlando Sentinel. 110 (27). Orlando,
Florida: Sentinel Communications Company. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Software Reviews: The Incredible Hulk" (https://archive.org/details/ZX-computing-1
986-10/page/n87/mode/2up). ZX Computing Monthly. Argus Specialist Publications.
October 1986. p. 88.
14. Brewster, Derek (September 1984). "Adventure Trail: The Hulk" (https://archive.org/
details/crash-magazine-08/page/n71/mode/2up). Crash. No. 8. Newsfield.
pp. 72–73.
15. White Wizard (September 1986). "Chronicles of the White Wizard: The Hulk" (http
s://archive.org/details/zzapp_64_issue_017_600dpi/page/n71/mode/2up). Zzap!64.
No. 17. Newsfield. pp. 73–74.
16. Hetherington, Tony (August 1986). "Adventure Reviews: The Incredible Hulk" (http
s://archive.org/details/Computer_Gamer_Issue_17_1986-08_Argus_Press_GB/page/n
43/mode/2up). Computer Gamer. Argus Specialist Publications. p. 45.
17. Murphy, Brian J. (October 1985). "Game Room: Questprobe Featuring The Hulk" (htt
ps://archive.org/details/inCider_85-10/page/n115/mode/2up). inCider. CWC.
pp. 113–114.
18. White Wizard (July 1984). "Adventureworld" (https://archive.org/details/personalco
mputergames-magazine-08/page/n91/mode/2up). Personal Computer Games.
Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen. p. 90.
19. Benford, Tom (May 1985). "Game Reviews: The Hulk" (https://archive.org/details/co
mmodore-power-play-14/page/n19/mode/2up). Commodore Power/Play. No. 14.
Commodore Business Machines. pp. 18–19.

Bibliography
Adams, Scott (1984). The Questprobe Series #1: The Incredible Hulk instruction
manual (https://archive.org/details/vgmuseum_ai_hulk-manual/mode/2up).
Adventure International.

External links
Questprobe featuring The Hulk (https://www.mobygames.com/game/hulk) on
MobyGames

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Questprobe_featuring_The_Hulk&

oldid=1045700784"

This page was last edited on 22 September 2021, at 00:04 (UTC).

5 of 6 2021-10-15, 12:44
Questprobe featuring The Hulk - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Questprobe_featuring_The...

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may
apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered
trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.

6 of 6 2021-10-15, 12:44