Back in the 90's one of the most popular gaming genres was adventure games, commonly referred to as "point-and-click" games. This genre allowed for highly detailed games with the "lower level" hardware players had during this time frame. As the hardware got cheaper to produce and more powerful, developers started to stray away from this genre and give players a different way to fully immerse players into their world. With the release of the Apple iPhone, developers are once again testing out the waters of this often forgotten genre. The latest game in this genre is based loosely off a tale by French author Jules Verne.

The game is entitled Return to Mysterious Island and it features the adventure of Mina, who is a young woman that was recently shipwrecked. Players must guide her along the island, picking up various items, combing them to make something new to get past a certain puzzle, and try to find out the mystery behind this island. Players will spend many hours trying to solve all the puzzles and they will enjoy every minute of it.

Players will notice that the game is set in first-person view. Gamers will move Mina around the island by clicking on the various arrows on each screen, which will take her to another location. Along the way she will be able to pick up various items that are along the shore, such as rocks, clams, eggs, and more. She will then be able to combine these items to create fire, cook a meal, and solve other puzzles to help her escape this island.

Pretty area

The controls for this game work pretty well ..  until players go into the item management screen. One of the reasons the controls are harder for this section is that it is hard to pick up the specific items needed to create another item. At times the item will not pick up, or players will accidentally pick up the wrong thing. Another issue is that it is very cumbersome to move between item management screens. It will take players at least five minutes to figure out how to do it the first time, and many times it will not work at all. Players will have to continually try the motion that moves between screens before it actually works. This is very poor because a lot of time is actually spent in the inventory because players are always combining items to make something more powerful to move on to the next puzzle.

If players get stuck at any point in this game, all they have to do is go to the main screen and click on the giant "starburst" that says discover our e-Walkthrough. The developers were kind enough to throw up a nice walkthrough to help players get past many of the game's obstacles. When players click on the starburst a Safari window will open up and show players the guide. This is a very nice addition because many games do not include instruction manuals, and players have to rely on the quick tutorials they receive at the beginning of the game.

Return to Mysterious Island has some of the best (if not the best) graphics out for the iPhone. Each screen that players will go to is nearly photographic from what players would see in the real world. Every place player's transverse is highly detailed, from the water effects, moss growing in the trees, and even the fire effects. The game takes place in a first-person view, and the framerate stays really smooth throughout the entire game. There is little to no lag found in this game, no matter how fast players look around a level.

Gotta love pet monkeys

The sound for this game is a mixed bag. The voice actor for Mina did a great job in this game. She conveyed all the right emotions as she talks while players are going through the game. The ambient sound effects really suck players into the world that Mina has found herself in. The issue players will have is the repeating music for this game. It would be nice to hear a different musical score at least once in the game, but instead players will listen to the same track over and over again.

During the course of this review I upgraded my cell phone. I started out with the first generation iPhone, and even though the graphics are highly detailed the game stuff went along with very little lag. When moved to the new iPhone 3GS the performance of this game went from good to outstanding! Even though this game is more than playable on the older iPhone; it definitely benefited from the extra power of the iPhone 3GS

Return to Mysterious Island can be purchased on the iTunes App store for $4.99

Gameplay: 8.5
The puzzle in the game will offer a variety of challenges that players will have to overcome. The item management controls need to be fixed in order for this game to flow smoothly.

Graphics: 9.4
Return to Mysterious Island is "hands-down" one of the best looking games for the iPhone currently available.

Sound: 7.0
The voice work for this game is really well done. The musical score is sadly very repetitious and it gets boring after listening to it for a while.

Difficulty: Medium
This is not the most challenging game, but it will provide some decent brain benders.

Concept: 8.5
The game concept is not very creative, but it is one of the first time's it has been done on the iPhone.

Overall: 9.0
There have not been many "point-and-click" adventure games released on the iPhone yet. This is a great entry to this genre that definably needs to be explored more. It is worth the price of $4.99 for Return to Mysterious Island.