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| Emerald City Confidential | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Wadjet Eye Games |
| Publisher(s) | PlayFirst |
| Designer(s) | Dave Gilbert |
| Engine | Playground SDK |
| Platform(s) | Windows, Macintosh |
| Release | February 19, 2009 |
| Genre(s) | Adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Emerald City Confidential is a 2009 computer adventure game conceived by Dave Gilbert, developed by Wadjet Eye Games, and published through PlayFirst.
Emerald City Confidential is a third-person, mouse-driven adventure game in which the player must solve various puzzles and follow certain procedures in order for the linear storyline to proceed. As a pure graphical adventure game, Emerald City Confidential follows the guidelines first introduced by LucasArts: it is impossible to die or to get stuck at any moment in the game, which allows the user to become fully immersed in Emerald City Confidential's universe without the fear of making a mistake or the constant need to save the game. With this in mind, there are no save game functions, but the player's position is automatically bookmarked and restored when the game is restarted.
The game is set in the magical land of Oz, created by L. Frank Baum, as put through the gritty filter of 1940s film noir, with harsh city streets, grey rainy skies, femmes fatales, tough guys, trenchcoats, fedoras and plot twists. It is Oz, seen through the eyes of Raymond Chandler. [1]
The game follows the protagonist Petra, Emerald City's only private eye, as she is approached by a strange woman named Dee Gale. Dee's fiancé is missing, and she is willing to pay Petra above the going rate in order to find him. Lacking any other prospects, Petra agrees. What starts off as a simple missing person case soon takes Petra deep into the seedy underbelly of the Emerald City's criminal underground and beyond. She encounters many characters from the Oz canon and some new characters, learns several magic spells, and uncovers the answer to a dark secret that has haunted Petra all her life. [1]
The game was developed using Playfirst's Playground SDK. Background art was done by John Green, the artist and co-creator (with Dave Roman) of the graphic novels Teen Boat! and Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden.
Most reviews of the game have been positive, [2] [3] with particular praise for the story [4] even where the rest of the review has been less glowing. [5] It has also topped PlayFirst's own chart for weeks after its release. [6] Game Tunnel reviewed the game as "Buy" and awarded it a Gold Award, rating it #2 of February 2009 indie game releases. [7]
The Marvelous Land of Oz: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, commonly shortened to The Land of Oz, published in July 1904, is the second book in L. Frank Baum's Oz series, and the sequel to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900). This and the following 34 books in the series were illustrated by John R. Neill.
The Lost Princess of Oz is the eleventh canonical Oz book written by L. Frank Baum. Published on June 5, 1917, it begins with the disappearance of Princess Ozma, the ruler of Oz and covers Dorothy and the Wizard's efforts to find her. The introduction to the book states that its inspiration was a letter a young girl had written to Baum: "I suppose if Ozma ever got hurt or losted, everybody would be sorry."
Princess Ozma is a fictional character from the Land of Oz, created by American author L. Frank Baum. She appears for the first time in the second Oz book, The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904), and in every Oz book thereafter.
Glinda is a fictional character created by L. Frank Baum for his Oz novels. She first appears in Baum's 1900 children's classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and is the most powerful sorceress in the Land of Oz, ruler of the Quadling Country South of the Emerald City, and protector of Princess Ozma.
The Land of Oz is a magical country introduced in the 1900 children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow.
Oz Squad is a comic book series using characters and setting from L. Frank Baum's Land of Oz series, "updated for a more adult audience". It was created and written by Steve Ahlquist. The premise is that Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion are now part of "Gale Force", a Mission: Impossible type organization working to protect Oz from all manner of bizarre threats.
Mr. Highly Magnified Woggle-Bug, Thoroughly Educated is a character in the Oz books by L. Frank Baum (1856–1919). The character first appeared in 1904 in the book The Marvelous Land of Oz. He goes by the name H. M. Woggle-Bug, T.E.. In later books, the hyphen was sometimes dropped: "Wogglebug".
Jack Pumpkinhead is a fictional character from the Land of Oz who appears in several of the classic children's series of Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. Jack first appeared as a main character in the second Oz book by Baum, The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904), and returned often in subsequent books. He got the starring role in Ruth Plumly Thompson's 1929 book Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz.
Journey Back To Oz is a 1972 American animated adventure musical fantasy film produced by Filmation. It is loosely based on L. Frank Baum's second Oz novel The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904), although Baum received no screen credit.
Mombi is a fictional character in L. Frank Baum's classic children's series of Oz Books. She is the most significant antagonist in the second Oz book The Marvelous Land of Oz (1904), and is alluded to in other works. Mombi plays a very important role in the fictional history of Oz.
The Oz Kids is an American direct-to-video animated fantasy comedy-drama series produced by Hyperion Animation based on The Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum's 1900 children's novel, and its various sequels. Nine episodes were released between October 1, 1996 and February 18, 1997 by Paramount Home Video.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, known in Japan as Ozu no Mahōtsukai (オズの魔法使い), is a Japanese anime television series adaptation based on four of the original early 20th century Oz books by L. Frank Baum. In Japan, the series aired on TV Tokyo from 1986 to 1987. It consists of 52 episodes, which explain other parts of the Oz stories, including the events that happened after Dorothy returned home.
The Wonderful Land of Oz is a 1969 film directed by Barry Mahon. It is a low budget but faithful adaptation of the 1904 novel The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum.
Jellia Jamb is a fictional character from the classic children's series of Oz books by American author L. Frank Baum. She is first introduced in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), as the head maid who works in the royal palace of the Emerald City which is the imperial capital of the Land of Oz. In later books, Jellia eventually becomes Princess Ozma's favorite servant out of the Emerald City's staff administration. She is also the protagonist of Ruth Plumly Thompson's 1939 novel Ozoplaning with the Wizard of Oz. Her name is a pun on the phrase "Jelly or jam?"
The Marvelous Land of Oz is a 1981 musical play by Thomas W. Olson (book), Gary Briggle (lyrics), and Richard Dworsky (music), based on the 1904 novel by L. Frank Baum. Briggle originated the role of the Scarecrow in the original production, directed by John Cark Donahue at The Children's Theatre Company and School of Minneapolis.
The Magic Dishpan of Oz is a 1994 children's book written by Jeff Freedman and illustrated by Denis McFarling. The book is a contribution to the ever-growing Oz series, originated by L. Frank Baum and continued by many successors.
The Marvelous Land of Oz is a comic book series published by American company Marvel Comics based on The Marvelous Land of Oz book written by L. Frank Baum. It is an eight issue limited series written by Eric Shanower, penciled by Skottie Young, and colored by Jean-Francois Beaulieu. It is a sequel to a previous adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the same team.
The Woggle-Bug is a 1905 musical based on the 1904 novel The Marvelous Land of Oz by L. Frank Baum, with book and lyrics by the author and music by Frederic Chapin that opened June 18, 1905 at the Garrick Theater in Chicago under the direction of Frank Smithson, a Shubert Organization employee. The musical was a major critical and commercial failure, running less than a month. Chapin, however, had proven quite saleable to the publisher, M. Witmark and Sons, and many of the songs were published. The music director was Frank Pallma. The surviving sheet music was published by Hungry Tiger Press in 2002.
