Summary
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was released alongside the film in 1989. Despite a great number of flaws (most of which would be corrected in the sequel, Fate of Atlantis), it is still held alongside the likes of GoldenEye and Spider-Man 2 as one of the few great film-to-game conversions ever made.
Following the plot of the movie, Indy is on a quest to recover his father and then beat the Nazis to the legendary Holy Grail. It is a proper LucasArts adventure along the lines of Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken & The Alien Mindbenders, but has a number of action moments including fistfights (used almost identically in FOA) and a biplane sequence.
While arguably the worst main Indiana Jones game out of the ones listed on this site (apart from the likes of Desktop Adventures of course), it still has its moments (mostly of the humorous variety - upon entering the Grail Temple a severed head bounces across the screen, whereupon Indy remarks, "yep, this is the place!") and if you can find a copy is definitely worth playing!
Characters
 Indiana Jones
After finding the Cross of Coranado, the artifact he has been looking for all his life, Indy was looking forward to a nice meal at Marcus's expense. No such luck. After narrowly escaping his duties as a teacher again, Indy finds himself on a hunt for not just the fabled Holy Grail, but for his father as well...
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 Dr. Elsa Schneider
Indy's father's partner in Venice, she was hired by Walter Donovan and is committed to finding the Grail. She seems to have romantic affections for both Indy and his father, but that's the least of her crimes...
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 Dr. Henry Jones, Snr.
Indy's father. Finding the Grail has been the passion that has been his whole life, to the extent that his son felt that he wasn't important to his father. Now with the Last Crusade nearly at a conclusion, Henry will have do something he never expected - be a father to his son! |
Facts & Trivia
The game has a stunning three Project Leaders: Ron Gilbert, David Fox and Noah Falstein. This was due to a desperate attempt to get the game out for the film's release. The game was made in just 8 months.
The full title is Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure. This was to discern the game from the far inferior Action Game released alongside it. LucasArts would make the same mistake later with Fate of Atlantis.
This game introduced the genre-defining Look At and Talk To verbs into LucasArts Adventures, as well as the dialogue trees which have been copied by thousands of games in various genres since.
Sallah doesn't make an appearance in the game, nor really does the entire Young Indy sequence (apart from the titles), the Cross of Coronado recovery, Iskinderun, the Grail Brotherhood, or several major action scenes like the motorboat chase and the tank battle - although it is strongly hinted that Marcus does these instead of Indy!
The game actually came with a copy of Henry Jones' Grail Diary! However, later versions of the game came with a severely stripped-down version. It's interesting to note that it contains the first appearance of Indy's mother's name - Mary. However, this was changed in the Young Indiana Jones series.
Being based off an early screenplay rather than the finished film, several deleted scenes appear in the game. In Barnett College there is a reference to Dr. Mulbray, who was cut out of the film and played by Billy J. Mitchell. Scenes at the airport ticket counter, a sequence involving Indy and the radio operator on the zeppelin, and a chase in the scaffolds of the zeppelin all make it into the game.
Links
The Ultimate Last Crusade Strategy Guide, by ThunderPeel2001
'Passport to Adventure' demo pack (including Last Crusade, Monkey Island 1 and Loom)
ScummVM - if you want to play the game these days, you'll be needing this!
Indiana Jones & The Crown of Solomon - the fan sequel to Last Crusade that's been in production for ages.
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