| Questprobe | |
|---|---|
 Series logo | |
| Genres | Graphic adventure Interactive Fiction |
| Developer | Adventure International |
| Publisher | Adventure International |
| Creator | Scott Adams |
| Platforms | Apple II,Atari 8-bit,Commodore 64,MS-DOS,Acorn Electron,ZX Spectrum,MSX,TRS-80 Color Computer |
| Original release | 1984-1985 |
| First release | Questprobe featuring The Hulk May 1, 1984 |
| Latest release | Questprobe featuring Human Torch and the Thing 1985 |
Questprobe is a trilogy ofgraphic adventurevideo games featuringMarvel Comics characters. The three games areQuestprobe featuring The Hulk,Questprobe featuring Spider-Man andQuestprobe featuring Human Torch and Thing.
In 1983,Marvel Comics searched for a licensee for use of its characters in a home computer game, and approachedAdventure International; its founder and CEOScott Adams was interested in the venture as an avid reader of Marvel since his childhood, and the two parties agreed to a contract on December 1, 1983.[1] Marvel's ten-year license for Adventure's use of its characters was Marvel's first long-term license,[2] as well as Adventure's first use of licensed characters. Adams, given unlimited freedom in creating the games, spent an afternoon coordinating a rough overview of the series with Marvel writerJohn Byrne, andBob Budiansky would oversee the entire project. The series title came from Adams's attempt to formulate a title that would indicate the player's involvement in a search. TheHulk was selected as the star of the first installment because of his widespread recognition among general audiences,[1] and the game would be the Hulk's first appearance within the medium.[3]Questprobe featuring The Hulk was released on May 1, 1984, for theAcorn Electron,Apple II,Atari 8-bit computers,BBC Micro,Commodore 64,Dragon 32,IBM PC compatibles, andZX Spectrum.[4][5] The game's release was accompanied by a comic similarly titledQuestprobe, with the first issue centering on the Hulk being tricked into saving a doomed planet.[6] Becausewholesalers had no provisions for distributing comics, Adventure International decided to reduce the size of subsequent issues in order to package the comics along with the games.[7]
In January 1985, Adams revealed that he was developing a secondQuestprobe game withAl Milgrom based onSpider-Man, and disclosed plans to release a new game every three to five months, with a projected total of twelve or thirteen games. Subsequent games involvingHuman Torch andCaptain America were planned at the time, as were potential games showcasingIron Man and a villain character.[1]
The fourth title in the series was to include theX-Men. This game was partly coded by Scott Adams but never saw the light of day as a published game, as Adventure International became bankrupt during its development in 1986.[8]
AQuestprobe comic book tie-in was also released. Originally intended as a 12-issue miniseries, this series was canceled after issue #3 (November 1985) due toAdventure International's bankruptcy.[9] The story intended for issue #4, featuring the X-Men, was published inMarvel Fanfare #33 (July 1987).[10]The events of theQuestprobe comic book were later followed up on in theQuasar series. The Chief Examiner from the game and comics received an entry in theOfficial Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #2 (January 1986).
