I have been curious to play this game for a long time, but I didn’t know how to get my hands on it. Now there is a version available on Steam, but there is very little feedback, and some of it is pretty negative.
Any thoughts about this version, or other ways to find this game?
They say the Zoom version is DRM free, but I have not tried either of them.
The version on Steam says “publisher: ZOOM”, so it’ll be exactly the same as that other version. Or any other version on sale today.
Or I’m sure you could dig back into archive.org and find the original CD-ROM image from the 1990s. Those are your two options.
I know that the new (Steam/ZOOM) version was released by Dornbrook and Meretzky – they got the rights back a few years ago. So it will be the creator-authorized version, at least.
Relatedly, if you havent already, I can recommend giving Meretzky’s Superhero League of Hoboken a try. Last time I played it was abandonware and the download worked nicely with dosbox.
I’d second the recommendation, though there is a version on GoG and Steam so I’m not sure it would count as abandonware under most definitions (of course, the rights have been bought up by a separate company, Ziggurat; hopefully some folks associated with Legend and/or Meretzky himself are getting or got some compensation from that, though who knows).
What a great game!
Sounds pretty fun!
I think there are sometimes some extras if you buy directly from their web page. At least, their product page says that “The Space Bar: Super Digital Deluxe Edition is exclusive to ZOOM Platform and includes Concept Artwork, Higher Resolution Introductory Cinematic Render, Lossless FLAC Theme Music, Magazine Ads, Signed Poster Scan, and more!”
But I don’t know for sure. I didn’t buy it on Steam.
I’m in the process of comparing the files to the ones on my CDs. So far, I’ve only found some credits and legalese that isn’t either from the Windows or the Mac version of the game. Maybe they picked whatever had higher quality, but I couldn’t tell the difference just by looking at it.
The aforementioned extras does include a the opening video in higher quality, and some cover artwork. It’s not used in the game though, so maybe that’s as far as the unreleased DVD version got?
I did a doubletake when I saw the Steam game had a 2023 release date, but listed Alan Rickman (Sadly deceased since 2016) as a voice actor. This being a rerelease of an older game makes way more sense now.
I decided to try the Zoom version. (My platform is Windows 10.) So far it seems pretty janky.
In the Solarium flashback, there’s a table with an insect buzzing around. If I go to the close-up view of the table, whenever the insect gets to the end of its animation cycle, the game crashes.
Just wondering if you might be able to try the same thing and see if you also get that crash.
Unfortunately, I’m having a pretty awful time with this.
I gave up on the flashback I was working on because of the crash. I started another one, and by carefully following a walkthrough and trying over and over, I was able to finish it after about 90 minutes. (But there were strange audio issues, so I did not hear all the dialogue I was supposed to hear.)
There are technical problems, the interface is laborious and crummy, and I’m finding the puzzle design inscrutable. I guess opinions would vary on the quality of the comedy.
My advice, do not buy the 2022 re-release of The Space Bar.
That’s about what I said in the 1990s.
I bought it month ago from Zoom. I played only the beginning but it seemed fine (Win 11).