Great Myths & Legends Volume 1: Monsters & Mythical Creatures

Come face to face with the terrible monsters and strange creatures of myth and legend: the Yeti, Minotaur, Loch Ness Monster, Cyclops, Leviathan, Pegasus, Golem, Unicorn, Gorgons, and Phoenix. The CD-ROM is supposed to be an authoritative look at the history and origins of these beasties. Includes: virtual 3D environments for each creature, 3D animation, video, narration, color illustration and original and historical documents. It begins in a castle with four doors, two of which are designed to take you to the sections on "Legendary Lands and Lost Cities" and "Legendary Heroes and Villains" available as further volumes in the series. When you get to the end of the corridor, you find yourself outside with several glowing gems embedded in the terrain. Clicking on one will take you to a section on one (or more) of the monsters. It takes a bit of stumbling around to discover which creature is tied to which gem. After you've gathered all your information about a creature, the game treats you to an animation of what it was supposed to look like. The music is appropriately ominous, the graphics are beautifully detailed (you'll need to know how to switch your monitor to at least 32,000 colors) and narrator Patrick Floersheim, dressed as a monk, is appropriately hammy.