Though the scenes are surprisingly vivid and meticulously detailed, in full screen they are now a little weathered by time, and this was even an initial complaint made nearly five years ago. Sure, a player can immediately see the age and lack of a big budget in the rendered backgrounds, but this is no reason to dismiss this title. The graphical splendor of this game is not brought about by its resolution or by its color palate; you are not buying this now very affordable game for the same reasons you may be purchasing Myst IV. Instead, ROTS’s visuals stand on their own, simply because they evoke wonder and awe in the viewer. Case in point: as I first took the helicopter from the Sphinx to the Great Pyramid of Giza, I sat back in my chair and stared at the screen, my mouth slightly ajar, watching flying particles of sand sweep by the window as I lifted off the ground and watched the entire necropolis below me sweep by. Though I know I may never be able to afford a trip to the Giza Plateau, this adventure game gave me the next best thing: a virtual tour.

This free roaming tour of Egypt’s wonders is full of sand, sun, and its fair share of dust storms, but nothing in the game is quite as mood-inducing as its subtle, yet distinct music. Scored and produced by Jeff Tobler, the music—with its ambient sound and Arabic flare—enhances each new discovery, changing with each corridor and adding slivers of intensity at key moments. Though quite different from the music in Dark Fall by Jonathan Boakes (for good reason, of course), the ROTS score has a similar flair of individuality and sparseness that makes it more appealing than average adventure game music. As a matter of fact, Jeff and Karen Tobler now have the Riddle of the Sphinx soundtrack remixed and mastered in hi-fi, available to purchase on CD-ROM for $16.99. Would I buy it? Yes, but only because of nostalgia, rekindling the awe I experienced when I first entered the Great Pyramid of Cheops. Would I recommend the soundtrack at $16.99 to the average adventure gamer? No, not unless you have a strong desire to feel like Indiana Jones as you drive your car to work at five in the morning. Regardless of whether or not you desire to rock to Egyptian panpipes on your personal CD player, the in-game music does sweep you into the sands of Egypt and bury you in its original orchestrations.

Speaking of Indiana Jones, you too must cross caverns, solve ingenious puzzles, unlock hermetically sealed passageways, and uncover clues in an attempt to—no, not hook up with a beautiful, somewhat forceful female sidekick—but to stop an ancient curse, all alone. Yet these puzzles are less Indiana Jones and more The DaVinci Code, asking players to listen to audio tracks, take notes, match up symbols, and be patient. While it would be nice to run into the Great Pyramid by grabbing a torch and lighting it on the way as you chewed tobacco, you must instead think ahead, start the generator and turn on the work lights.

When you first reach the Giza Necropolis, the adventure and puzzles are organic. You are given just enough direction from items found in your friend’s now abandoned tent and then you must go your way, starting with the Great Pyramid or with the Sphinx. Your inventory, a practical backpack, is easily accessed by tapping the spacebar. Though you will be storing all sorts of practical items and mystical artifacts in your satchel, this game is not inventory-heavy; instead you will be required to use—dare I say it—your memory or a notepad to jot down numbers, symbols or phrases. Oddly enough, though adventure gamers might not think so, sensible and logical puzzle solutions can coexist with a Myst-mutation about ancient Egypt. How long do such logical and deductive puzzles last in the Sahara, you may ask? Well, about as long as a puddle of water in the sand. The further you explore into the belly of such Egyptian structures, the more gritty and obscure the puzzles and their clues become. Though these puzzles may grate on nerves and become frustrating for players with shorter attention spans, they make perfect sense. Outside the Egyptian structures, puzzles, heavily inventory-based, are more straight-forward and practical, while within the Egyptian structures, the puzzles turn deadly, more ambiguous and intricate. The reason: the puzzles inside the pyramids have been crafted as riddles and various obstacles to detract tomb robbers or to keep ancient secrets hidden from lesser minds. So, if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the ancient coffin.

ROTS—like the Sphinx itself—stands the test of time for a variety of reasons, and not simply because it is based on a tried and true Egyptian formula. It is a game about still controversial Egyptological topics; it is a game about evoking awe in the adventure gamer; it is a labor of love and an obvious passion of its two primary developers, Jeff and Karen Tobler. Though far from perfect or even mainstream classic, the Toblers’ ROTS is an accomplished, engrossing, and rewarding adventure jaunt, and one of my all-time favorite adventure games. Lasting about 20 hours, or more for the Egyptian-lover, and now available for the budget price of $19.99 or even cheaper at local stores, ROTS is a steal.

In the event of an adventure game drought, don’t fear. Instead, simply head over to the budget aisle, and sift through the ruins of ancient, and sometimes not so old, adventure games. And even if you’ve had enough sandy titles, don’t just grab the first non-Egyptian budget title you see because you could be missing out on one of the most reinvigorating adventure games available: Riddle of the Sphinx: An Egyptian Legacy.

This title is the refreshment Sahara-scorched adventure gamers have been looking for, and that’s no hallucination.