TOMMY: THE INTERACTIVE ADVENTURE - THEN & NOW

TRAVEL WITH PETE TOWNSHEND INTO THE HEART OF THE MOST ELECTRIFYING ROCK EPIC EVER

See and hear Tommy as never before, from Pete Townshend and The Who's earliest years to Woodstock, from the 1989 reunion tour to the 1993 smash-hit Broadway play and beyond. Find out why Pete Townshend and The Who shocked one generation and inspired the next. Check out Pete Townshend's original lyrics both on paper and on early audio demos as he brings his dream to life.

Listen to legendary songs like "Pinball Wizard" and "Sensation" as they evolved from movie to Broadway. Live performances, video interviews with Pete Townshend and The Who, insight from the Directors of the movie and play, George Martin and Ken Russell, star-studded cinematic performances, and hundreds of original photos let you relive the myth and interpretation to reveal the true heart of this rock 'n roll legend. Tommy: The Interactive Adventure breathes new life into this amazing journey which has spanned over a quarter of a century!

• Hours of video and audio featuring band interviews and live clips from concerts, the film and the Broadway show, including original performances by Elton John, Tina Turner, Phil Collins, Billy Idol, Patti LaBelle, Jack Nicholson and many more
• The complete lyrics from the original recordings of Tommy with commentary and insight behind the evolution by Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle
• Rare photos, notes, drawings and memorabilia from Pete Townshend's personal archives
• Includes a unique collector's book about The Who and Tommy, full of insights into the history of the greatest rock opera ever

~ from the back of the box

 

From a modern perspective, it's fascinating to see how developers attempted to merge music, storytelling, and interactive visuals on any given topic into a comprehensive commercial package. Released in 1996, Tommy: The Interactive Adventure - Then & Now was an attempt to merge The Who's groundbreaking 1969 concept album Tommy with an interactive multimedia experience on CD-ROM. Designed as a companion piece to both the original album and its subsequent stage play and 1975 film adaptation, the product was an exploration that gave fans the chance to engage with one of rock's most influential works in new ways. 

At its core, Tommy: The Interactive Adventure isn't a game in the traditional sense. The use of the term "Adventure" in the title is a misleading one. Instead, it's one of those encyclopedic experiences that guides you through the key moments of Tommy's story, from concept to actualisation. If you've dived deep into the album or seen the movie (I doubt many have seen the stage show), it follows the harrowing tale of a young boy who becomes deaf, dumb, and blind, on his rise to fame as the "Pinball Wizard". The interactive nature allows you to explore various scenes through images, video clips, audio, and text, which blend seamlessly into an often surreal narrative. The experience doesn't follow a clear linear progression, making it feel more like an abstract art piece where you can jump between different interpretations of Tommy, from the original 1969 album to the more theatrical adaptations. 

Click the question mark on the bottom left to access the help page (left)

to see the hotspots for each song screen (right).

One of the highlights of this CD-ROM is the deep dive into the music and history of Tommy. Through digitized content, it offers a virtual museum full of rare photos, notes, and memorabilia from both the album's recording sessions and its evolution into a stage musical and film. If you're a fan, sifting through the archival content is an absolute treat, though admittedly it's not always the most polished. Video clips from the 1975 movie, directed by Ken Russel and starring Roger Daltrey and Ann-Margret, are a significant part of the experience, highlighting just how hallucinatory and visually experimental the film was. Other behind-the-scenes images and clips provide invaluable insight into how the material evolved across different mediums. However, the video quality does show its age. It is never fullscreen, and is accessed in an almost scattershot way making it hard to fully engage with the material. 

The interactive portion of the CD-ROM is, quite frankly, just as much of a misnomer as the adventure. Truncated song clips play over fading animations that will automatically lead on to the next track unless you click on something. Referred to as "The Opera", there isn't really any clickable elements within each screen, making them more like a passive art gallery that an interactive adventure. If your cursor does venture into the screen, you might get re-directed to song lyrics or specific pages of the encyclopedia section - perhaps even whole movie clips - but it's by far better to come across them in their relevant section. Click below the art and you'll access the "Documentary" where all of the content is organised chronologically. Click above the image, and you'll find the "Archive" where all of the content is organised alphabetically by theme; Song, Subject, Personalities, Performances, Media, and Pete's Archive where never-before-seen handwritten notes and private documents have been gathered. 

Each song page has a link to the lyrics, even if the song itself is only a 20-second clip (left).

Everything on the disc is categorised in the Archive by clicking on the top of the song screen (right).

A fascinating aspect of the CD-ROM is the "Then & Now" approach to the material. The title suggests a focus on juxtaposing the past with the present, allowing you to compare how Tommy was received in its original form with how it's been interpreted in later years. You can find recordings of the original, stripped-down demos and compare them to the 1969 album or the cast recordings from the musical and film. While I think the information gathered is better suited to a feature documentary film or coffee table book, the direct comparison that's on offer here is perhaps one of the CD-ROM's most satisfying aspects.

As a relic of the 90s, Tommy: The Interactive Adventure - Then & Now is undeniably a product of its time. There were a huge array of multimedia titles back then, and experimentation was rife. Unfortunately, the only experimentation found here is limited to the subject at hand. As it stands, Tommy is an uninteresting experience based on a very interesting subject. If you're a fan of The Who, or even just curious about the oddities of 90s interactive entertainment, it's worth checking out, I guess, but I suspect many would rather get the information found here by other means.

To download the game, follow the link below. This custom installer exclusive to The Collection Chamber uses DOSBox running Microsoft Windows 3.1 to get the game working on modern systems. Read the ChamberNotes.txt for more detailed information. Tested on Windows 10.

File Size: 496 Mb.  Install Size: 600 Mb.  Need help? Consult the Collection Chamber FAQ

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Tommy: The Interactive Adventure - Then & Now is © Eel Pie Publishing Ltd & Backstage Productions Aps
Review, Cover Design and Installer created by me

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