Space Quest IV

Sierra On-Line

Industry	Video game development and publishing
Founded	1979
Headquarters	United States
Products	Space Quest series, including Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers

Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers is a graphic adventure game released in 1991 by Sierra On-Line, marking the fourth installment in the Space Quest franchise. Originally distributed on floppy disk in March 1991, it was later reissued on CD-ROM in December 1992, featuring full voice acting. Although an Atari ST version was planned, it was eventually canceled. Players assume the role of Roger Wilco as he embarks on a time-traveling quest to thwart an old adversary bent on revenge.

The game showcases 256-color hand-painted visuals combined with motion capture animation and transitions from a text parser interface to point-and-click gameplay. Despite higher development expenses compared to earlier series entries, it achieved commercial success and garnered praise for its humor, voice performances, and overall design. The series continued with Space Quest V in 1993.

Gameplay

Departing from earlier titles, Space Quest IV adopts a point-and-click system akin to that used in King's Quest V. Players engage with objects through actions such as examining, conversing, using or collecting items, and occasionally tasting or smelling them for comedic purposes. Inventory elements can be inspected and utilized within various environments. Consistent with other Sierra adventures, players must react swiftly to lethal hazards to avoid losing the game.

Co-designer Scott Murphy initially preferred maintaining the original parser interface to preserve gameplay complexity. Nonetheless, Sierra president Ken Williams and creative director Bill Davis advocated for adopting point-and-click controls to unify the user experience across Sierra’s contemporary titles.

Ms. Astro Chicken

Within the mall arcade featured in the Latex Babes of Estros segment, players can access the mini-game Ms. Astro Chicken: Flight of the Pullet. This sequel builds upon Astro Chicken, which debuted in Space Quest III. The game parodies the classic arcade hit Ms. Pac-Man, while its soundtrack is a variation of the folk melody Chicken Reel.

Players pilot a flying chicken confronting foes such as flying squirrels, windpumps, and hunters armed with shotguns. Dropping eggs temporarily freezes enemies and increases points. After prolonged playtime, the arcade machine explodes; however, this event does not influence gameplay progression.

Setting

In Space Quest IV, a time-travel storyline serves as a vehicle for satirizing prominent science-fiction series. Players once again control Roger Wilco, a custodian who journeys through different eras to confront an emerging menace.

Story

Picking up after Space Quest III, Roger Wilco returns to his home planet Xenon aboard the Aluminum Mallard. At a bar, two androids reveal themselves as agents of Sludge Vohaul—the antagonist from Space Quest II—who has been resurrected in the future with vengeance in mind. Before they can assassinate Roger, soldiers intervene; one opens a temporal rift enabling Roger’s escape.

Roger arrives on a near-future Xenon devastated by an AI supercomputer corrupted by Vohaul’s digitized consciousness, which has subjugated or exterminated most residents. To counter this threat, Roger commandeers a time-travel vessel and journeys back several years to Planet Estros during events parodying Infocom's Leather Goddesses of Phobos in Space Quest X: Latex Babes of Estros. There he rescues his future former girlfriend and secures essential items for his mission.

After evading Vohaul’s android pursuers and capturing their time-travel ship, Roger gathers additional crucial artifacts—including revisiting locations from Space Quest I—before returning to Xenon. Upon infiltrating Vohaul’s stronghold, he discovers that the soldier who saved him is his son from the future, currently held prisoner by Vohaul. Roger initiates reformatting of the corrupted supercomputer, defeats Vohaul, and frees his son, thereby restoring freedom to Xenon. His son imparts limited knowledge about Roger’s future before Roger returns to his own time.

Reception

By March 1996, Sierra On-Line announced that the total sales of the Space Quest franchise had surpassed 1.2 million copies.

During 1991 and 1992, Dragon magazine awarded perfect scores of 5 out of 5 stars to both the PC and Macintosh editions of the game. In 1993, Charles Ardai from Computer Gaming World lauded the CD-ROM edition for amplifying the game's core qualities through enhanced voice performances, describing it as "the ideal multimedia title" despite its relatively short duration. Subsequently, the publication emphasized that the voice acting in the CD version was instrumental in vividly bringing Roger Wilco's universe to life.

Jim Trunzo of White Wolf gave Space Quest IV a rating of 4 out of 5, praising its effective combination of humor, futuristic visuals, and streamlined gameplay mechanics as a worthy continuation of the series.

The Amiga port was criticized for its subpar adaptation quality, with certain reviews assigning it scores as low as 19%.

In 1996, Computer Gaming World declared Space Quest IV the most humorous game ever created, highlighting Gary Owens’ vocal performance as an impeccable comedic contribution. Later, in 2011, Adventure Gamers placed it at number 48 among the greatest adventure games ever produced.