BrainDead 13 developed by ReadySoft published by ReadySoft for DOS / Windows 95 CD-ROM November 13, 1996 Back in 1983, when ReadySoft and Cinematronics unleashed Dragon's Lair onto the arcade market they blew everyone away with a distinctly different and brilliant quarter eater. It made both companies a huge amount of dough, showcased laser disc technology to a mass market and established Don Bluth as a household name in animation. That's some fairly heady stuff to all come from one product. Since then, though, "interactive gaming" has taken on a whole new level of sophistication and unfortunately ReadySoft has not yet grown with it. The days of simply learning patterns within a game in order to beat it are long since over and because of this I find the exquisitely animated and polished BrainDead 13 nothing but a frustrating bore. There are only so many times that I can stand to repeat the same animated sequence, as gorgeously drawn as it is, before I feel the need to move on to a more productive use of my time (like clipping my fingernails). That's all this game offers, in terms of gameplay. You watch one sequence after another and gradually learn where to move to and when. Repeat as many times as necessary and then move on. Playing this game is akin to working quality control on an assembly line. The story line itself is great fun, though. You are Lance, "the hippest computer guru" around. You get a late night call to fix a computer at the ominous castle that Dr. Neurosis calls home. Upon reactivating the computer your smart ass questions lead you to discover Dr. Neurosis' plans for world domination. Very quickly you begin a mad dash through the twisted halls of the castle followed hotly by Fritz, Dr. Neurosis', half-bat, half-human and fully moronic henchman. What ensues is slapstick hilarity as you dodge, cajole and fall into mishap after mishap with the other characters in the story. Some of the characters in BrainDead 13 include: Vivi, the voluptuous vampiric hairdresser; Moose, the Frankensteinian athlete; Evil Left Iris and Evil Right Iris, witches straight out of "The Dark Crystal"; and the ragin' cajun' gator who serves as the cook for the house. They are all great; I just wish I could have met them without the painful repetition that got me there. The animated stories produced by ReadySoft are fantastic. We have the laser disc from the Dragon's Lair coin-op in the office and when you watch the whole thing through without a single stoppage it is totally crazy fun. But that reward is only available to those that can pick such a disc up in an auction, or for those that finish the game. To watch BrainDead in its entirety, though, I would have to finish the game, and I have neither the patience nor the masochistic nature to put myself through such torture. It's a shame. The animation is sweet and the production is top-notch but the game play is tired and abysmal. The only other thing going for this game is the fact that the nature of the repetitious, learn-by-rote button pushing makes BrainDead 13 one the most aptly named titles of the year. BrainDead 13.................3 out of 10 John Shaw