Item - Rock and Roll Mystery

Although it's not quite as horrifically dated as I had expected, this book is most definitely a relic of the eighties. In fact, large parts of it would not be out of place in the cartoons of the era. Depending on your path, you may find yourself facing a rival band, a group of anti-rock terrorists or even space aliens; normally this sort of inconsistency really bothers me, but here I think it actually works pretty well, increasing replayability dramatically. I would have preferred if the mystery aspect of the story had been emphasized more and the choices had been more strategic, but I'm willing to accept this book for what it is: a weird and sometimes disjointed adventure that could only have existed in the decade of my childhood.

More reviews by Demian

Just a note: this is the last CYOA with the classic white cover with the art inside a box. Starting with #70, Invaders of the Planet Earth, the art takes over most of the cover surrounded by a gradient of various colors that fades to white at the top.

More reviews by kleme

B-

Ladies and gentlemen... rock and roll for kids, and '80s cheese at its finest! The Van Halen, Warrant (!) and Poison (!!!) fan in me circa 1989 didn't quite dig the new wave hairdos and fashion portrayed, but still enjoyed the story for the most part. More incompetent cops join the storylines, but at least Wallace doesn't make them out as people not to trust like R. A. Montgomery often does. Looking back on this story as an adult, the whole rock-hating aliens thing could've been replaced by a group of concerned parents, but when you're 10-11 years old and a full-blown CYOA junkie, you couldn't care less. The rock-hating terrorists angle was okay, though, and I wish Wallace spent more time developing Eddie Murray of the Atrocities as an alternate bad guy. (Random thought - did Wallace realize that there was a baseball player of the same name during that era?) Could've been a B if not for Ted Enik's kiddie-centric artwork.

More reviews by MrEndshiftresign