Youda Legend: Golden Bird of Paradise

Golden Bird of Paradise is the second installment in the Youda Legend series of hidden-object games. As in The Curse of the Amsterdam Diamond, you play an adventurer caught up in a search for a mysterious treasure. If you enjoy solving puzzles and searching complex scenes for hidden objects, you'll enjoy the Youda Legend games.

This latest adventure takes you to a beautiful tropical island that's gorgeously realized. Each scene is meticulously rendered, with well-thought-out animation. The hidden object searches are challenging--perhaps even a bit too much so. (In one scene I fruitlessly searched for a "column"; using a hint revealed that the item was actually a brass candlestick.) Luckily, you can use hints without taking too much of a hit in points.

Hidden-object scenes alternate with tricky puzzles that can be quite frustrating. A decent Help page would have been much appreciated. Twice I tried to use an object in my inventory to complete the puzzle, only to be told that it needed to be "prepared" first. How so? No clue. Perhaps if I had more than the hour-long demo I would have figured this out myself.

Youda Legend: Golden Bird of Paradise will appeal to anyone who loves a challenging hidden-objects game and appreciates high-quality graphics. My one serious complaint: The hour-long demo isn't nearly long enough to get into the meat of this game. Maybe I'll need to pony up the $10 to solve the mystery for myself.

--Kim Saccio-Kent