As far as I’m aware, this has never been documented online before. I’ve thoroughly checked the websites that usually write about these kinds of things, including the Nancy Drew Fandom Wiki, The Cutting Room Floor Wiki, etc. Astoundingly none of them had it listed.
Nancy Drew: Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Arguably the best all-rounder of the mystery adventure games produced by Her Interactive. It is definitely the perfect introduction to the series for anyone unfamiliar with the triggering words “It’s locked!”
I played it when the game was a new release title. The alluring cover art finalised by Tim Jacobus of Goosebumps fame gave it an air of mystery too hard to resist. I would have bought it anyway though, having got my first taste of Nancy Drew games via a Scholastic magazine purchase in 2002.
Diving into the game itself, it featured pleasing 3D graphics for the mid 2000s, educational elements about gemstones, a balance of suspects to keep things interesting and a fitting soundtrack by Kevin Manthei. All these positive traits the game contains are only offset by puzzles that ultimately feel shoehorned rather than diegetic.
Comic relief from characters such as Joe Hardy and Fatima get peppered in at only appropriate moments in order to prevent diverting attention from the main plotline about Cheeseburgers long-lost gold.
Speaking of long-lost things, wasn’t I meant to be revealing a 20 year old Easter egg? Lucky I’m not a train driver, or we would have missed our stop by now. Let’s get things back on track, shall we?
I used to frequent the forums of both Her Interactive and Nancy Drew Mania from 2008 to 2009 under a different username handle. I eventually got tired of posting on those sites, and so I decided to quit. Funny thing about that actually... I discovered the Easter egg in 2010. Awkward timing, amirite?!
I was searching through the Bink video files of the game. 1,148 files to be exact, but who’s counting? Don’t worry, I didn’t go through all of them, just the most promising ones for finding secrets.
A lot of these files are literally “blink and you miss it”. This is because they are single-frame videos. I resolved this issue by looping the frame.
You’ve been very patient so far, kind adventurer, let me reward you with an Easter egg for enduring my Trademark Verbosity.
* takes ancient easter egg out of pocket and forces it on you *
It’s Dave Gregory from The Secret of Shadow Ranch with a speech bubble saying “ move along lil’ cowpoke... “
‘Poking’ around those files 15 years ago was well worth it. I’ve attached a screenshot for your convenience. “ CAB_H_Opn “ is the original filename, which matches up with being the internal doorway of the caboose.
So what do you think, folks? Pretty cool, huh?
Nancy Drew: Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Arguably the best all-rounder of the mystery adventure games produced by Her Interactive. It is definitely the perfect introduction to the series for anyone unfamiliar with the triggering words “It’s locked!”
I played it when the game was a new release title. The alluring cover art finalised by Tim Jacobus of Goosebumps fame gave it an air of mystery too hard to resist. I would have bought it anyway though, having got my first taste of Nancy Drew games via a Scholastic magazine purchase in 2002.
Diving into the game itself, it featured pleasing 3D graphics for the mid 2000s, educational elements about gemstones, a balance of suspects to keep things interesting and a fitting soundtrack by Kevin Manthei. All these positive traits the game contains are only offset by puzzles that ultimately feel shoehorned rather than diegetic.
Comic relief from characters such as Joe Hardy and Fatima get peppered in at only appropriate moments in order to prevent diverting attention from the main plotline about Cheeseburgers long-lost gold.
Speaking of long-lost things, wasn’t I meant to be revealing a 20 year old Easter egg? Lucky I’m not a train driver, or we would have missed our stop by now. Let’s get things back on track, shall we?
I used to frequent the forums of both Her Interactive and Nancy Drew Mania from 2008 to 2009 under a different username handle. I eventually got tired of posting on those sites, and so I decided to quit. Funny thing about that actually... I discovered the Easter egg in 2010. Awkward timing, amirite?!
I was searching through the Bink video files of the game. 1,148 files to be exact, but who’s counting? Don’t worry, I didn’t go through all of them, just the most promising ones for finding secrets.
A lot of these files are literally “blink and you miss it”. This is because they are single-frame videos. I resolved this issue by looping the frame.
You’ve been very patient so far, kind adventurer, let me reward you with an Easter egg for enduring my Trademark Verbosity.
* takes ancient easter egg out of pocket and forces it on you *
It’s Dave Gregory from The Secret of Shadow Ranch with a speech bubble saying “ move along lil’ cowpoke... “
‘Poking’ around those files 15 years ago was well worth it. I’ve attached a screenshot for your convenience. “ CAB_H_Opn “ is the original filename, which matches up with being the internal doorway of the caboose.
So what do you think, folks? Pretty cool, huh?
This reminds me of the "LOOM SUCKS" text hidden in the hood of one of the Elders in the CD-ROM version of Loom.
