Game Vortex writes: "The Hardy Boys license hasn't seen enough action in the gaming world, for our money. The books have also faded in years past, read by Gen-X'ers more because of their parents' fond memories than genuine interest and relevance. We had Magnum P.I. on the tube, for goodness sakes! We'll admit to reading a few Hardy Boys mysteries back in the day, but the boys have a tough time standing out in a crowded room of teenage detective characters like Encyclopedia Brown and Spider Kane, or their female counterpart Nancy Drew."
WorthPlaying writes: "In The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft, the vault of the Spencer Mansion is robbed, and the Bayport Police call on the Hardy Boys to help tie up some loose ends, but they soon find themselves in the middle of a major criminal investigation that takes them on an adventure all over Bayport, and even into New York City. But the pieces don?t add up, and Frank and Joe find themselves embroiled in a drama of sinister proportions. Is the recent theft linked to something from the past? Can Frank and Joe find and decipher the clues in time to prevent another crime from happening?"
Leaping from the printed page to your computer screen, The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft puts you in the role of the sleuthing siblings Frank and Joe Hardy. And while the franchise has decades of teen-aged crime-solving under its belt, this video game adaptation ends up playing like an almost entirely generic point-and-click adventure. It has a few good ideas, but unfortunately they're all underdeveloped. This is a game for the fans only.
The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft tries hard to recreate the golden days of point-and-click adventure gaming. While its intentions are good, the exploration and puzzle-solving suffer from poor planning and execution. Hardcore fans of the genre are likely to appreciate this, but there are better games that are challenging without being obscure in their solutions. For fans of the Hardy Boys this might be worth a rental, but there are better products that bear the Hardy Boys name.
