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"Sierra's Best Game Pre-Half-life"
Remember the days when you could run around naked and nobody cared and it was a treat to stay up late? Well go forward a few years and you may remember this treat of a game called ‘Jones in the fast lane.’ People may look back and laugh at it’s dated graphics and sounds but among all today’s huge number of first person shooters and real time strategy games this game truly shines because of its originality and replay ability.

Gameplay 9/10
Some may argue that this game is essentially a board game however the developers have used the strengths of board games that heaps of people love and added things that make people want to play for even longer. When making a board game on a computer developers are able to add animation and sounds which people love but what really sets this game apart from a normal board game is the freedom you have. You can go anywhere you like and do things at your own pace. For example if you want to get a better job you can spend some time studying instead of working or you might need to pay the rent so you go and work. Another good feature is that you can play it with friends and family or a play single player against Jones ala keeping up with the Jones’s.

Story 5/10
Like in ‘The Sims’ you pretty much make your own story by doing ordinary things to run your life. You start as a poor uneducated person trying to get in break in life and you move your way up the ranks by going to University until you are eventually manager of the factory which I am sure is everybody’s dream job well at least in this game :P

Control 10/10
There is no way you can get confused with mouse being the only thing you need however there is a joystick option.

Graphics and Sound 7/10
I usually rate the importance of graphics and sound in a game very lowly in a game because I believe in gameplay and fun level are more important however the graphics for this game were pretty good at the time and a still solid with good use of animated images without going overboard and the sound all being MIDI format.

Replayability 9/10
I remember playing this game on my first computer (486 :P) for hours on end and when I found my copy recently and dusted it off I loved it all over again. This game is one of the most replayable games I have which I usually play when I want a nice fun game I can play when I don’t want something too deep.

Buy or Rent?
I say if you see it anywhere buy it. It shouldn’t cost much and who knows it might be worth money one day.

Jones In The Fast Lane was originally titled "Keeping up with Jones" for the obvious reference to the phrase "keeping up with the Joneses", which refers to the desire to have at least as much wealth and success as your neighboors/peers (which is exactly what the game is about). The details are unclear, but someone somewhere owned a trademark on the phrase, so Sierra changed it.

This game was developed externally, and shopped around a few publishers before Sierra picked it up. At that time, all the game mechanics were there, but the presentation was all very "comicy", and there was no music or sound at all. Sierra added the whole yuppie look and feel, and this game was one of the first to include digitized actors and superior Roland Sound (which was ported to the CD version.) That face-lift made all the difference, and they should be remembered for their vision and contribution.

The new issue of the brilliant Retro Gamer magazine is out on Friday (September 15th) and amongst the usual features, includes my second feature for the mag. Jones in the Fast Lane is an old Sierra game from 1991, if you wanna know more, buy the mag :-)

I'd like to take this opportunity to offer special thanks to Peter Forson for his help in the creation of this article. Cheers Pete!