''Daria's Inferno'' is a 2000 PC video game developed by

Hypnotix Hypnotix, Inc. was an American video game developer. History Hypnotix was founded in 1993 and was based in Manhattan. The company moved to Little Falls, New Jersey in 1996. In July 2005, the company was acquired by Electronic Arts and folded i ...

and published by

Simon & Schuster Interactive Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperColl ...

. The game is based on the MTV animated show ''

Daria ''Daria'' is an American adult animation, adult animated sitcom television series created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis, Susie Lewis Lynn. The series ran from March 3, 1997, to January 21, 2002, on MTV. It centers on the titular character, D ...

''. Players control the character

Daria Morgendorffer Daria Morgendorffer is a fictional character and the eponymous main protagonist of the MTV adult animated series ''Daria'', which originally aired from March 1997 to January 2002. She was initially designed and created by ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' ...

through the fictional town of Lawndale. Characters in the game are voiced by the same voice actors as on the TV show. The game is the only media ever to feature the TV series' entire theme song, "You're Standing on My Neck" by

Splendora Splendora was an American all-female alternative rock band from New York City. Formed in 1993 by Janet Wygal (lead vocals, guitar), Tricia Wygal (lead vocals, bass), Delissa Santos (drums), Cindy Brolsma (cello), and Jennifer Richardson (violi ...

, only one verse of which is ever heard on the show.

Gameplay

The game uses

third-person perspective Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to storytelling, convey a narrative, story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to del ...

and consists of five levels. Each level contains mazes to navigate as well as inventory-based puzzles. The graphics are styled in the same cartoon manner as the TV show. The game provides hints for what to do in the form of ''Sick, Sad World'' clips.

Plot

Daria falls asleep in English class while Mr O'Neil is reading Dante's ''Inferno''. She finds herself in her own inferno, taken from the distastes she finds in her world. In her dream, Daria must recover five items stolen from the school, or the entire student body will be placed in detention.

Development

''Daria's Inferno'' was exhibited at E3 2000, and was released in late 2000.

Reception

''Daria's Inferno'' received generally negative reviews.

AllGame RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the Alternative Investment Market, ...

graded the game 1½ stars out of 5, finding fault with the game's short length and ease of play, as well as disparaging the "dull and unimaginative" cartoon graphics. A reviewer from ''GamesFirst!'' gave the game 2 stars out of 5; he criticized the game's length and ease but applauded the voice acting. Just Adventure assigned the game a C+, stating that while the game was far from a classic, it deserved more attention. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' gave it a C−, stating that the game was "nothing short of a trip to H-E-L-L." Four Fat Chicks gave the game a favorable review, praising both the gameplay and the game's "pure cartoon" graphics.

References

{{Hypnotix 2000 video games Classic Mac OS games Hypnotix games MTV video games Point-and-click adventure games Simon & Schuster Interactive games Single-player video games Video games based on animated television series Video games based on the Divine Comedy Video games developed in the United States Video games featuring female protagonists Video games with isometric graphics Windows games Works based on Inferno (Dante) Daria