Readers of the Sherlock Holmes stories will recognize many acquaintances, from Lestrade to Miss Hudson, from Inspector Gregson to Toby the hound. The game's introduction, cutscenes, and ending feature digitized speech.
The Disk version and CD-Rom version of The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes are exactly the same. Voice-overs are included in the intro, the cut scene at St Pancras Station and the last scene. The 3DO-version is a full talkie, and instead of the painted portraits video-actors are shown.
The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes is the first part of a series of adventure games called "Electronic Arts Interactive Stories". Holmes' last line in this adventure is "There is a master criminal who thinks he is already more than a match for me." Although this could simply be an allusion to Holmes' arch-enemy, Professor Moriarty, it more likely a suggestion of the sequel. There is one other "Lost File" of the famous English detective, the sequel The Case of the Rose Tattoo, which is quite different in style, using video-captured characters and rendered backgrounds.
The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Serrated Scalpel is a verb-based point-and-click graphic adventure game.
The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes is a classical crime story with two protagonists. In the role of Sherlock Holmes, you travel through London in search of clues. Interesting locations are gradually added to a city map. Your most important source of information are dialogues with suspects, witnesses, and other people - and with Dr. Watson, who will readily comment on the situation. When talking to persons, you may choose one of several lines that seems most appropriate. Watson notes down all conversations in his journal, where you can access them if needed. True to the novels, Holmes will solve many puzzles through sharp observations and thorough searches of every location (thus discovering clues and deducing connections) as well as clever interrogations.