.The game takes place in the late 1940s and concerns a major league baseball player turned pilot for hire named Joe King whose job to fly a plane carrying the spoiled movie star Faye Russel to Buenos Aires lands in disaster when the plane crashes in the Amazon jungle. While stranded in the jungle, King comes across both a village of Amazon warriors and a mad scientist masquerading as a lederhosen tycoon who kidnaps the Amazon princess with plans to turn her and the rest of the world's population into dinosaurs. Yes, it's that kind of game.
This game has examples of tropes such as:
- Anachronism Stew: One of the Amazon women is shown listening to a Walkman.
- Argentina Is Nazi-Land: The game is set in 1949 and has the Nazi-themed Dr Ironstein as its main villain, with a cover of running a company making lederhosen. In the middle of the Amazon jungle.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Dr. Ironstein transforms into a mutated dinosaur. The crystal robot becomes a giant to stop it.
- Book Safe: The key to Azura's prison is inside a book with pages stuck together.
- Closet Geek: Sparky and Skip are fans of "Commander Rocket". Both of them collect comic books.
- Damsel in Distress: Princess Azura is captured by Dr. Ironstein.
- Dreadful Musician: Mary-Lou. Her voice causes the pygmies to run away.
- "Dear John" Letter: To someone named "John," no less. His girlfriend dumped him for a doctor.
- Evil Laugh: Dr. Ironstein cackles like a maniac and the game takes full advantage of having proper audio track.
- Evil Lawyer Joke: Joe asks the Pygmy Witch Doctor whether she performs voodoo spells on people to ruin their lives. Her response? "I'm a doctor, not a lawyer."
- Expy:
- Faye is one of Willie Scott.
- Joe is one of Indiana Jones...'s pilot, Jock Lindsey, right down to the off-brand New York Mets baseball cap. More obscurely, he was also inspired by Jake Cutter from Tales of the Gold Monkey. By extension, Sparky is one of Corky from the same series.
- The Ferryman: Charon charters a "bote" [sic] from the Amazon jungle to Sloth Island.
- Friend to All Living Things: Jimmy has interests in studying animals.
- Heel–Face Turn: Anderson pulls one off towards the finale when he realizes that if Joe dies he wouldn't have anyone to gloat over.
- I Have This Friend: Joe asks the Pygmy Witch Doctor for a cure for a certain rash and emphasizes it's for a friend of his (which is actually true as it was Bud - one of the explorers, who requested Joe to get him some). The witch doctor sarcastically teases Joe for that.Joe: Could you make me a rash cure? It's for a friend of mine...
Witch Doctor: A friend, huh? <chuckles sarcastically>
<after giving Joe the list of ingredients>
Joe: But it's for a friend.
Witch Doctor: Yeah, whatever you say. <chuckles some more>
<when receiving the finished potion>
Joe: Thanks very much. By the way, it's my friend who has the rash.
Witch Doctor: Yeah, right. That's what they all say. - Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Faye, along with Hans decide to rescue Joe after they realize that the island is in danger.
- Lily-Pad Platform: It's large enough to carry three people at once. Its stem also needs to be cut to make it a boat.
- Mad Scientist: Dr. Ironstein, who wants to conquer the world with the help of his Dino-Ray.
- The Missionary: Jimmy and Mary Lou give "salvashun" to Amazon natives, although Jimmy seems more concerned with zoology and Mary Lou with manicuring.
- Mystery Meat: Floda's cafeteria mainly serves disgusting and inedible food.
- A Nazi by Any Other Name: The Floda Lederhosen company has several Nazi-like traits, such as its staff having blond hair and blue eyes, being obsessed with creating a master race (of dinosaur people), and having German accents. It is also worth noting that many former Nazis escaped to South America after World War II, which would explain their presence in the Amazon jungle. Additionally, the making-of booklet reveals that they were originally intended to actually be Nazis, but were changed to something less offensive.
- Nobody Here but Us Statues: When escaping Floda camp, Joe and Azura move into place. The guard is alarmed by the sneeze, but just think's they're mannequins that keep becoming more lifelike.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Jimmy and Mary-Lou are based on notorious televangelist Jim Bakker and his wife Tammy.
- Puff of Logic: Both times you encounter a gorilla blocking your path, you need to tell him he shouldn't exist to get rid of him.
- Punny Name:
- "Joe King," which is lampshaded by Charon.
- Faye's boyfriend Anderson is revealed relatively late in the game to have the first name Hans.
- Red Herring: Floda's library contains several false implied secret entrances which lead nowhere, including a loose painting, a book that is different than the rest, and a grandfather clock which opens (possibly a reference to a secret entrance from Day of the Tentacle).
- Save the Villain: Joe has to save a henchman of Frank's named Ian who is trapped in a cage. Said henchman betrays Joe after he's released and runs away with a statue. Unfortunately, he is crushed by a large stone and dies.
- Scenery Censor: In the Amazon fortress, the showering amazon on the right.
- Sdrawkcab Name: Floda Lederhosen Company. (Floda = Adolf.)
- Shout-Out: Several to LucasArts games. Dr. Frank is most likely an homage to fellow mad scientist Dr. Fred from Maniac Mansion.
- At least three to Star Wars, including "
Help me, Trader Bob, you're my only hope!" and "Who are you calling scruffy looking?" - Like Indiana Jones, Joe is afraid of snakes, though also claims that he "ain't afraid of no snakes!" There are also two Floda warehouses that strongly resemble Hangar 51 from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
- "Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking!"
- "Hasta la vista, Frank!" and "Oil be back!"
- "I'm a wide eyed loner standing at the gates of oblivion."
- A probable one to Monty Python's Flying Circus in the form of a book in Floda's library entitled "How Not to Be Seen."
- Joe King is very clearly inspired directly by Jake Cutter, being a bush pilot for hire, owning his own plane and coming from a different walk of life (and with attitude to match).
- At least three to Star Wars, including "
- Slipping a Mickey: The super soldier is a Big Eater who's always hungry. You can give him dog food, modified to be Chef's Surprise, to make him rather weak.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Ian, one of Frank's henchmen, as well as Frank himself.
- Step One: Escape: The game begins with Joe's rival locking him in a hotel room. He has to get out by moving some sheets aside to reveal a laundry chute and sliding down.
- Stupid Jetpack Hitler: The Mad Scientist Dr. Ironstein plans to transform Amazon women into dinosaurs. All fronted by the Flöda lederhosen company, of course.
- Take Over the World: Dr. Ironstein's goal is to conquer it with the help of Scaled Up Amazon Brigades of the actual, Amazon tribe. He lampshades it when he talks to Joe.
- Temple of Doom: The ancient temple in Sloth Island, including a half-ruined maze and sets of traps.
- Transformation Ray: Doctor Ironstein's Dino Ray, which transforms people into dinosaurs (and dinosaurs into people)
- Two-Fisted Tales: Unlike so many works in the 80s and early 90s, Flight of the Amazon Queen relentlessly parodies the related staples, cliches and stock characters, but without ever mocking them.
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: The obese and haggard Trader Bob is happily married to the beautiful Amazon native Naomi.
- A Way Out of a Cave-In: On his own, Joe is completely lost in the maze... until he spots the dinorat Ironstein was using for his rat maze experiment. Having apparently escaped the lab, it is now roaming the real thing. A handful of cheese puffs is needed to get the creature to cooperate, allowing Joe to find his way out.
- Wrong Assumption: When Joe remarks that the rash cure, he asks the Pygmy Witch Doctor about, is for his friend, she automatically assumes she's trying to cover an embarrassing problem, despite being unaware (or not even caring if) that it's actually true, as the one with the rash is the explorer Bud, who asked Joe to get him some cure. The more Joe insists about his saying, the more eagerly does the doctor tease him about it.Joe: ...by the way, it's my friend who has the rash.
Witch Doctor: Yeah, right. That's what they all say.