Author: professor6153

Hydlide was developed and published by T&E Soft and released for the PC-88 in 1984. It was converted to the FM-7, PC-6001, Sharp X1 and MSX in 1985. An NES port would finally follow in 1989.

The Legend of Zelda had been released in 1986 and thus when the Nintendo version of Hydlide was finally released in 1989 many players thought it a very poor comparison, primitive, and a “rip off”. However, I would argue that Hydlide, in part, helped to influence the Zelda games. Many were not aware that the NES version was a conversion of a game that was released in 1984, BEFORE Zelda. However Hydlide has it’s own major influence and that was Namco’s The Tower of Druaga.

The Tower of Druaga was a 1984 action role-playing game developed and published in Japan by Namco. Controlling a golden-armored knight Gilgamesh, the player was tasked with scaling 60 floors of the titular tower in an effort to rescue the maiden Ki from Druaga, a demon with eight arms and four legs, who planned to use the artifact known as the Blue Crystal to enslave all of mankind. The game was a huge success. It attracted millions of fans and is known for its use of secrets and hidden items. It has been cited as an important game for the genre and laying down the foundation for future games. It inspired the use of guidebooks (selling strategy guides became a very common practice in Japan) and was hugely influential for many games to follow: Ys, Hydlide, Dragon Slayer, and The Legend of Zelda. Hydlide closely followed The Tower of Druaga and it’s look and influence (and use of hidden items) cannot be ignored. So while Hydlide is not THE influence upon which The Legend of Zelda was built it is a part of the tree. I suspect the developers, years later, were trying to capitalize on the success of the NES in North America hence the late port. The act of calling Hydlide a “rip off” or a primitive of The Legend of Zelda seems to stem then from ignorance as well as being unfair.

The Tower of Druaga was the first to take “Pac-Man like” maze exploration and add RPG elements (besides the hidden items). You can see this lite RPG “skinning” in things like experience levels and hit points in many games to follow. When I write about hidden items, I am referring to the fact that some essential items only appear when you kill certain enemies. This was a staple in The Tower of Druaga and you see its influence quite heavily in Hydlide in several places.

I chose to play the NES version of Hydlide simply because not only am I a NES fan, but I felt that if I was going to take my time with the game I might as well enjoy any graphical or mechanical improvements. As it turns out, graphically there is not much of a difference between the different versions but the NES port did add a magic system and a couple of the combat situations play out a bit differently between the PC-88 version and the NES version. I do actually own the Hydlide cartridge (though I never played it) but I chose to use an emulator so that I could take screenshots of my journey.

The premise of the game is as follows:

It took me roughly 13 hours to beat Hydlide which, embarrassingly enough, seems well above the average that it takes modern gamers to win out. More on this later, but one of the mechanics that took me almost 45 minutes to figure out was the infamous “bumping mechanic”. In Hydlide, the combat mechanics include distinct attack and defend modes. You attack enemies by “bumping” into them. You do damage to your enemies when you’re in defense mode and the damage that you receive is reduced. When you hold down the button on your gamepad or joystick, you go into attack mode. You deal a great amount of damage in attack mode and suffer much greater damage yourself as a result of going on the offensive. What took me quite a while to figure out, is that I could not fathom why my attacks were not consistent. Sometimes they were wildly successful and other times I was quickly killed. I soon came to realize that there is a “flanking” technique which you need to employ. If you “bump” into your enemies head on, it is likely you will take a great amount of damage yourself and possibly even perish when in attack mode. However, if you try to “flank” your enemies, meaning attack them from the side or from behind, your attacks are always successful, well executed, and less likely to be lethal. When I start a new game, I like to go into that game completely ignorant, trying to immerse myself as a player of that time period so I try to avoid reading any literature about the game. Thus, it took me almost an hour to realize the difference between the attack and defense modes and the importance of the “flanking” technique.

I found myself enamored with the graphics of Hydlide. Role-playing enthusiasts seem clearly divided into two different camps: you either love the crisp, vibrant colors and look of these JRPGs or you hate them with a passion. I liked the graphical representations of the creatures, castles, and landscapes and found them to be striking in depiction compared to many of the action RPGs we’ve played thus far.

The screen up above displays four different important meters. Your life meter represents the character’s power and displays the damage received. Each “hash line” is considered to be a level and thus you can max out at the 9th level of experience. The strength meter indicates “Jim’s” strength (more on the name later). The more powerful he becomes, the more damage the enemies receive. The experience meter represents levels and increases each time Jim destroys a monster. When Experience increases by 100, each level of life, strength, and magic increase by 10 points and then the experience meter resets to 0 again. Finally, the magic meter represents Jim’s magic power. Each type of magic requires different levels of magic power. When using high powered magic such as Wave or Flash, the magic meter decreases rapidly but it builds back up over time.

There are 10 different special items to find or acquire from enemies and you have to rescue three different fairies as well so there is quite a bit to do in order to rescue the captive princess Ann.

One of the things you’ll discover is that many of the dungeons that you find are bathed in darkness making them virtually impossible to explore. So, your first order of business seems to be to find a light source. The only dungeon that is lit and suitable for you to explore is unfortunately guarded by a vampire.

The vampire seemed impossible to beat. It was only after obtaining the cross that made it possible to face the vampire. The cross was in a chest I discovered by exploring the surrounding wilderness. The cross, in combination with the Turn spell, allowed me to finally beat the vampire. Once you defeat the vampire you are awarded with a lamp which now allows you to explore the other dungeons.

Once I had the lamp I found that my advancement occurred rather quickly. I explored the dungeon to the north of the vampire’s castle and there I uncovered a key. The key allowed me to open a chest found in the cemetery guarded by zombies. Inside the chest was one of the three jewels that I needed.

Later I rescued the 1st fairy which is accomplished by “bumping” into the trees in the forest north of the cemetery. The trees may also hide swarms of wasps that you have to battle so you’ll need to be wary.

In yet another dungeon I uncovered a shield and a ring which happens to be the second of the three jewels.

The second fairy was found by crossing a vast desert populated with giant desert worms and entering a forest of living trees. The trees can attack and the 2nd fairy was found by “bumping” into one of those vicious treants.

The 3rd fairy was very difficult to rescue. You had to travel the waterways and avoid the eels and make your way to an area of land populated by two wizards. These two wizards hurl fireballs at you and were extremely difficult for me to beat. Defeating one of them never works, you must defeat both at the same time. The only way to do this is to have enough magic to cast the WAVE spell. You need to be at least 6th level to do so which should be no problem at this point in the game. The trick with the Wave spell however, is waiting to unleash it when the wizards are lined up with one another, so that you can catch them both in the “wave” blast. This was another portion of the game that took me some time to master. Once they are defeated the three fairies lift you and transport you to the island where the Castle of Varalys is located. The problem is that the Castle is guarded by a dragon!

This posed another difficult challenge in the game. I discovered that by throwing a fireball at a tree in front of the castle that it hid an entrance into the castle’s dungeon (this was actually an accidental discovery made by hurling fire at the dragon not based on intellectual ingenuity). If you make your way into the dungeon, and avoid the dragon, you’ll find a tombstone on the 2nd dungeon level. If you break the tombstone, it drains the water from the waterway above. I found the dragon to be virtually impossible to beat, but the water in the waterway was the source of the dragon’s power. With the water drained, you can now return and face the dragon. When you finally beat the dragon, you win a Medicine which completely heals you to full strength when you die. This is an absolutely necessary item to have on hand before you face Varalys – especially for me with my feeble arcade/platform skills.

I had mentioned previously that Hydlide took me roughly 13 hours to finish. Well, 5 of those 13 hours were spent getting me to this point: the final showdown with the big bad Varalys. He is depicted as the giant blue demon above. He is accompanied by his minions: 2 skeletons and 2 black armors. It took me almost 8 hours of relentlessly trying again and again and again to finally defeat him. You’re allowed to save your game using a password system, so luckily I saved just before entering this room. I was literally almost pulling my hair out at the end and it was a test of my patience as I just didn’t have the arcade skills or reflexes to seemingly beat this opponent. When I went back and read to see if there were any tricks to beat this big bad, there were none. One thing I did discover however, is that all of those who did beat the game, claimed to beat Valarys you must use a hit and run technique. That, your hit points regenerate while his do not. Well, I’m here to tell you, in the NES version I played, his hit points kept seemingly kept regenerating as mine were. The hit and run technique was not working for me. And that’s when I made my discovery. I had kept saving my game with every successful hit upon him, but, I learned, that when I saved my game progress, possibly as a penalty for doing so, it reset Varalys back to full power. I learned that if you did not save your progress, you could indeed employ a hit and run technique, and that you would very slowly wear him down. It was not as easy as it sounds. Just slightly “bumping” and running reduced you to almost zero hit points – and then you’d have to run around and avoid his four minions while your hit points slowly regenerated. I constantly used the Flash spell, which eradicates the minions for a very short while and deals a little damage to Valarys, but you then have to wait for your magic points to regenerate along with your hit points. And then it finally happened, I was able to beat Valarys. The feeling of accomplishment at this point was indeed mighty.

Once you defeat Valarys, there is an animation sequence in which the fairies transform into Princess Ann and you are awarded with a “congratulations” screen.

There is no character creation in Hydlide. We all start with the same character and his name is Jim. I find this an odd name to give a character. It may be that it is a common name representing the common man able to achieve “hero-like” status and that the West views the name Jim as a very “common” name.

The creator Tokihiro Naito explained that the word Hydlide is a fantasy word made by combining the names of two constellations, though he doesn’t remember which two constellations they were.

I found this game to be very enjoyable and I like the style of play but got aggravated at my own ineptitude at dealing with the more rigorous reflex sections of the game. I guess I fall into the camp that doesn’t mind this style of game. I appreciate its historical context and its influence on other games that would come later.

Next up on the docket is Zyll.

Until next time…

I still find it hard to believe to this day that Eamon was a shareware title or public domain and not a commercial product. The allure of building up a character as you move from adventure to adventure is just too great. Donald Brown, the game’s creator, also gifted the masses with an editor, allowing them the power to create and publish their own adventures. Perhaps it was this grass roots decision to place the game in the hands of the masses that helped propel it to such popularity.

The Abductor’s Quarters is the 8th game in this venerable series and it allowed me to return to the character of Fost Longstrider and step into his boots for another adventure.

You learn that a friend of yours, Kathryn, is in trouble. She was trying to loot a nearby dungeon when she mysteriously disappeared. After careful research, you discover that the dungeon your friend went to is controlled by a mad adventurer known only as “The Abductor”. You must find your friend before it is too late.

The author of this adventure is Jim Jacobson. The dungeon is a rather large one and one to be explored rather than interacted with. There are 72 locations that comprise this dungeon.

There was not a lot of combat nor were there a lot of treasure or magic items to obtain. I found some rare coins and a large red ruby and not much else. There is one particular puzzle in the game, involving a brick wall which impedes your exploration into another area of the dungeon, whose solution I have to applaud and I found highly entertaining for an Eamon offering.

There is not a lot of combat in this particular offering but the battle with the big bad in his lair is quite the affair. You encounter not only The Abductor but two guards. While the battle ensues, more and more guards can randomly enter the fray up to a total of six! They are referred to as Guard1, Guard2, Guard3, etc. Guards 5 and 6 are particularly brutal and hard to beat. The Abductor himself is armed with a magical blade, much like your own if you still possess it from The Beginner’s Cave adventure – Trollsfire! If the weapon broke in a previous adventure, now is your opportunity to get said weapon back with the defeat of The Abductor and his minions. This is a very difficult combat. I was lucky in that I had a shepherd at my side which I had rescued from a cell in the dungeon. Even when you defeat The Abductor, there is the random chance that he may teleport in during one of your later encounters in the dungeon as a special event. This happened to me, much to my dismay, however he was killed with only one blow in this second encounter.

I did eventually find Kathryn which was your main objective for this adventure.

The next obstacle was merely trying to find your way out of this dungeon. Your previous exit had been blocked due to a cave-in and so you have to find another way out which I eventually did.

I enjoyed another excursion into the World of Eamon with my Fost Longstrider character. He was able to survive and so will be back in another thrilling adventure.

Next up on the docket is Hydlide. Until next time…

There are only three dungeons to be found in the game of Questron: the Mountain Catacombs, the Dungeon of Death, and Mantor’s Mountain. There may only be three dungeons but they are sprawling, trap filled, treasure laden affairs. The Mountain Catacombs and Dungeon of Death both consist of 8 levels. Mantor’s Mountain is a massive 17 level dungeon with the 18th level playing much like the exploration of the castle in the game.

The dungeons consist of wireframe graphics which you explore from a first- person perspective. The layout of each dungeon level is not randomized but static and thus can be mapped out. The monsters that you encounter in the dungeons are completely different from those you encounter on the outdoor map. I was amazed at the sheer variety of creatures that you encounter and at how well the wire-frame graphics for each were. The dungeons are also filled with deadly traps and I found myself constantly searching for traps at every turn. You do so by pressing X (for e(X)amine) on the keyboard. The moment you forget to do so I guarantee you will blunder into a trap that can cause thousands of hit points worth of damage and even blindness.

The main goal in the Mountain Catacombs is to find the safe located on the 8th level of the dungeon. Inside the safe is an iron key and it is then that you realize you’ve found the way to bypass the iron door so that you can enter the Dungeon of Death.

The Dungeon of Death I found to be a much deadlier affair than the Mountain Catacombs. The strength and brutality of the monsters encountered in this dungeon gets ratcheted up a notch.

The main goal in the Dungeon of Death was to apparently find the safe located on the 8th level. Inside the safe I found a diamond ring and I had no clue as to it’s purpose or how to use it.

When I left the Dungeon of Death and returned to the town of Snake Landing I found that I could purchase an eagle for transport and so I did.

I also failed to mention that I found a compass locked within a chest on the 1st dungeon level of the Mountain Catacombs. When you find the compass you’re then able to tell which direction you’re traveling within the dungeons making it an important item.

Besides the ability to purchase an eagle, I also discovered I gained enough experience to be able to purchase and outfit myself with a magic shield and a battle axe. The magic shield does a much better job of protection and absorbing damage than the plate mail does and the battle axe, while dealing more damage, also increases the “range” in which you’re able to use it. These were significant upgrades for me.

I would soon discover that I now possessed all that I needed in order to defeat Mantor. Now, astride my new aerial steed, I began to fly about and explore the Lands of Evil. I discovered four more towns much like Snake Landing: Devil Lake Post, Lizard Crossing, Bay Ridge, and Island View. There were no new or significant items to obtain from any of these other towns. I also discovered, in the northeast corner of the Land of Evil Map and just off the coast, a small island. Only accessible via my eagle mount.

On this remote island I discovered the game’s third dungeon and Mantor’s secret hideout, aptly named Mantor’s Mountain. In anticipation of this endgame, I had spent some time grinding and building up my character and resources. I kept going back to the Mountain Catacombs and Dungeon of Death and I kept battling creatures, amassing gold, and then purchasing hit points in Snake Landing. I judged that over 50,000 experience points should be adequate to begin my foray into Mantor’s dungeons. I also began to stock up heavily on Fireballs and especially Stone Spells. I like the Stone Spell because as you move into the deeper dungeon levels the game has the tendency to suddenly throw several monsters at you at the same time. The ability to “freeze” all of them for at least 10 rounds while you proceed to bash their face in is invaluable.

While grinding, I also discovered a couple of chests that contained a Magic Powder and urn that increased my Stamina by 10! Once I felt I had enough hit points and enough spells I began my descent into Mantor’s Mountain. It was then I discovered the value of the Diamond Ring that I found on the last level of the Dungeon of Death. You can only gain entrance to Mantor’s Mountain if the Diamond Ring is in your possession. Think of it like a key.

I initially thought Mantor’s Mountain would contain 8 dungeon levels like the previous two dungeons in the game. I was surprised to discover how wrong that assumption was the deeper and deeper I delved. It was during the exploration of level 17 that I was approached by an air elemental that offered to lead me to a safe for the entire 20,000 gold pieces I possessed. I’ve always been somewhat of an impulse buyer so I said ‘yes’.

The air elemental did indeed lead me to a safe and when I unlocked it, the safe revealed a hidden shaft down. I climbed down this shaft to the 18th, and what would be the final, level and found myself in Mantor’s stronghold. From this moment all the way until the very finish of the game represents an extremely entertaining finish. I’ll go so far as to say that no game up to this point has gone out of its way to end with such a dramatic flourish as Questron does here. In many games we receive only one line of praise for all of our hours of hard work. I do understand that much of this was due to the hardware limitations of the time, and the authors wanting to pack as much into the game as they could, but no other game to this point has a longer ending sequence or a more dramatic finish then the show that Questron puts on.

The 18th level of Mantor’s Mountain is not like the previous 17 wireframe dungeon levels. Now you find yourself in his secret lair and this plays more like exploration of the castle in the game. When you first reach the level Mantor is aware of your arrival and initiates the death device which is meant to destroy all of Questron. While you traverse this level you can hear through music and sound affects the countdown as it speeds towards completion. Your first problem will be getting through all of the minions he has stationed throughout the complex. I still had about half of my 50,000 hit points so I still felt confident at this point. It was fortuitous that I spent so much time grinding in preparation for the end game.

There were many minions to have to wade through but eventually far to the north I encountered two locked doors. One to the left and the other to the right. I used my gold key to unlock the door on the left first and discovered Mantor within his lair. Luckily, I saved at this point because I was defeated by Mantor quite easily until I realized I needed to use the Magic Powder that I found in the dungeon. Each round Mantor casts a spell which deals 500 damage to you. However, I discovered using the Magic Powder caused Mantor to stagger. If you walk all the way up to Mantor and then use the Magic Powder it destroys him!

Once you defeat Mantor you come into possession of the Book of Magic. I then took the Book of Magic and made my way over to the other door that had been locked (to the right). I used the gold key to unlock that door as well and found what looks to be a computer in the room.

It was then that I used the Book of Magic which in turn destroyed Mantor’s deadly device.

Once the machine was destroyed I was a bit confused as to what to do next. I had expected some kind of congratulatory note at that time but received nothing. I discovered that if I went back to Mantor’s throne room and used the Book of Magic there that it teleported me back to the castle.

I then made my way to the king and there was much fanfare. All of his soldiers lined up to salute me and the musicians played a long and pleasing song to me in tribute. He then made me a baron of all the lands within 10 days travel of Geraldtown and I was crowned Baron Fitz.

I was then told that Mesron wanted to speak with me. I sighed and went in search of Mesron and soon stood before him. He congratulated me as well but then told me that the book that I used to defeat Mantor is a vile, evil thing and must be destroyed, and that it was ultimately only me that could do so. I was then whisked away, with only the book and gold key in my possession, and then a blurb to watch for Questron II appeared on the screen.

I thoroughly enjoyed this game. If you’ve never played this one and enjoy old school dungeon crawlers and role-playing games I strongly suggest you do so. I think that it gets unfairly categorized as merely an Ultima clone however I feel that it really stands tall on its own merits.

I spent about 20 hours in total with the game and enjoyed every one of them. The overall plot, originality of the creatures, the pacing, the games of chance in each town, the way that hit points are handled, the fight with the big bad and the overall end sequence all serve to make this one a very solid and strong entry in my opinion. It is the only game I’ve played from the 1984 list but it already feels like it could be the strongest entry from the list. We’ll soon see.

Next up on the docket: I am returning to the wonderful world of Eamon and the character of Fost Longstrider as he tackles his 8th adventure in the series: The Abductor’s Quarters. Until next time…

When last we left off, I was exploring the castle and had finally found Mesron. He informed me that I was still missing an important item, and once found, would help me further. I felt that I had exhausted all of the castle’s secrets so it seemed it was now time to raid the treasury. I can see why Richard Garriott felt it a moral responsibility to change his game’s focus by Ultima IV. When you begin to unlock chests and take gold from the castle in Questron the guards are alerted and begin to attack you. It felt “wrong” to me to slay all the guards and then seek an audience with the king. I actually tried to do so and he informed me; “You come into my castle, rob me, and attack my guards then expect me to help you? Perhaps if you return in a more peaceful manner…” I can’t say I blame the man.

Besides gold, the chests can also contain keys. There are four different kinds of keys, a ruby key, an emerald key, a silver key, and a lead key. These keys open various doors throughout the castle. It is the gold key that you need to gain an audience with the king and the gold key was the hardest to find.

There are two unique places in the castle where you are able to increase your stats and become more powerful. One of the keys opens a room where resides a doctor. He claims he can make you more powerful if you give him 10 vials of holy water. I thus went out, using the gold I pilfered from the treasury, and bought as many vials of holy water as I could afford. I returned and gave the doctor the 10 vials he requested. He promptly increased my strength from 20 to 40!

The gold key, besides granting you entrance into the king’s audience chamber, opens a room which contains a princess. She informs you that for 2000 gold she will increase your charisma. I thus left, pilfered more gold from the castle, killed more guards, and returned with her 2000 gold. She promptly raised my charisma from 15 to 35.

When I tried to communicate with the king the first time and he refused my request; I explored his audience chamber thoroughly. There was a back room behind his throne that contained one treasure chest. Inside the chest was a trumpet. I discovered that this was a magic item and would prove invaluable later. It is imperative that you obtain this item.

It was time to leave the castle and return peacefully. When I did so I made it a point not to fight any of the guards and was able to seek an audience with the king. He increased my dexterity, declared me the strongest warrior in Questron, and knighted me. I sheepishly apologized for slaying 60 of his guards.

I then sought out Mesron again within the castle. He congratulated me on finding the trumpet, increased my hit point total and my stamina and then informed me that I must seek out the Land of Evil. To find this foul land, I need to make my way through the mists of the north to find the Hidden Port. Once I find the Land of Evil, I need to confront Mantor in his evil lair and destroy him before he can complete his evil plans of conquest.

Up to this point the game has been very stingy with plot details. I wandered all about the continent and found nothing but towns, cathedrals, and a castle. There were no dungeons or ruins to explore of any kind. One you gain a particular amount of experience or once a certain amount of time has passed, when you return to Geraldtown, which was your starting point, you discover it has been burned to the ground and you are told to seek out Mesron.

Now that I’ve been tasked with finding the Land of Evil and slaying Mantor; we finally discover our purpose or the true plot and I found myself becoming more immersed and enjoying the game even more.

The trumpet that you found is invaluable in helping you find the Hidden Port. When you blow on the trumpet, it magically transforms land that impedes your progress into marsh that allows continued progress. It was through the constant blowing of the trumpet that I was allowed to find and make my way to the Hidden Port. Once there, I absconded a raft and then made my way to the Land of Evil. All I did was sail north through a few screens of ocean until I finally landed.

Once I landed, I explored my new surroundings and discovered that random encounters in the wilderness are much more frequent and much deadlier. I discovered a town called Snake’s Landing. There was a new type of vendor in this town selling various magic spells and hit points. Hit points are now sold much like food in the game. I purchased more food and many more hit points being that this Land of Evil is so dangerous to traverse. I also purchased a Fire Ball spell to try it out. It appears that purchasing the spell doesn’t mean that you now know it and can cast it repeatedly. Instead, spells in the game seem to be like arrows. Once used they are depleted and if you want to cast one of them again you have to purchase more. I will be experimenting further with this spell system.

My further exploration of the surrounding land led to the discovery of a dungeon! The first dungeon I’ve found in the game. It was aptly named the Dungeon of Death. However, an imposing iron door refused any entry. Well, that’s disappointing. I set out once again and found yet another dungeon entitled Mountain Catacombs and I was allowed access.

It is within the Mountain Catacombs where I’ll take my leave from you once again. I’ve saved my game at this spot and when I return to it, I will be exploring the dungeons in Questron for the first time. I am enjoying the game thus far and had I purchased this game off the shelf when it came out, I would not have been disappointed.

I take the time to consume my meager rations of hard tack and water. Holding my torch aloft, I squint down the dark tunnel which beckons like a yawning mouth.

Until next time…

Questron was written by Charles W. Dougherty and published by SSI in 1984 for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit, and Commodore 64. I chose to play the Commodore 64 version using an emulator.

This will be the first in a series much like I did with the Wizardry and Ultima installments.

When Questron was released I was still a senior in high school. It would be another year before I would purchase my first home computer; an Apple IIC. Questron was SSI’s first foray into the field of role-playing games and they would later dominate and become a powerhouse in that arena. I have been eagerly anticipating playing these games and thus Questron was my first selection from the 1984 list.

I do not have any prior experience with Questron at all other than drooling over the box as a teen.

Once you’re past the title screen I was intrigued by the fact that Dougherty obtained a license from Richard Garriott for the game structure. I tried to find more about this detail and stumbled across a conversation that someone had copied and pasted from a conversation on AOL in 1984:

This is a bit surprising as a lot of these early games I’ve been playing seem to have “borrowed” ideas from one another. Perhaps copyright infringement and litigation were being policed better by 1984. Unless he copied actual lines of code, I don’t think Charles needed to secure this licensing from Garriott. Ring of Darkness was a blatant Ultima clone and I don’t remember Garriott going after them (I really enjoyed Ring of Darkness despite the familiar “Ultima skin”.

I find Questron to be a difficult game thus far. It is, much like the Ultima games, a game of economy. Gold equals power in this game. You are constantly fighting to obtain more and then instantly spending it on food and training once it is acquired.

I thought as my character gained experience and found better equipment that gold would be easier to obtain but that is not the case. So far it has remained a constant struggle. There are two ways that you can go about trying to acquire gold:

1. You can roam about the overland map and combat the many wandering monsters to be found there. Each victory nets you gold pieces.
2. The second way that you can obtain gold is through the games gambling system. There are three different games of chance that you can play in the various towns scattered throughout the continent: Blackjack, Double or Nothing, and Roulette. It is difficult to get on any kind of winning streak playing these games but I have had more success with both Double or Nothing and Roulette than I have with Blackjack. One time I won Double or Nothing three times in a row and then the guards all came after me and accused me of cheating. I had to flee to in order to save my life.

I don’t think it is very fair to call Questron a blatant clone of Ultima. There is a lot of originality in the game and differences that help the game to completely stand on its own merits.

The game seems to work on some sort of timing system. There were hardly any equipment options at the outset but more seem to become available to you as the game progresses. When the game begins only rawhide is available to you as an armor option and the only weapon was a whip. I also wandered around battling monsters for quite some time, and I wasn’t quite sure how to advance the plot or where I was supposed to go. Then suddenly in each of the towns it was confided to me that Mesron wanted to speak to me. Excellent! There is a plot twist but where in the hell is Mesron? I did eventually find Mesron, more on that in a bit, but my point is that there is some kind of timing system in play. I am not sure if experience triggers the change, obtaining a particular item or piece of equipment, or if it is just merely the advancement of actual time that triggers these plot points, but this is a pretty unique feature.

The landscape that you travel through is composed of forests, mountains, swamps and plains. There is an ocean which surrounds the continent and there is a lake with what appears to be an island in the center of it in the middle of the continent. A boat or raft has not yet been made available to me and I’ve yet to find a way to cross to the island but I’m sure I’ll discover how. Mountains are impassable unless you are equipped with rope and hooks as a weapon and then you’re able to cross the mountains.

There are about fifteen different cities that I’ve encountered scattered through the continent. You start near Geraldstown and nearby are also Mall Cave, Fort Cavern, River Junction and Prison Mines. The cities are pretty uniform for the most part. You can obtain armor and weapons in them as well as food. Food is a necessary resource for survival, and you consume it quickly as you move about on foot. You are constantly rushing to a nearby city and spending your money on more food in order to survive. New armor and weapons also vie for your hard-earned gold.

One other very unique feature in Questron is the presence of Cathedrals. I have encountered two of them so far. The Swamp Cathedral is in close proximity to Geraldstown. These structures are very mysterious in nature.

If you approach the front dais of the Cathedral, you’ll encounter the head priest. He will ask you how much you want to tithe. If you do not donate quite a bit of what you’re carrying he will simply tell you; “That is not enough” and then you’ll find you can become trapped in certain rooms of the Cathedral if you investigate without a proper “donation”. If you tithe quite a bit, he then informs you that “you will be blessed”. You will find this to be true because now if you investigate the Cathedral, you will find vials of holy water that you can take. If you consume these, they restore your hit points. This is the only way to heal in the game and so much of your gold must be preserved for donations in these Cathedrals.

One other very unique feature of the game; in the Swamp Cathedral you are asked if you want to attempt to increase your Dexterity. The cost is 50 gold if you answer yes and then suddenly the screen changes and you find yourself playing a skeet-shooting game. You aim a gun using the keyboard and attempt to shoot 1-3 clay pigeons out of the air. If you score well, your dexterity score will go up a couple of points. I have only increased my Dexterity one time in this fashion, and I want to make a point to go back and try again.

In the far southeast corner of the continent is the Ocean Cathedral. In here I obtained a magic flute and was told; “to only use it thrice”. I’ve yet to attempt to use it and thus I know not what it does yet.

In most of the other games that I’ve played thus far the creatures in the game have seemingly been pulled right from the Monster Manual in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Not so here. The monsters are highly original, and I’ve been writing down the names of them as I’m encountering them in the game. I’ve battled a Woods Ogre, Gar Mind Flayer, Rot Weed, Slime Swimmer, Flesh Feeler, Bloodhound Ghoul, Irish Stalker, and Army Scorpion to name a few. Some very unique creations and the graphics representing each creature are original as well.

The documentation that comes shipped with the game is excellent and on par with the excellent documentation found with the Ultima games, the Dunjonquest line, and Crystalware titles. It tells a lot of the game’s backstory and details each of the monsters that you’ll encounter. Excellent illustrations are scattered throughout the manual as well.

So where do I stand with the game at this point?

I recently obtained a magical flute from the Ocean Cathedral and entered the Castle. It was inside the castle that I finally found Mesron. He raised each of my ability scores a couple of points and then bestowed upon me a magical powder that can slow the castle guards down. There is enough there for three uses. He also told me that before he can aid me any further; I am still missing one item. So I am assuming I need to find this item either in the castle or that I need to find a way to get across the lake in the center of the continent to reach the island.

I will hopefully find some time this weekend to spend with the game. As luck would have it, work and real-life has suddenly become extremely busy for me just as I reached this 1984 list. I am greatly enjoying the game so far and I’m glad that it was the first game that I selected from the new list. I look forward to updating you with my further Questron adventures.

Until next time…

Baldor’s Castle was developed and published by Daedalus Digital for the VIC-20 in 1983.

I searched high and low and I could not find any box art or commercial packaging for this name. I did find an advertisement for the game:

Baldor’s Castle is an early roleplaying game for the VIC-20. Play is from a top-down perspective as the player explores the halls and rooms of the castle.

There is no main quest or objective in the game other than to try and stay alive, battle monsters, and collect gold. You can choose to fight with a sword or arrows.

You can also find potions to aid you in your pursuit of riches. In my tenure with this game, I found two different types of potions. One of the potions was a healing potion that increased my life and the other potion sped up the regeneration of my Power. The game was extremely basic, and you can see the different keyboard commands for the game listed above.

The game uses a fog of war to hide the castle’s level from you which is exposed as you move about and explore. One of the things that you can obtain after defeating a monster is a map which will not only show you the entire level but also where monsters and treasures are located.

The Power score is used to perform attacks. Each time you swing your sword or fire an arrow it depletes this score. The Power score replenishes as you move about the castle. Your Skill points are much like experience points and these increase as you defeat monsters. Once a monster is defeated you usually are rewarded with gold and potions. The potions are usually of the healing variety.

There is not a lot here. The only impetus to continue to play is to see if you can keep increasing your overall score. I knew what I was getting into before I even began the game because of the system it was created for.

I managed after playing for a couple of hours to get my Skill score up to 65 and this was accomplished by exploring much of the castle level. I suspect there is another level to be found because the screen goes out of it’s way to let you know that you are on the First Floor.

I played Baldur’s Castle on an emulator and spent about 2.5 hours with the game. It DOES check the RPG boxes and WAS on my list from 1983 and so the completist in me felt compelled to play the title and to report on it. I was surprised that I was able to find a one-page advertisement for the game but that I was unsuccessful in finding the game’s packaging.

Next upon the docket – we leave the 1983 list behind now after having worked through it – and move on to the RPGs that were developed and published in 1984. The first game from the list I’m choosing to tackle is Questron. I’m excited to play this one. I remember being attracted to the box art and I had always wanted to play the game but never did. Now I get the opportunity to do so.

Until next time…

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin was released in 1983 for the Intellivision. It was developed by APh Consulting and published by Mattel Electronics. It was Mattel’s second game under the Dungeons & Dragons license; the first being their Cloudy Mountain game. Mattel would go on to lose the license after the release of this game and we would not see another game use the license until 1988 with the release of the Pool of Radiance.

The object of the game is simple in scope. You’re to make your way into a deep web of endless rooms and corridors to defeat the dreaded Minotaur and recover the Treasure of Tarmin. Now remember that in 1983 we were graced with the likes of Wizardry III: The Legacy of Llylgamyn and Exodus: Ultima III however the Treasure of Tarmin offers a depth and complexity of gameplay that I did not think was possible for a home console of that period.

Graphically Treasure of Tarmin looks much different than it’s Cloudy Mountain predecessor. The action is a first-person point of view as the character traverses a maze of tunnels underneath the Island of Tarmin.

There are two different levels of play to choose from. There is an Easy mode and a Hard mode.

The Easy mode consists of 4 levels. You’re likely to find both the minotaur and treasure on the 4th level.

The Hard mode consists of 12 levels and they remove the option of retreating back to a prior level – so all of the UP ladders are now gone. Teleportation gates have also been added to the mix which sap your spiritual strength score. It is my understanding that you can continue lower after you defeat the minotaur and that the game supports 256 levels however I never tested this. Once you pick up the Treasure of Tarmin the game immediately ends so if you want to continue with a deeper foray into the labyrinth then you want to delay picking up the Treasure.

Movement through the dungeon is smooth and quite impressive on this early home console.

There is a lot of information on your map screen. In the lower left-hand corner is your compass which tells you the direction you’re traveling in. Rotating around your compass are the objects that are in your pack. Manipulating objects in the game took some getting used to so bear with me a moment as I walk you through it. The number in the bottom center of the screen shown above is the current dungeon level that you are on. You can see that I am on the 12th dungeon level. The icon to the left of that number shows what is in my left hand and the icon to the right of the number depicts what I’m carrying in my right hand. When you PICK UP or DROP objects it relates to your right hand only. Your right hand must be empty in order to pick an object up. To swap objects from one hand to another you can press SWAP HANDS. To swap an object in your pack with an object in your right hand you press SWAP PACK. Whichever object is in the 3 o’clock position will suddenly appear in your right hand. Your pack can hold objects in the 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 o’clock positions.

Obviously figuring all of this out took a little getting used but once you have the nuance of managing inventory down the game is actually quite fun.

In this screenshot I have a bow in my right hand. The numbers in the lower right-hand corner represent your character statistics. The top numbers represent your hit points or health. The second set of numbers represent your armor and defenses. The last set of numbers represent war weapon and spiritual weapon scores.

The minotaur itself is extremely hard to beat and you may find that when you first encounter it you’re not able to defeat it. It is best to retreat and look to face it another time.

There are numerous foes to face within the dungeon complex such as giants, skeletons, giant ants, giant snakes, alligators, giant scorpions, dragons (difficult encounters), ghouls, and wraiths. Monsters straight out of the AD&D Monster Manual.

There are two different types of damage: War and Spiritual and the different foes you encounter will deal different types of damage. The undead foes will sap your spiritual strength as will magic spells hurled at you. When either one of your War or Spiritual scores falls to 0 you perish. Characters can be reincarnated. You appear in a different part of the dungeon and lose most of your gear. Damage can be healed by consuming food and by drinking health potions. Both of these items can be found by exploring the different dungeon levels.

Some of the doors in the game that you go through will teleport you to a different part of the maze which adds even more depth and complexity to this home console offering. Most of the time an enemy or foe can be found behind a door and in rare instances going through a door can increase or decrease your health. So going through any doorway is a precarious affair. There are also many secret doors in the game that you can only discover by “bumping” into the walls to see how solid they really are.

The various weapons that you find throughout the game sport different colors which is representative of their power level. A tan axe or spear represents a normal weapon whereas an orange or blue axe or spear are more powerful. If you should find a white weapon it represents the highest possible power ranking.

There are scrolls to find which contain magical spells that you can hurl at your opponents. Fireballs and Lightning Bolts are the weapons of choice. Much like the physical weapons there are different colored scrolls as well which represent different power levels for these offensive spells. There are magical rings you can find which will increase your Spiritual score or spell casting power. You can find multi-colored keys to unlock chests and doors as well.

There are treasures to find such as coins, necklaces, gold ingots, lamps, chalices and crowns which award you points for finding them.

I was very surprised to discover that this console game had so much depth to it and was equally surprised that I found myself having such a fun time with the game. The game took me about six hours to beat and probably a good 45 minutes of that was me trying to acclimate myself to the inventory management system and numerous action buttons. Luckily combat is turn-based and so you can rotate through your pack and clumsily swap items without pressure of being attacked while you’re doing so.

You’ll notice that in the beginning of the game when you’re choosing your difficulty level that the castle is displayed against a starry background with a moon high in the sky.

Once you defeat the Minotaur you’ll find that the Treasure of Tarmin is directly behind him. When you pick up the Treasure it immediately ends the game and you are shown a screenshot of the castle with the sun shining in the background.

This juxtaposition of light vs dark has obvious good vs evil connotations.

I played the game using an emulator and if you’re wanting to experience this game for yourself it’s rather easy to install an emulator and then find the game rom and install that as well.

Next up on the docket is Baldor’s Castle.

Until next time…

Bokosuka Wars was published by ASCII and released in 1983 for the Sharp XI then released in 1984 for the MSX and PC-88, 1985 for the FM-7, PC-6001, PC-98, and NES.

This also marks the first game that we’ve played on the NES system. Nintendo infiltrated households on July 15, 1983 when it’s first major home console was born. Dubbed the Famicon, it was released in the east with its three launch games – Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr and Popeye.

It was time to take the Famicon to the west and in October of 1985 the Nintendo system was released in New York. It would go on to sell 35 million units in the United States and become a smash hit – releasing iconic series such as Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda and Metroid.

Bokosuka Wars was never released in the west but it could be easily played by someone who doesn’t speak Japanese because the game is in English.

Bokosuka Wars is billed as a strategy game. You control a king who is fighting to reclaim his kingdom from the control of an invading army. Throughout the game you rescue and recruit subjects to your cause. You have the ability to move them all at once or pick and choose which soldiers to command.

You can choose to control yourself (the king), the normal soldiers, or the knights. Knights can destroy prison walls that soldiers are held captive in. Soldiers and knights who successfully survive three fights get upgraded to more powerful soldiers.

The game is lost if the king is killed in battle, and to win the game you have to reach the leader of the ogres and defeat him.

It took me awhile to get used to the data that was presented in the game. The number in the upper left corner represents the number of enemy forces remaining on the battlefield. The number to the right of that represents the remaining number of allied forces hidden in rocks, trees, or P.O.W. camps. The number on the bottom left is the remaining distance in meters to the location of King Ogreth. The number to the right of that, in the middle of the screen on the bottom, represents the attack strength of King Suren. It begins at 220 and get as high as 320. The number at the far right on the bottom depicts the power of the two units that are in battle. The number on the left is the allied unit’s power, the number on the right is the enemy’s power.

Your allied forces are hidden within rock formations and trees and so, as the King, you have to come into contact with these areas on the off chance that you may find and free one of your allies from these objects.

There is a strategy to the game in deciding who is going to fight particular enemies. Combat involves hidden calculations and probabilities. Once you have made your choice of combatant it’s a simple matter to sit back and see if the die rolls end up in your favor. If you win your unit receives a bump in power. Each enemy or unit has a specific number of points attached. There are fan sites that detail all of this information or you can simply read the NES documentation that comes with the game.

It took me a few games to get used to the gameplay. The game comes off as extremely hard at first blush but then once you get used to the gameplay it is not very hard to beat. I played on an NES emulator and the game took me about an hour to beat. You can take the path of patience and play strategically or you can choose to “bull rush” your way through to the end. I tried both strategies successfully.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this one. It’s not really an RPG and I wouldn’t call it a grand strategy game either. It’s somewhere between lite-strategy and arcade in my humble opinion. This will certainly not be the only game that we review on the NES but it gets the distinction of being the first. I have actually been busy in the background adding NES games to the site’s database each day. There were some sites in my research that claim that this was the worst game ever made for the NES. There seems to be a lot of hate out there for the title. I don’t quite see what that is all about as I did enjoy my time with the game. Perhaps it was comparing the game to one of the computer ports but again I enjoyed my time with the game.

Next up on the docket will be yet another console game however this one is an Intellivision offering: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin.

Until next time…

Cells and Serpents was written by G. Lovel for the Nascom computer and published as a type in piece in December 1980’s Computing Today. It was ported in 1982 for the Atari 8-bit, BBC/Electron, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.

The artwork is amazing and also the only artwork you’re going to see because Cells & Serpents is completely text based.

The game is reminiscent of The Devil’s Dungeon.

The game always begins with your character given a choice of three possible paths.

You make your choice by merely pressing the first letter of each word. For example if you want to take the left door you press (L)eft on the keyboard.

You can see, depicted above, that your character starts with 100 hit points, 10 spells, and that you’re on level 1. The character is always presented with three choices or three path to take much like a pick your path to adventure book.

Anyone remember these?

Many of the rooms contain a monster within. If you press G for (G)o In then combat will ensue. You want to monitor your hit points closely. Once they reach zero then you’re dead and will have to start all over. Combat is resolved automatically behind the scenes.

The goal of the game is to descend down into the depths of the dungeon in search of an exit. The exit allows you to leave the dungeon. Once you accomplish this task it is the equivalent of winning the game. It also allows you the option to start the game again with the same character, keeping all of the statistics and items that you’ve found. Hence the question on the start screen; ‘Do you want to load a saved character?’

When you defeat an enemy in combat your reward is usually gold pieces but sometimes you find more than that as shown below:

Many of the monsters seem pulled from the dungeons & dragons game setting. I played Cells & Serpents on an emulator and it took me roughly two hours to beat.

Your path choices are usually doors, rooms corridors and stairs going up or down. You never really want to reverse your steps and go back up unless you’re having a very difficult time with the encounters on the current level. You want to keep moving forward which means making your way lower and lower into the bowels of the dungeon. The exit you’re looking for can be found on one of the lower levels. One of your path choices can also be a Wall though when I chose that option the wall fell on me and I suffered damage so I learned early on to always avoid that option.

I finally found my exit on the 11th level of the dungeon. I killed 28 monsters and finished with 39 spells. The best item I found was a luckstone which improved my randomization odds by 62.5%. I had to kill a Pit Fiend to get it and that almost did not end well.

Cells & Serpents was a nice diversion but certainly not comparable to some of the giants that were published in 1983 such as Wizardry III: Legacy of Llylgamyn or Exodus: Ultima III.

Next up on the docket is Bokosuka Wars.

Until next time…

I temporarily placed my 1983 list on hold and went back in time to take care of another item I discovered from 1980.

The Wizard’s City was published by Aurora Software in 1980 for the Ohio Scientific and for the TRS-80 in 1981 by BAP$ Software.

The Wizard’s City is a turn-based role-playing game predominantly using a text-based format. There are some graphics that present a side view of your surroundings as you move about. I believe the original name of the game may have been Dungeons & Dragons and that the name change may have been done to avoid legal issues. TSR was known to be quite litigious over copyright back in the day.

The game begins by asking if you want to create a new character. If you answer YES then the computer will randomly generate your attributes for you between the values of 1 and 18. The four attributes are Strength, Intelligence, Dexterity, and Constitution ripped right from Dungeons & Dragons. You’re then asked to choose a character class as shown above and your choice will modify your previous attribute and hit point scores.

If you answer NO to the game’s beginning question then you are allowed to type in the attribute scores manually. Most of the early Dunjonquest games allowed you to do the same thing. Once I had played the game a few times I went back and manually typed in 18s and game myself a “super” character. A strength of 18 was preferable to me over a strength score of 5.

The Warrior and Dwarf character class choices seem synonymous with each other. You receive higher hit points and strength and you lose intelligence.

Elf and Medium seem equal to one another as well as far as choices go. Your hit point total is in the median range and these characters can use spells.

The mage has low hit points and low strength but gains extra intelligence and full use of spells.

Each character begins at 1st level. The Warrior, Dwarf, Elf, and Medium need 2000 experience points to attain a level and the Mage needs 2,500 experience points. You gain experience points by slaying monsters. You acquire gold pieces through defeat of your opponents which you can use to later boost your armor class while in the city.

You begin the game in the city which is depicted above. The first thing you’re asked is if you want more armor. If you answer yes you can pay gold to increase your armor class by 1. The cost is steep so you’ll find that you’ll need to go down into the dungeon, slay creatures, then make your way back.

Pressing the 1 key from anywhere in the city takes you down a passage to the first level of the dungeon. No matter what dungeon level you are on, each time you press the 1 key it will take you down another level. The lower you go the opponents become progressively tougher and your rewards (gold and experience) greater.

Pressing 2 on the keyboard moves your character to the left and pressing 3 moves your character to the right. Your character’s movement is depicted graphically in a side-scrolling fashion which is a bit different for 1980. You’ll see buildings moving by you when in the city and when in the dungeon you’ll see stalagtites hanging from the dungeon ceiling above you.

Pressing the 4 key anywhere in the dungeon will take you UP a dungeon level. So there is no need for any kind of mapping with this game. Pressing 1 always takes you down another level from wherever you are in the dungeon and pressing 4 from anywhere will always take you up a level. In this fashion it is relatively easy to grind your character to higher levels by surviving an encounter or two and then returning to the city to rest. There is no economy of food or anything else to keep track of.

If you press the 5 key you pause a turn without moving. If you press this key when in the city then it is the equivalent of resting overnight and you get all of your hit points back and any level progression you may have made while in the dungeon.

When exploring a dungeon level sometimes you can trigger a trapdoor which will drop you down a random number of levels.

When you encounter a wandering monster you have the choice to fight, cast a spell, or run. When you choose to fight combat is automatically generated for you and you then find out whether or not you emerged victorious. The different creatures you encounter are very diverse and pulled straight from the Dungeons & Dragons game.

There is no quest to perform in this game nor any kind of plot. It is a simple matter of going down into the dungeon beneath the city and battling wandering monsters for experience and gold.

I kept playing for quite some time until I attained 9th level with the super character that I created. You could keep playing this way indefinitely. The lower you go in the dungeon the more powerful the enemies. I guess if I’m a young kid and President of the Dungeons & Dragons club at school, I would have really liked this for my home computer in 1980.

Next up on the docket we return to my 1983 list for Cells & Serpents.

Until next time..