112 lines
7.2 KiB
Plaintext
112 lines
7.2 KiB
Plaintext
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DUNGEON MAGIC
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Even two years after the NES was first released in this country, although there
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were already many dozens of arcade-style running, jumping, and shooting games,
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there were no computer-style role-playing games (CRPGs). Apparently, they were
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considered too sophisticated and complex for the average Nintendo gamer.
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Fortunately, that narrow and unflattering view has changed, due mostly to the
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amazing popularity of arcade/CRPG hybrids like LEGEND OF ZELDA. Now there are
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RPGs for Nintendo that nearly match the computer-based games in length, detail,
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and challenge (if not in graphic aspects). DUNGEON MAGIC is such a game -- long
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and difficult, requiring an extraordinary amount of perseverance. There are some
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flaws that prevent DUNGEON MAGIC from being a totally top-of-the-line product,
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but it's still highly enjoyable. It also qualifies as a hybrid arcade/CRPG,
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since combat relies on a quick firing finger and deft joystick-wiggling. (This
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review is based on the Nintendo version.)
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Many years ago, so the story goes, a great warrior named Magi did battle with a
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villainous Overlord called Darces. Magi had the use of a magical set of armor
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and six powerful swords, the Swords of the Elements. The sixth sword in
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particular was revered for its magical properties. Christened "Tores," the sword
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was forged from a mysterious metallic element of uncertain origin.
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Unfortunately, not even the armor and Tores were enough to save Magi from
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Darces's fatal blow (to his credit, Magi was over 500 years old at the time!).
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Darces is still at large, so your goal is to retrieve the armor, the five
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Elemental swords, and Tores, and confront him.
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That's going to be a tough journey. The armor and the swords are hidden in
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towns, villages, sanctuaries, and dungeons all over the Kingdom of Grades. In
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typical CRPG format, certain areas and locations are off-limits to a character
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whose hit points (endurance), armor, weaponry, and magical knowledge are less
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than adequate. So you must confine yourself to certain areas of the game while
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you build up experience points and treasure, both of which are gained from
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defeating other characters in combat. Your weapons and supplies have as much to
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do with your success in combat as your reflexes, but those weapons and supplies
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increase steadily in price, according to the degree of offensive or defensive
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strength they offer.
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The system by which you learn to use magical spells is unusual. There are five
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wizards, each of whom can teach you his own "brand" of magic (water magic, earth
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magic, etc.). You can begin the game with any one brand of magic, but you need
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to earn the others by giving each Elemental sword to the proper wizard. In
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return, the wizard teaches you his magical knowledge. Each brand of magic is
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based on four symbols, and the symbols are combined in various ways to create
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spells. For example, one Wizard may teach you the symbols #, @, %, and !; if you
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tried %!, you'd get one spell, while @@ might be another, and so on. Individual
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symbols and larger combinations also work. The magic system takes a lot of
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effort to master, because the spells are _not_ documented in the manual! By
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trying different combinations, notating them and their effects, you eventually
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build your own library of spells (there are over a hundred possible spells).
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While it's great to encounter a game that doesn't have a trite magical system,
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this one seems a bit on the tedious side. It's not so much the fault of the game
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itself as it is the fault of the graphics: The symbols are quite small and
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present a formidable menu late in the game, where you may need to mix symbols
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from more than one Brand. Due to the limitations of the keyboard-less Nintendo,
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creating spells is a lot like entering passwords; it takes a while, and if you
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have to experiment to find useful combinations, it becomes old quickly. Spells
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can be created and held temporarily for use in combat, and you can also "parry"
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(back off) so that you can quickly ready a spell, change weapons, etc.
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A few features common to CRPGs were conspicuous by their absence. You cannot
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de-equip a weapon. This means you can't sell it once you've equipped it, a major
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hassle. The only way to drop a sword is to pick up another one (at least, the
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only way I found, and there's no method mentioned in the manual). Every store
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sells the same item for the same price, so there's no sense of having to "shop
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around" for the best price on this sword or that sword, and there's no haggling
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-- an interesting feature of other CRPGs. There's no explanatory status screen,
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which means there's no way to display your maximum hit points (only your current
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hit point level is displayed). There are no statistics for your intelligence,
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agility, etc., for your armor and weapon strength, or for time elapsed. There
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_are_ readouts for the weight of the objects you're carrying, how much food and
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water you're carrying, and the hit points of the enemy during combat. There is
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also no auto-mapping, so you'll need graph paper to tackle the dungeons and
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mazes.
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The graphics aren't great, but there are lots of them. The main window, which
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takes up about a quarter of the screen, gives a first-person perspective of your
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location, with stone floors, walls, ceilings, doorways, stairs, chests, and
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other characters becoming larger as you get closer. The pictures are somewhat
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crude and the animation is very jerky, but it works sufficiently to give you a
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sense of being there. The lower half of the screen contains a status readout, a
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static image of yourself (showing which weapons and armor you're currently
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equipped with), and a small icon-driven menu bar (more tiny symbols). Sit up
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close for this one, or you're liable to develop a real headache trying to make
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out some of those icons.
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There's little music in the game, but there are plenty of sound effects, and
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they're adequate -- at times, quite decent. There's also a battery backup so you
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can save one game in progress, a game which can only be restored when you turn
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on or reset the NES. The manual scores an A; aside from the lack of a spell
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roster (which, again, is part of the game), it does a great job of explaining
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the menuing system. That system makes extensive use of the SELECT and START
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buttons, as well as the A and B buttons, really turning this into a four-button
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game! There's also a separate map of the Kingdom (with a poster on the other
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side).
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DUNGEON MAGIC is a class package. The story remains interesting throughout the
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game (there's a lot of conversation with townspeople and other characters); its
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pace is fairly even, and of course, the battery backup is an obvious advantage.
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There's plenty to explore and a good deal of flexibility in the order in which
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you accomplish the minor subquests. The unusually innovative magic system is
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noteworthy, too. The disadvantages are the lack of RPG depth in character
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development, fair graphics, a few missing menu options, some very tiny icons,
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and the simplistic arcade combat system. Thus, DUNGEON MAGIC may disappoint
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players looking for CRPG depth on the order of ULTIMA: QUEST OF THE AVATAR or
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THE MAGICIAN, but it will reward those who enjoy something not quite so intense.
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DUNGEON MAGIC is published and distributed by Taito.
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*****DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS (304) 744-2253
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