Ultima III

Ultima, third of its kind.

Well, well, well.  The third installment of the Ultima series.  I have to admit, I'm wasn't much of a fan of the first two.  As examples of very early RPGs they are interesting, but as games in and of themselves, they are lacking.  But then, in 1983, Ultima III is released.  My main experience with Ultima III is from the NES.  It is probably one of the first few computer RPGs I ever came across.  There was The Bard's Tale and Wasteland on the C64 then Dragon Quest and Ultima III (Ultima:Exodus) on the NES.  For nostalgia's sake, I'm playing through the NES version this time.  I did some research and it appears that the differences between the PC and console versions are negligible and do not affect the core game.

An audience with the king.

Continuing, loosely, from Ultima I and II, a being known as Exodus is now threatening Sosaria, the world from the first game.  Exodus is creation of Mondain (Ultima I) and Minax (Ultima II) and he is now summoning creatures to threaten humanity (and others, I guess).  Lord British summons "you" to begin your quest and defeat Exodus.

Adventurers, party of four!

You begin the game by creating your party.  It's a bit confusing as there are a lot of options to choose from: 11 classes and 5 races.  The classes are mostly combinations of the standard Warrior, Thief, Priest and Mage classes and the races determine your maximum stats.  For example, a Paladin is a Warrior/Priest while a Ranger is a Thief/Mage type and a "Fuzzy" might make the best mage with higher max intelligence and a "Elf" might make the best Thief with highest max. dexterity.    It's the first time you're granted a party in the Ultima series, the previous incarnations have been solo affairs.  On the NES you will see all four members of the party trailing behind the leader.

Ahead on our way!

Once you've gathered your party, you are on your way.  Beginning with Lord British's Castle and the local village (Britain) you need to explore the world and talk to as many people as possible.  Each town you come across has important information for proceeding on your quest.  From locations of hidden towns and equipment to learning some extra skills, it's important to talk to them all.  Some locations will require you to use the 'moongates' in order to get there.  These gates move location and destination according to the phases of the world's two moons.  Figuring them out is important to proceed in the game.  One town is invisible until a particular combination of moon phases is present.  Then the town appears and you can enter to purchase some of the best equipment of the game.

Have at you!

Along the way, you'll fight many, many enemies.  The enemies are visible on the map still and you can usually avoid them if you'd rather.  In the NES version, with your train of party members, avoiding some of the encounters is tricky as contact with enemies anywhere along your "train" will initiate combat.  Combat has also been overhauled.  Instead of the "exchanging hits until one dies" method of combat, each encounter takes you to a combat screen which allows a simple, more strategic battle.  Dungeons have the same 3D view but look a bit better and are actually important this time around as you must explore almost all of them to procure "marks" (tattoos that provide immunities) and other information needed to beat the game.

Into the underdark.

Fighting enemies and exploring dungeons will net you experience and gold which you can use to level up and buy gear, but skill points can only be increased at the shrines in Ambrosia.  Ambrosia is a separate map that can only be accessed by boat.  Specifically, by driving your boat into the ominous whirlpool which wanders the oceans.  When you wake up, you'll be there.  There are few enemies in Ambrosia and you can explore fairly easily.  The four shrines (one for each stat) are there and donating money to them will increase the relevant stat for your characters.  It's an expensive process but necessary.  Once you have all the marks, all the cards, all the clues you need and your stats and equipment are good enough, you can assault Castle Exodus and face Exodus himself.

Tranquil Ambrosia.

I chose to try Paladin, Ranger, Thief and Lark for my party.  This gave me access to low-level spells from both Priest and Mage schools while giving me a good amount of melee damage as well.  I probably would have done things slightly differently playing through again, though, as some of the equipment selections are quite limited with this combination, esp. the Thief and Lark had limited ranged weapon selection.

Castle Exodus!

The game was engaging from the first and I enjoyed exploring the local continent.  Eventually, I procured a boat from some off-shore pirates and explored the wider world out on the oceans.  One of my biggest sticking points was cash.  You need a lot of money in the game and it doesn't come easily.  The dungeons will often cost you more than you find and you also have to keep your party fed at all times. Buying food is not expensive, but you have to constantly keep enough cash on hand for it.  The gear starts out fairly expensive, but the second tier weapons and armor (found in the hidden city) are incredibly expensive.  I found a town that had a ton of treasure chests hidden behind a store and was able to "farm" it to gain lots of gold.  Even this, however, was a long, tedious grind. It basically involved entering the town, heading to the back of the shop, stealing everything in sight (while avoiding guards), teleporting back to Castle Britain, then heading to Ambrosia to increase stats or Dawn to purchase gear.  Occassionally, you'd have to restock your teleport items, keys, food or other items.  It took hours of grinding to make enough money.  The rest of the game, however, became much easier afterward and I considered it worthwhile.

Loot, loot, loot, repeat!

Overall, I found the game very enjoyable.

The plot was a bit thin and the NPCs were a bit shallow but exploring and finding bits of information scattered throughout the game world was fun.  The selection of classes to choose from was good and your choices matter.  If you pick the wrong combination of classes in the beginning, you're going to have a rough time.  My picks were not terrible, but I think the game would have been easier had I picked others.  No class is particularly bad, but combinations of classes can be.  Party makeup is important.

I found the layout of the world and the way it gradually expanded as you acquired new travel means to be much better done than the previous Ultima games.  The scifi elements are mostly gone as are the references to Earth.  The towns and dungeons were fairly generic, but they all were unique and had different layouts and items.

The graphics are standard 8-bit in the NES version and glorified ASCII art in the PC version.  Nothing to write home about, but it's still and improvement from the previous Ultimas.  One of the more interesting additions is the line-of-sight restrictions.  You'll notice in some of the screenshots areas of black behind walls, trees, etc.  It shifts around as you move and adds some difficulty to exploring.  It's a concept I've only seen very rarely in games.  The sound in both versions is better as well and I'm fairly partial to the NES version here as well as it has a nostalgia factor for me.

Ship, with status windows, moon phases and line-of-sight visible.

The base mechanics of skill points, damage, health and experience was underwhelming and easily exploited.  I didn't do it much this time (other than the gold farming) but it wouldn't be too hard to create some super characters early in the game and cruise your way through it.  Levels increase every 100 experience and skills increase at a rate of 1 per 100 gold donated.  It's a linear scale so it tends to speed up near the end rather than the typical exponential systems that slow down leveling later in the game.

Some might find grinding experience and/or gold a bit boring and I can relate to that.  The game is also still pretty rudimentary as it is early in videogame history.  The lack of depth in plot and world building might dissuade modern players as it can seem pretty casual and light for an RPG.  However, if I were advising someone wanting to experience the Ultima series, I would probably recommend they start here.  The first two were forgettable and I don't think you'd miss anything from skipping them.  Ultima III, though, has a lot of unique qualities that you'd do well to experience for yourselves.

You bet you will!  Good game!

Boulder Dash

Boulder Dash!

Time for some Boulder Dash, an old favorite! I played this one on a C64 emulator.  It was a pain to get it configured, too.  Eventually, I had to turn off auto-load and boot it up manually.  load"*",8,1 for the win!  The only problem is that the colors are a bit off on my version of the game.  It looks too bright.  It was definitely the right version though, because I remembered several of the levels.  Originally, I played Boulder Dash on my brother's Commodore when I was probably about 11 or 12.  Since it was released in 1983 that would be about right.  I wasn't very good at it and I only beat the first few levels but, this time, I was able to beat the game (on the easiest difficulty).

The boulder-strewn caves.

Boulder Dash is something of an adventure-puzzle game.  You are "Rockford" digging tunnels in search of diamonds.  Along the way, you need to avoid falling boulders (and falling diamonds) and the beasties living underground.  Once you collect the required amount of diamonds for the level, within the time allowed, a door will open and you can escape.  You start with 3 lives and gain another every 500 points.  The levels are labeled with letters and the difficulty is noted by numbers.  So, A/1 is the easiest, whereas P/4 would be the hardest.  A/2 is very similar to A/1 with the same color palette but with less time and more and faster enemies.

Gaining an extra life.

The first few levels are pretty straightforward: collect the diamonds, avoid the enemies.  There are some problems with how to get to each diamond without trapping others behind unmovable boulders or getting yourself stuck in an avalanche, but it's mostly just figuring out what pattern to use to be most efficient.  Later they introduce more enemies.  The "butterfly" flits around the edges of the screen and turns into diamonds when destroyed.  The "firefly" just runs around the edges as a hazard.  Both will kill you on contact.  After this, you have to start using the enemies to progress.  A level might require you to kill the butterflies to get enough gems, while some require you to destroy fireflies, too, in order to blow holes in walls or other obstacles.  The last couple levels were hideous races to setup boulders, arrange enemies, gather diamonds and race for the exit.  I escaped with less than 3-4 seconds on multiple occasions.

That bowtie is a "butterfly"

and the square is a "firefly"

At first, I was starting over each time I lost all my lives.  This resulted in getting pretty good at the first few levels, but it also meant that sometimes I wouldn't even make it back to the level I died on before dying again.  Eventually, I decided to cheat.  I saved my progress before each level and reloaded it if I ran out of lives.  In this way, I completed each stage legitimately but I didn't have to go back and repeat all the previous stages if I failed.  It was a bit faster this way, but still preserved the difficulty of each stage.  Still took a long time to master, though.  This game is hard!

Completing a level.

I played through each level, A through P, once and a few of the first ones on difficulty 2 as well... after that point I lost the remainder of my lives and called it quits.  As with a lot of the games of this era, the sound is an integral part of the experience.  I love the sound of the boulders crashing around and the diamonds tinkling when they fall.  I hate the sounds of the explosions that happen when you die.  The graphics are nothing to look at now, but the challenge of the game still holds up well.  I found the controls to be the worst part of the experience.  You originally controlled the game with a joystick and I played on a PlayStation gamepad, but all the control schemes I tried were imprecise.  You could only control your movements to a certain degree of precision, sometimes you'd overshoot the spot you wanted to be on and sometimes you'd undershoot it.  Overshooting usually meant certain death from the fireflies or boulders you unleashed.  Sometimes, though, you'd just ruin the puzzle and have to start over.  It's possible, though, that more precise controls would lead to a game that was too easy.  It's hard to say... maybe it was a design choice.  Still, if I had one wish for the game, that would be it.

One of the more difficult puzzles.

Here's my overall synopsis:

There's not much story here, just digging and collecting.  Not much character development either, he's just Rockford.  There are only 3 enemies, two are hostile and one is neutral (the amoeba).  The hostiles just circle the perimeter of your cave while the amoeba slowly expands to fill the room.  Fairly predictable but challenging in circumstances, especially when you have to use them to pass the level.

Level design is probably the highlight of the game.  Each level is beatable in only a few different ways.  You can choose your own path for many of them, but some really only allow a single way which you just have to be fast enough to accomplish.  Quite challenging but once you've beaten it, you can do it again.

Graphics and interface are both quite dated.  Modern graphics snobs would be appalled at both the resolution and color depth.  Interface is very simple, a bar at the top shows number of diamonds needed to proceed, the number you've collected, the time remaining and your score.  Between levels it shows the number of lives you have left and what level you are on.  Informative, but very basic.

The sound and music is a highlight for me.  The sounds of the boulders and diamonds are satisfying.  The enemies don't make any noise, but the explosions on contact are startling as well as frustrating.  The amoeba's grumbling is nerve-racking.  And I even like the theme song.

All the rest combines to create the gameplay.  The physics are a large part of it as well as the level design and the obstacles thrown up in your way.  I really liked playing it again and, though it has it's limitations, I would play it again.

"Still a fun game" is my bottom line.  If you can get an emulator working that will play it, I would highly recommend it.  Especially for people you like puzzle games because that's what it is at heart.

Good luck with some of these levels... fiendishly hard!

Lode Runner

Glorious, 1983 graphics

Released in 1983, Lode Runner was another game I never really got very far into when I first played it.  It was probably too hard at the time.  I remember getting the main idea but being unable to get past the first few levels.  I played through it this time on a C64 emulator and I was getting nostalgic before even leaving the boot screen.

Load"*",8,1

You play as a stick dude trying to avoid the guards (other stick dudes) while collecting the gold on each level.  Once you've collected them all you can escape the level.  The guards are fairly easy to outsmart, but you can easily become trapped.  They can also pick up any gold bars that they happen across, so sometimes you have to kill them to release it (or make them fall).  There are a lot of different versions out there but mine was the cassette version for the C64.

Are they supposed to be stick dudes?

Most of the levels require multiple attempts to find the pattern to beat them.  The guards are fairly predictable and you can manipulate them into going where you want to some extent.  Some of the harder puzzles really require you to think ahead, especially when you have to dig down.  You can dig to the sides of you, but not straight down, so you have to figure out where to start in order to get where you want to be.  Eventually, I managed to pass the 19 levels in my version of the game and was satisfied.  It probably took 3-4 days of playing to get that far.

Get that gold!

The game is straightforward, but challenging.  The graphics and sounds are very simple and there's no soundtrack to speak of.  The guts of the gameplay comes from the levels and how to solve each.  As such, it's got a lot of replay value, especially when you consider all the user-made levels.  It was one of the first games to include a level editor and there are, literally, hundreds of levels out there.  There are also a couple sequels if you're really interested.

Lots and lots of levels

My overall impressions of the game are fairly average.  The graphics are simple, but functional.  The sounds and music are very basic.  The core mechanics are solid, however, so it's still a playable, fun game.  The enemy AI is simple, but effective.  They don't just follow set patterns but follow you and home in on your location.  It makes things more difficult, but learning to manipulate them is one of the keys to beating the levels.  And speaking of levels, with the level editor and the dozens of official and unofficial level packs for this game, you could probably continue playing it for months.  If that's your thing, go for it... personally, I found the game entertaining for a while, but it got stale fairly quickly.  I got to level 19, which was the max for this version, and was already ready to call it a day.  Fun game, but nothing spectacular.

Bye, Lode Runner!

Elevator Action

Title screen makes it look like a Western.

Introduced in 1983 by Taito, the next game in my playthroughs is Elevator Action.  As with many of the games I've been playing, I have a long history with this one.  When I was a kid, my allowance was 50¢ a week and, when I'd receive my 2 quarters, I would head to the corner market to spend them on a couple of arcade games near the front.  I got pretty good at this particular game and it even got me in trouble once when I was out too long.  As I headed to the market, my Dad told me to come right back when I was done.  Over an hour later, he showed up looking for me because I hadn't returned and was still in the middle of my second game.  Thanks a lot, Taito!

Rappelling to the roof.

The basic idea of the game is that you are a spy infiltrating an enemy building.  Inside are enemy agents and an increasingly complex system of elevators.  You make your way from top to bottom, avoiding or eliminating spies, collecting secret documents from the red doorways, eventually reaching the garage level where you jump into your car and escape.  It's sort of a side-scroller on it's end (a vertical-scroller?).  Once you complete the level, the color palette shifts and you do it again with faster, more agile enemy spies.

The different stages of each level.

The first section is a simple elevator down the center.  The second makes to exit the elevator to use escalators on the sides of the screen.  The third is a section with no lights but the final section is where the real elevator action begins.  There are 5 separate elevators to use with some tied together vertically.  The enemies can also use the elevators and will shoot at you whenever they see you.  You can dispose of them by shooting them, jump-kicking them in the head, shooting a light out above them (which them falls on them) or, more rarely, squashing them under an elevator.  If you miss one of the red doorways on the way down, you'll perform an jumping animation with "!!" marks then teleport to the door you missed.  You must then travel back down the tower to the bottom.

The escape!

On my first play I did fairly well, getting to level 3 and around 38,000 points.  I decided that beating level 4 and getting at least 50,000 would be a good stopping point.  While doing this, however, I discovered that level 5 had the same colors as level 1 so I wondered if that was the point where it repeated.  After a few (a lot) more tries, I managed to get to level 6 (same as level 2) and, finally, level 7.  Yep, it was the same as level 3.  Good enough for me!  Game complete!

Levels 2, 3, 4 and 5.

There's no real end, I assume, so you could just play it until you're tired of it, but the action is enjoyable and the music is catchy.  There's a satisfying thud when you jump-kick the baddies and the escape at the bottom of each level is fun.  I also enjoyed the extra challenge of trying to kill enemy spies with the light drops and squashing them with the elevators.

My unfortunate demise.

Overall, I still enjoyed the game after all this time.  I was able to get fairly good at it again after a short time and I could definitely see myself coming back occasionally to play it.  It's easy to pick up and play for short periods of time (unless you play for an hour and your Dad gets upset).  The repetition is the biggest problem with the game since it's the same building, level after level.  It feels different since the enemies get smarter and faster, but you don't see anything new once the colors cycle.  Still not sure about a number score for these playthroughs, but let's go for a 7.  Play it... it's good.