Here’s a set of screenshots showing the rare 1989 remake of Richard Garriott‘s Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress for the Apple II. It’s considered to be rare because it was only ever released once, for Origin Systems‘ Ultima Trilogy compilation of the first three games. It was also Origin‘s final release for the Apple II.

The 1989 remake is distinguished from the original by having blue bars around the playfield, and also by having a few other tweaks that make the game easier to play. It also has a different (lower case) font to the original (the text in which was all upper case).

This is arguably the best version of Ultima II to play. It’s better than the Commodore 64 version, in my opinion, and although it doesn’t look as good as the DOS version with the graphics patch applied, it doesn’t have the annoying bugs that plague that version.

The player movement is less laggy than the original and in this version the inventory has been split into two screens – separating items from weapons, armour and stats – which looks much better, and the text layout is also more professional-looking.

All references to Sierra On-line (the game’s original publisher) have also been removed, which is no surprise considering that Richard Garriott fell out with them over accounting for the sales of the PC version of Ultima II, and which also led him to set up his own company, Origin Systems.

If you want to see screenshots of the original 1982 release of Ultima II for the Apple II, click here.

More: Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress on Wikipedia
GOG: Ultima 1+2+3 on GOG.com

Ultima II keyboard commands:

a = Attack with the weapon you’re holding
b = Board a plane, ship or other form of transportation, or mount a horse
c = Cast a spell. You must first prepare the spell, using Magic. Spells can only be cast in dungeons and towers
d = Descend a level in a dungeon or tower
e = Enter a town, castle, dungeon or other landmark, or read a sign
f = Fire your ship’s guns
g = Get an item
h = Hyperspace your spaceship to the coordinates you specify
i = Ignite a torch
j = Jump up and down
k = Climb up a level in a dungeon or tower
l = Launch or Land in a plane or rocket, but only on grass
m = Readies a magic spell you know for casting
n = Negate the passage of time for all things farther than one square from you – if you posses a specific magic item
o = Offer gold as payment or bribe
q = Quit and save your progress to disk. Available only while on Earth and on foot, in the countryside
r = Ready a specified weapon
s = Steal from a store without paying for it
t = Transact business, or just start a conversation. Must be followed by a direction command
u = Unlock doors if you possess the keys. You must indicate the direction of the door
v = View to toggle between normal view and bird’s-eye view of town or planet. You must possess a specific magic item
w = Wear a suit of armour that you own
x = Exit or dismount your current transportation
y = Yell anything you can type. Often used in combination with Jump
z = Stats to display your vital statistics, possessions and spells. Also pauses the game
Spacebar = Pass time and eat