Tag Archives: conversion

gog.com, MS-DOS, PC, Sierra On-line

Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress, PC

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Originally released by Sierra On-line in 1983, the PC MS-DOS version of Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress is pretty much the same as the Apple II original – except for the graphics which are four-colour CGA and look pretty awful. Thankfully there’s a fan-made patch, by The Exodus Project, that upgrades the graphics and fixes a few bugs and that’s the version I’m showing here. Note that at the end of this sequence of screenshots I’ve also shown the CGA version of the game for comparison.

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Commodore 64, Sierra On-line

Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress, Commodore 64

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The 1983 Commodore 64 version of Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress is a bit of a mixed bag in my opinion. On the one hand it is a gigantic, innovative, involving, and highly challenging Role-Playing Game, and a worthy sequel to the first Ultima (which was a great game). And on the other hand it is a fiddly, visually insipid and annoyingly vague quest into who knows what kind of fantasy, time-travelling nonsense…

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Atari 8-bit, Sierra On-line

Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress, Atari 8-bit

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The Atari 8-bit conversion of Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress was developed and published by Sierra On-line in 1983, coming out not long after the original Apple II version.

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gog.com, MS-DOS, Origin Systems, PC

Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness, PC

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The first game in the Ultima series was initially released for the Apple II in 1981 by California Pacific Computer and was later completely re-coded and re-named as “Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness” for a re-release through Origin Systems. The 1987 MS-DOS re-code – shown here – is still available to buy as part of an Ultima 1+2+3 package on GOG.com (at the time of writing).

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Commodore 64, Origin Systems

Ultima I: The First Age of Darkness, Commodore 64

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Although the first Ultima game was an Apple II original, the Commodore 64 version of this early RPG is arguably the best-known. Re-made and released in 1986, the C64 version of Ultima [one] features colourful graphics and absorbing gameplay that is pretty much identical to the Apple II remake.

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Atari 8-bit, Sierra On-line

Ultima, Atari 8-Bit

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Released in 1983 by Sierra On-Line, Ultima on the Atari 8-bit is more archaic and frustrating than the original Apple II version. And it looks pretty awful too, with a real lack of colour – especially in towns where the game is in monochrome unless you play on a machine (and monitor) that supports “artifacting“. In artifacting mode the dungeon and town graphics look similar to Apple II graphics, but they don’t really take advantage of the Atari‘s superior graphics capabilities.

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Icon Design, Imagine Software, Taito, ZX Spectrum

Rastan, ZX Spectrum

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This ZX Spectrum conversion of the 1987 scrolling hack and slash arcade game from Taito was developed by Icon Design and published by Imagine Software in 1988. And it’s not bad, but it’s not great either.

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Atari 2600, Atari, Inc., Sears, Roebuck and Co.

Asteroids, Atari 2600

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Asteroids on the Atari 2600 is a conversion of the classic 1979 arcade game, written by Bradley G. Stewart of Atari, Inc. and first published by Sears, Roebuck and Co. in 1981.

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Domark, Incentive, Major Developments, MS-DOS, PC

Castle Master II: The Crypt, PC

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The sequel to Castle Master continues where the first game left off: you’re still trapped inside Eternity Castle and must escape to finally complete your quest.

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Domark, Incentive, Major Developments, ZX Spectrum

Castle Master II: The Crypt, ZX Spectrum

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Castle Master II: The Crypt was the final Freescape game to be released for the Spectrum (or any system it found its way on to), and was only made available as a double pack with the original Castle Master, not long after the first Castle Master‘s release in 1990. It was again developed by Incentive Software/Major Developments and published by Domark.

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