|
|
|
|
(c)1991 SOFTWARE HEAVEN, INC./FTL GAMES
(c)1991 VICTOR MUSICAL INDUSTRIES, INC.
Cartridge (Backup Ram) SHVC-V2
Role Playing game
|
Released in America as
DUNGEON MASTER
( SNS-V2-USA )
|
|
Released in Europe as
DUNGEON MASTER
( SNSP-V2-### )
|
|
Dungeon Master is probably the most famous crawler RPG/Dungeon
game ever made and originally came out for Home Computers in 1987. The
game tells the story of the apprentice wizard Theron. His master,
Grey Lord has turned evil in his quest of power, and his demon side,
the Dark Lord (or Chaos) now haunts the depths of his dungeon.
Sadly, during a transportation spell, Theron was separated from his body
and his only hope to defeat the Dark Lord is now to resurrect defeated
champions and guide them to his lair. The game is viewed through our hero's
eyes and most of the actions are based on point-and-click interaction. If you
see an apple on the floor, just click on it, pick it up and then drop it in
your hero's backpack. Our champions also have four different classes
(Warrior, Ninja, Magician and Priest) and
more they exercise in one , the better they get at it. The magic system
is also one of the features that differs from other games of the time.
Spells are formed from runes, and those magic letters need to be
combined into words to trigger the desired incantation such as fireballs,
magic potions or armful gas clouds. Finally, fighting is completely
integrated in the game and done, like the rest of the game, in real time.
Monsters wonder around the dungeon as you are and only attack your team
when in close range. This Super Famicom version slightly differs from
the original game in three regards. First, ambiance music and sound
effects are now played during the exploration. Some monsters also look
slightly different. Finally, and foremost, controls have been redesigned
to accommodate the use of a game paddle instead of a mouse.
|
|
The original Dungeon Master came out in 1987 for the Atari ST.
It was developed and published by FTL (Faster Than Light). The
game became instantly popular and was ported for virtually every system of the time :
Amiga (1988), PC (1989), X68000, FM Towns, Super Famicom (1991) etc... A sequel
called Chaos Strikes Back came out in 1989. However, the game was more an
expansion to the original game with small graphic variations and an incredibly tougher
Dungeon to explore. The real sequel to the game was released much later (maybe too late)
back in 1993. Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep was available for PC-9801
(1993), PC (1995), Sega CD (1994), Amiga (1995) and the FM-Town. Other Dungeon Master
game were released for other systems. Dungeon Master : Theron's Quest
( PC Engine SCDRom, 1992) was a sort of remixed version of the original game and
offered several small dungeons instead of one. Dungeon Master Nexus (Sega Saturn, 1998)
was a sequel to the original game and was only released in Japan. It was also the
only official game to use real 3D-polygonal graphics.
|
|
|
|
LK
|
|
Add your Pov here !
|
P
O
V
s
|
|
Dungeon Master for the Super Famicom came out more than three
years after its original release. I wonder why. Anyway, the game looks
and feel as good as its older brother (ahhh... sweet memories... I clearly
remember wasting my 1988 summer vacation on Dungeon Master). However
the control system here is awkward and cumbersome, which is often the case
for games ported from the 'mouse heaven' computer world. Here players have
to move a cursor around with the D-pad and despite shortcuts, this way of
interaction is quite painful. Then, Select is used to switch to a
moving mode when the D-pad is used to move the team around the maze.
Shame that Nintendo's mouse only came out in 1992, Dungeon Master
would have been the perfect game to use it. The addition of music is rather
overdone in my opinion, silence has always been gold in Dungeon Master
and those music tracks sometimes spoil the otherwise perfect atmosphere of the game.
All in all, this conversion is rather correct but I wish more time was spent on the control
system and this sluggish and annoying cursor...
|
|
|
|
