| Blade the Warrior | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publisher(s) | Cable Software |
| Designer(s) | Shaun Watts |
| Engine | The Quill [1] |
| Platform(s) | ZX Spectrum |
| Release | 1984 |
| Genre(s) | Interactive fiction |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Blade the Warrior is a text adventure game written by British author Shaun Watts and published by Cable Software in 1984 for the ZX Spectrum. The fantasy themed game tells of a quest to slay an evil witch. It was Cable's first title to be released and was well received upon its release.
The game is set in a sword and sorcery setting, where the titular protagonist Blade the Warrior embarks on a quest to destroy the evil Black Witch and thus liberate the far-north land of Sayell that she rules over. Blade needs to follow the trail of Mazar the Wizard, who went on the same mission many months ago and did not return. Along the way, Blade fights against the Black Witch's monstrous minions while looking for enough magic to survive the witch's spells and defeat her, and hopefully save Mazar too.
Blade the Warrior was well received, including a review scores of five out of five stars from Home Computing Weekly [2] and 7/10 from Crash . [3] Home Computing Weekly gave it its "1984 Hi-Score" award in the category "Best Adventure". [4]
Sabre Wulf is an action-adventure game released by British video game developer Ultimate Play the Game for the ZX Spectrum home computer in 1984. The player navigates the pith-helmeted Sabreman through a 2D jungle maze while collecting amulet pieces to bypass the guardian at its exit. The player does not receive explicit guidance on how to play and is left to decipher the game's objectives through trial and error. Sabreman moves between the maze's 256 connected screens by touching the border where one screen ends and another begins. Each screen is filled with colourful flora, enemies that spawn at random, and occasional collectibles.
The Black Cauldron is an adventure game designed by Al Lowe of Sierra On-Line and published in 1985. The game is based on the Disney film The Black Cauldron, which was itself based on the Chronicles of Prydain novel of the same name by Lloyd Alexander. It was made shortly after the first King's Quest game, so it resembles that game in many ways. Along with The Dark Crystal it remains one of only a few adventure games by Sierra to be based on films.
The Lords of Midnight is an epic fantasy video game combining aspects of wargames and graphic adventures, written by Mike Singleton and originally released in 1984 for the ZX Spectrum. Very well received from the beginning, it was soon converted for the Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64. The game featured an innovative 3-D effect that Singleton called landscaping, which served to bring the player into the game much more than usual. The Lords of Midnight is often named with Elite as among the top role-playing games of the 1980s. The player must destroy Doomdark, the evil Witchking who has locked the Land of Midnight in perpetual winter. There are multiple ways in which this can be achieved. It was followed by Doomdark's Revenge also in 1984, and Lords of Midnight: The Citadel in 1995.
Jinxter is an interactive fiction video game developed by Magnetic Scrolls and published by Rainbird in 1987 for 8-bit and 16-bit home computers of the time. Jinxter tells the story of a man on a mission to save the fictional land of Aquitania from the looming threat of evil witches. The game was well received by critics upon its release.
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Brataccas is a science fiction action-adventure game released in 1985 for the Amiga, Atari ST, and Macintosh. It was the first game published by Psygnosis. Brataccas is built on the remains of the much-hyped vaporware project Bandersnatch, which was partially developed by Imagine Software. The storied tale of the game's development led to close press attention in the UK computer market. When Brataccas finally shipped, this attention resulted in considerable coverage in the computer press. It was generally reviewed poorly due to significant control problems, although the graphics were widely praised.
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Dragontorc is an action-adventure game developed by Steve Turner's Graftgold and released for the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum by Hewson Consultants in 1985. It is a sequel to 1984's Avalon The 3D Adventure Movie. The hero of Avalon, Maroc the Mage, returns to defeat an evil witch and save Britain. The game was very well received by critics.
Avalon is an action-adventure game written by Steve Turner for the ZX Spectrum and published by Hewson Consultants in 1984. Avalon was followed by a sequel in 1985, Dragontorc.
Karyssia: Queen of Diamonds is a fantasy-themed, text-based graphic adventure game designed and published by Incentive Software in 1987 for the ZX Spectrum. In Karyssia, the player is cast in a role of an adventurer on a quest to rid the realm of the titular evil queen. The game received positive reviews.
Ice Palace is an action-adventure game designed by Paul Norris for the Commodore 64 and published by Creative Sparks in 1985. Despite the title, it is unrelated both to the 1984 Commodore 64 game Ice Palace by K-Tel International and to 1988's Beyond the Ice Palace. The game tells the story of a crown prince's quest to break an evil spell, save his land, and avenge his father. It was mostly well received by critics but failed commercially.
The Wrath of Magra is a role-playing video game published by Carnell Software for the ZX Spectrum in 1984. It is a sequel to 1983's Volcanic Dungeon.
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