Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood

Last updated

Conquests of the Longbow:
The Legend of Robin Hood
Conquests of the Longbow cover.jpg
Developer(s) Sierra On-Line
Publisher(s) Sierra On-Line
Director(s) Christy Marx
Bill Davis (creative)
Producer(s) Guruka Singh-Khalsa
Designer(s) Christy Marx
Programmer(s) Richard Aronson
Artist(s) Kenn Nishiuye
Composer(s) Mark Seibert
Platform(s) DOS, Amiga
Release1991 (DOS)
1992 (Amiga)
Genre(s) Adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood is a graphic adventure game designed by Christy Marx and published by Sierra On-Line in 1991. It is the second and final part of the Conquests series, which begins with Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail . It features VGA graphics and Sierra's standard icon-driven interface first seen in King's Quest V .

Contents

The player assumes the role of the legendary Robin Hood in his efforts to restore King Richard I to the throne of England. To do so, he must collect enough money to pay the king's ransom while avoiding the efforts of the Sheriff of Nottingham to capture and hang him and all his men.

Gameplay

Most of the game takes place in a standard adventure game mode, in which the player causes an avatar of Robin Hood to walk between screens and interact with characters and objects by clicking on them. For navigation between screens, the game has several hot spots built into a map. There are also minigames involving archery, combat and nine men's morris with adjustable difficulty.

Gameplay is divided into days, each day ending with a cutscene of Robin Hood and his men discussing the plot and the day's events. Each day involves certain actions that must be completed before advancing, though it is possible to leave vital tasks undone, leading to a potentially worse ending.

Like most games of this period, it relies heavily on the player's ability to read instructions and character dialogue, and contains almost no voice acting. Several of the puzzles are entirely language-based. Even though Sierra was an American company, the entire game (with some oversights) is written and punctuated using British English conventions.

The game keeps score in three ways: the number of points for puzzles solved, the amount of money collected for King Richard's ransom, and the number of Robin's outlaws who are still alive. There is one opportunity to recruit new members and several chances to get them killed.

Depending on how well the player performs, there are four possible endings. Robin Hood can be hanged for his crimes, given a pardon but no other reward, pardoned and offered a job in the king's service but denied Maid Marian's hand, or he can be granted a noble title and married to Maid Marian.

Characters

Development

Conquests of the Longbow is based on tremendous historical and cultural research, for detail within the story's setting and puzzles. The game manual lists twenty-eight volumes in the bibliography, including Robin Hood by J.C. Holt, The Outlaws of Medieval Legend by Maurice Keen, and The White Goddess by Robert Graves. The manual includes essays by Marx outlining the history of the legend and the approximate dates at which different characters were incorporated into the Robin Hood legend, such as Friar Tuck and Marian in the 15th century. Guy of Gisbourne is mentioned but absent from the game. Other essays cover the tree lore, early British history, and video game piracy.

Mark Seibert served as music director and provided sound effects while Ken Allen, Christopher Braymen, Orpheus Hanley, and Aubrey Hodges supplied synthesized score and sounds.

Reception

Jim Trunzo reviewed The Legend of Robin Hood: Conquests of the Longbow in White Wolf #31 (May/June, 1992) and stated that "Most impressive is the game's diversity. Combat, puzzles, and arcade sequences (set to whatever degree of difficulty you like) all add to the overall feel of the product." [1]

In 1992, Dragon gave the game 5 out of 5 stars. [2] That year Computer Gaming World named it one of the year's top four adventure games. [3]

In a 2009 retrospective review, Adventure Gamers gave it 4.5 stars out of 5; they praised the puzzles, writing, historical research, branching plot and graphics, while criticising unresponsive controls in the action segments, and regarded the game as a classic despite its obscurity relative to other Sierra games. [4]

In 2011, Adventure Gamers named Conquests of the Longbow the 42nd-best adventure game ever released. [5]

Reviews

Related Research Articles

<i>Robin of Sherwood</i> British television drama series (1984–1986)

Robin of Sherwood is a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 28 April 1984 to 28 June 1986 on the ITV network. In the United States it was shown on the premium cable TV channel Showtime and, later, on PBS. It was also syndicated in the early 1990s under the title Robin Hood. The show starred Michael Praed and Jason Connery as two different incarnations of the title character. Unlike previous adaptations of the Robin Hood legend, Robin of Sherwood combined a gritty, authentic production design with elements of real-life history, 20th-century fiction, and pagan myth. Robin of Sherwood has been described by historian Stephen Knight as "the most innovative and influential version of the myth in recent times". The series is also notable for its musical score by Clannad, which won a BAFTA award. A video game adaptation, Robin of Sherwood: The Touchstones of Rhiannon, was released in 1985. The series attained cult status worldwide.

<i>Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves</i> 1991 film

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is a 1991 American action adventure film based on the English folk tale of Robin Hood and loosely set in the 12th century. Directed by Kevin Reynolds and written by Pen Densham and John Watson, the film stars Kevin Costner as Robin Hood, Morgan Freeman as Azeem, Christian Slater as Will Scarlett, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Marian, and Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maid Marian</span> Love interest of Robin Hood in English folklore

Maid Marian is the heroine of the Robin Hood legend in English folklore, often taken to be his lover. She is not mentioned in the early, medieval versions of the legend, but was the subject of at least two plays by 1600. Her history and circumstances are obscure, but she commanded high respect in Robin’s circle for her courage and independence as well as her beauty and loyalty. For this reason, she is celebrated by feminist commentators as one of the early strong female characters in English literature.

<i>The Story of Robin Hood</i> (film) 1952 film by Ken Annakin

The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men is a 1952 action-adventure film produced by RKO-Walt Disney British Productions, based on the Robin Hood legend, made in Technicolor and filmed in Buckinghamshire, England. It was written by Lawrence Edward Watkin and directed by Ken Annakin. It is the second of Disney's complete live-action films, after Treasure Island (1950), and the first of four films Annakin directed for Disney.

<i>Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood</i> 1922 film by Allan Dwan

Robin Hood is a 1922 silent adventure film starring Douglas Fairbanks and Wallace Beery. It was the first motion picture ever to have a Hollywood premiere, held at Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on October 18, 1922. The movie's full title, under which it was copyrighted, is Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood. It was one of the most expensive films of the 1920s, with a budget estimated at one million dollars. The film was a smash hit and generally received favorable reviews.

<i>Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail</i> 1990 video game

Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail is a graphic adventure game released in 1990 by Sierra On-Line. It was the first game in the Conquests series designed by Christy Marx and her husband Peter Ledger. The only other game in the series was 1991's Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood. Marx did the majority of the design work while Ledger created the game and package art.

<i>Robin and Marian</i> 1976 film by Richard Lester

Robin and Marian is a 1976 romantic adventure film from Columbia Pictures, shot in Panavision and Technicolor, that was directed by Richard Lester and written by James Goldman after the legend of Robin Hood. The film stars Sean Connery as Robin Hood, Audrey Hepburn as Lady Marian, Nicol Williamson as Little John, Robert Shaw as the Sheriff of Nottingham, Richard Harris as Richard the Lionheart, and Denholm Elliott as Will Scarlet. It also features comedian Ronnie Barker in a rare film role as Friar Tuck. Robin and Marian was filmed in Zamora, as well as Artajona, Urbasa, Quinto Real and Orgi, all small medieval villages in Navarre, Spain. It marked Hepburn's return to the screen after an eight-year absence.

Alan-a-Dale is a figure in the Robin Hood legend. According to the stories, he was a wandering minstrel who became a member of Robin's band of outlaws, the "Merry Men".

"Robin Hood and the Golden Arrow" is an English folk song, part of the Robin Hood canon. It features an archery competition for a golden arrow that has long appeared in Robin Hood tales, but it is the oldest recorded one where Robin's disguise prevents his detection.

<i>Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood</i> 2002 video game

Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood is a 2002 stealth-based real-time tactics video game developed by Spellbound Entertainment. It is similar to games such as Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive and the Commandos series. In the game, the player controls up to five characters in a setting based on the stories of the protagonist, Robin Hood. The player can also control Robin Hood's Merry Men, including Little John, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, Will Stutely, and Maid Marian. Robin and his crew must evade the cruel Sheriff of Nottingham and his henchmen and stop the machinations of the vile usurper to England's throne, Prince John. However, Robin must avoid killing enemies as much as possible, or he will not be able to recruit as many new Merry Men.

<i>The Adventures of Robin Hood</i> (video game) 1991 video game

The Adventures of Robin Hood is a video game released in the autumn of 1991 by Millennium Interactive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Hood in popular culture</span> Pop culture interpretations of Robin Hood

The folkloric hero Robin Hood has appeared many times, in many different variations, in popular modern works.

<i>The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood</i> 1984 film by Ray Austin

The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1984 American made-for-television action comedy film directed by Ray Austin and starring George Segal, Morgan Fairchild, Roddy McDowall, Janet Suzman and Tom Baker. It is a parody of the Robin Hood story.

<i>The Outlaws of Sherwood</i> 1988 novel by Robin McKinley

The Outlaws of Sherwood is a retelling of the legend of Robin Hood by Robin McKinley. In McKinley's afterword, she says, "The retellings through the centuries have echoed concurrent preoccupations." The story includes both the traditional Robin Hood characters — Little John, Much, Friar Tuck, Marian and Alan-a-dale — and characters of McKinley's own invention. Notably, three of the most important characters are women, all of whom escape marriage to prospective spouses chosen by their fathers.

The Sheriff of Nottingham is the main antagonist in the legend of Robin Hood. He is generally depicted as an unjust tyrant who mistreats the local people of Nottinghamshire, subjecting them to unaffordable taxes. Robin Hood fights against him, stealing from the rich, and the Sheriff, in order to give to the poor; it is this characteristic for which Robin Hood is best known. The Sheriff is considered the archenemy of Robin Hood, as he is the most recurring enemy of the well-known outlaw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Friar Tuck</span> Character from the Robin Hood folklore

Friar Tuck is one of the Merry Men, the band of heroic outlaws in the folklore of Robin Hood.

Robin Hood is a comic opera by Reginald De Koven (music), Harry B. Smith (lyrics) and Clement Scott. The story is based on the Robin Hood legend, during the reign of King Richard I. The opera was composed in Chicago, Illinois during the winter of 1888-1889.

<i>Lady of the Forest</i> Book by Jennifer Roberson

Lady of the Forest: A Novel of Sherwood is a 1992 historical fiction novel by American author Jennifer Roberson. A re-telling of the Robin Hood legend from the perspective of twelve characters associated with the legend, the story centers around English noblewoman Lady Marian FitzWalter's encounters with Lord Robert of Locksley and his scheming rival the Sheriff of Nottingham amid the backdrop of Prince John's schemes – he aims to increase his own wealth and power at the expense of post-Conquest England and his brother, King Richard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Hood (Disney character)</span> Disney character

Robin Hood is a fictional character in Walt Disney Animation Studios' animated feature film Robin Hood (1973). Robin Hood is voiced by Shakespearean and Tony Award winning actor Brian Bedford. The film is based on the legends of Robin Hood and Reynard the fox, a 12th-century Alsatian fairy tale character, but uses anthropomorphic animals rather than people; in Robin's case being a red fox. The story follows the adventures of Robin Hood, Little John and the inhabitants of Nottingham as they fight against the excessive taxation of Prince John, and Robin Hood wins the hand of Maid Marian.

References

  1. Crow, Steve (May–June 1992). "The Silicon Dungeon". White Wolf Magazine . No. 31. p. 56.
  2. Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia & Lesser, Kirk (March 1992). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (179): 57–62.
  3. "CGW Salutes The Games of the Year". Computer Gaming World. November 1992. p. 110. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  4. Morstabilini, Andrea (January 2, 2009). "Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood review". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  5. AG Staff (December 30, 2011). "Top 100 All-Time Adventure Games". Adventure Gamers . Archived from the original on June 4, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  6. "ACE Issue 53".
  7. "Kultboy.com - DIE Kult-Seite über die alten Spiele-Magazine und Retro-Games!". www.kultboy.com. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022.
  8. "Kultboy.com - DIE Kult-Seite über die alten Spiele-Magazine und Retro-Games!". www.kultboy.com. Archived from the original on March 21, 2022.
  9. Games-X Archived April 16, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Amiga Joker Amiga Joker Sonderheft Nr.4 - Adventures Page scans - Amiga Magazine Rack". Archived from the original on April 3, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  11. "Kultpower.de - die Powerplay und ASM Fan Site". Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  12. "Amiga Reviews: Conquests of the longbow: The legend of Robin Hood". Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  13. "The Legend of Robin Hood: Conquests of the Longbow review from Amiga Joker (Oct 1992) - Amiga Magazine Rack". Archived from the original on March 21, 2022. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  14. "Australian Commodore and Amiga Review, the - Volume 9 Issue 4 (1992-04) (Saturday Magazine) (AU)". April 1992.