Dragonsphere

Last updated
Dragonsphere
Dragonsphere cover.jpg
Developer(s) MPS Labs
Publisher(s) MicroProse
Director(s) Douglas Kaufman
Producer(s) Matt Gruson
Programmer(s) Paul Lahaise
Artist(s) Michael Gibson
Charles Shenton
Writer(s) Douglas Kaufman
Composer(s) Michael Bross [1]
Platform(s) MS-DOS
Release
  • NA: 7 January 1994
  • EU: 1994
Genre(s) Point-and-click adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Dragonsphere is a point-and-click graphic adventure game developed and published by MicroProse in 1994. It has graphics which were considered high-quality at the time it was published, considered a novelty. It is still a cult classic for many. [2]

Contents

The game was the third, and last, graphical adventure game developed by MicroProse, following Rex Nebular and Return of the Phantom . [3] It was designed by Douglas Kaufman [4] and developed using the MicroProse Adventure Development system with 256-color graphics.

Plot

The story is set in a fantasy world and revolves around a magical sphere in which Sanwe, an evil sorcerer, was trapped by the late King of Gran Callahach 20 years ago. Sanwe is now on the verge of breaking free. [5]

The newly crowned king, Callash, goes on a quest to stop the wizard before he regains his powers. However, when he faces Sanwe, he discovers that he is not the real king but a shapechanger named Pid Shuffle. It is revealed that the Queen Mother concocted the scheme to get rid of Callash and put his evil brother MacMorn on the throne, persuading the Court Wizard to aid her under the false pretense of saving Callash from mortal danger. It falls to Pid to rescue the rightful King and defeat MacMorn.

Characters

Reception

Pelit gave the game 92 out of 100 and summarized that Dragonsphere is "a really enjoyable and atmospheric adventure which holds the player's attention until the end." [6] Computer Gaming World rated the game four stars out of five, praising its "true-to-life" animation. Although stating that experienced players might find the game too easy or short, the magazine concluded that Dragonsphere's puzzles and story made it "an enjoyable and satisfying piece of work". [7] Computer Gaming World nominated Dragonsphere as its 1994 "Adventure of the Year", although it lost to Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure . The editors praised Dragonsphere for incorporating "an intriguing storyline, imaginative fantasy cultures, and a wonderful conversation system". [8]

Legacy

In 1994, Sanctuary Woods purchased the MicroProse Adventure Development System game engine. [9]

In 2011, GOG.com released the game for free. [10] It was released on Steam in 2014. Tommo purchased the rights to this game and digitally published it in 2015, through its Retroism brand. [11]

Related Research Articles

<i>Simon the Sorcerer</i> 1993 video game

Simon the Sorcerer is a 1993 point-and-click adventure game developed and published by Adventure Soft, for Amiga and MS-DOS. The game's story focuses on a boy named Simon who is transported into a parallel universe of magic and monsters, where he embarks on a mission to become a wizard and rescue another from an evil sorcerer. The game's setting was inspired by the novels of the Discworld series, and incorporates parodies on fantasy novels and fairy tales, such as The Lord of the Rings and Jack and the Beanstalk. The lead character's design was inspired by that of the fictional British television character Blackadder, with the character voiced by Chris Barrie in the CD re-release.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Meretzky</span> American video game developer

Steven Eric Meretzky is an American video game developer. He is best known for creating Infocom games in the early 1980s, including collaborating with author Douglas Adams on the interactive fiction game of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, one of the first games to be certified "platinum" by the Software Publishers Association. Later, he created the Spellcasting trilogy, the flagship adventure series of Legend Entertainment. He has been involved in almost every aspect of game development, from design to production to quality assurance and box design.

<i>Sid Meiers Colonization</i> 1994 video game

Sid Meier's Colonization is a video game by Brian Reynolds and Sid Meier. It was developed by MicroProse's Chapel Hill development studio and was released in 1994. It is a turn-based strategy game themed on the early European colonization of the New World, starting in 1492 and lasting until 1850. It was originally released for DOS, and later ported to Windows 3.1 (1995), the Amiga (1995), and Macintosh (1995). American video game publisher Tommo purchased the rights to this game in 2015 and digitally published it through their Retroism brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MicroProse</span> American video game company

MicroProse is an American video game publisher and developer founded by Bill Stealey, Sid Meier, and Andy Hollis in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the Civilization and X-COM series. Most of their internally developed titles were vehicle simulation and strategy games.

<i>Silent Service</i> (video game) 1985 video game

Silent Service is a submarine simulator video game designed by Sid Meier and published in 1985 by MicroProse for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit computers, Commodore 64, and IBM PC compatibles, then ported to other home computers. A Nintendo Entertainment System version developed by Rare was published in 1989 by Konami in Europe and by Konami's Ultra Games subsidiary in North America. Silent Service II was released in 1990. Tommo purchased the rights to this game and published it online through its Retroism brand in 2015.

<i>Master of Magic</i> 1994 video game

Master of Magic is a single-player, fantasy turn-based 4X strategy game in which the player plays as a wizard attempting to dominate two linked worlds. From a small settlement, the player manages resources, builds cities and armies, and researches spells, growing an empire and fighting the other wizards.

<i>Ultima VIII: Pagan</i> 1994 video game

Ultima VIII: Pagan is a role-playing video game, released as the eighth part of the Ultima series. Released in 1994, it is a DOS-only title and is also the first game in the series to be rated M in North America. It was not as well-received as its predecessors, Ultima VII and Ultima VII Part Two: Serpent Isle.

<i>Falcon 4.0</i> 1998 video game

Falcon 4.0 is a combat flight simulation video game developed by MicroProse and published by Hasbro Interactive in 1998. The game is based around a realistic simulation of the Block 50/52 F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighter in a full-scale modern war set in the Korean Peninsula.

<i>Darklands</i> (video game) 1992 role-playing video game

Darklands is a historical fantasy role-playing video game developed and published by MicroProse in 1992 for MS-DOS. The game is set in the Holy Roman Empire during the 15th century. While the geographic setting is historically accurate, the game features many supernatural elements.

<i>Simon the Sorcerer II: The Lion, the Wizard and the Wardrobe</i> 1995 video game

Simon the Sorcerer II: The Lion, the Wizard and the Wardrobe is an adventure game created by Adventure Soft, and released in 1995 for the MS-DOS. It is the second installment in the Simon the Sorcerer series of games, and the sequel to 1993's Simon the Sorcerer. The game's story focuses on a young teen named Simon, who is transported into a parallel universe of magic and monsters that he visited before, via a magical wardrobe created by an evil sorcerer he defeated in the last game. Players engage in a quest to help him find more fuel for the wardrobe by searching a vast world, consisting of parodies on popular fantasy novels and fairy tales.

<i>Sword of the Samurai</i> (video game) 1989 video game

Sword of the Samurai is an action and strategy video game developed and published by MicroProse in 1989 for the DOS platform. It features role-playing, strategy, and arcade elements set in feudal Japan. The player begins the game as a little-known vassal samurai; his ultimate goal is to replace Oda Nobunaga as the daimyō responsible for reunifying Sengoku Japan.

<i>Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender</i> 1992 video game

Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender is a point-and-click graphic adventure game developed and published by MicroProse in November of 1992. The game is the first graphical adventure game developed by MicroProse, Return of the Phantom and Dragonsphere being the other ones. It was developed using the MicroProse Adventure Development system, and made use of 256-colour graphics. Tommo purchased the rights to this game and digitally publishes it through its Retroism brand in 2015.

<i>Fleet Defender</i> 1994 video game

Fleet Defender is a combat flight simulator published by MicroProse in 1994. The game uses the F-14B version of the F-14 Tomcat even where anachronistic because the developers found the original, underpowered F-14A unforgiving and "not much fun" in an entertainment flight simulator. An expansion pack, Fleet Defender: Scenario, and a port for the PC-98 were released in 1995.

<i>BloodNet</i> 1993 video game

BloodNet is a cyberpunk-themed role-playing video game video game developed and published by MicroProse for MS-DOS in 1993. An Amiga port was released in 1994 by Catfish and Teeny Weeny Games. An emulated version for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux was released in 2014.

<i>Return of the Phantom</i> 1993 video game

Return of the Phantom is a point-and-click graphic adventure game developed and published by MicroProse in 1993. It was produced by Matt Gruson and designed/written by future James Bond novelist Raymond Benson. It is based on the 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux.

<i>1942: The Pacific Air War</i> 1994 video game

1942: The Pacific Air War is combat flight simulation developed and published by MicroProse for the PC on the DOS operating system in 1994. It is based on the U.S. and Japanese Pacific War conflict from 1942 to 1945. An expansion pack, 1942: The Pacific Air War – Scenario, was released in 1995. A sequel, European Air War, was released in 1998. Tommo purchased the rights to 1942 and digitally publishes it through its Retroism brand in 2015.

<i>Simon the Sorcerer 3D</i> 2002 video game

Simon the Sorcerer 3D, is an adventure game released by Adventure Soft in April 2002 for Windows. It is the third game in the Simon the Sorcerer series.

<i>Knights of the Sky</i> 1990 video game

Knights of the Sky is a World War I combat flight simulator designed by Jeff Briggs and published by MicroProse in 1990 for MS-DOS. Ports to the Amiga and Atari ST followed in 1991.

<i>Challenge of the Five Realms</i> 1992 video game

Challenge of the Five Realms: Spellbound in the World of Nhagardia is a role-playing video game created by MicroProse for MS-DOS and published in 1992.

References

  1. ↑ "Michael Bross Interview: Recollections of an Industry Veteran (May 2007)". Game-Ost. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
  2. ↑ Walker, John (2011-05-05). "Good Old Games Has Dragonsphere For Free". Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
  3. ↑ "The FX Of Computer Entertainment". Computer Gaming World . March 1994. p. 18-30.
  4. ↑ "Dragonsphere". ABware. Retrieved 2013-09-03.
  5. ↑ "Dragonsphere review". AdventureGamers.com. 2013-05-24.
  6. ↑ Salminen, Tapio (April 1994). "Dragonsphere". Pelit . 20-21. ISSN   1235-1199.
  7. ↑ "Necromancing The Throne". Computer Gaming World . July 1994. pp. 46–49.
  8. ↑ Staff (May 1995). "The Computer Gaming World 1995 Premier Awards". Computer Gaming World . No. 130. pp. 35, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44.
  9. ↑ "MicroProse Adventure Development System Purchased". Read.Me. Computer Gaming World. April 1994. p. 12.
  10. ↑ "New release: Dragonsphere - for FREE!". GOG.com. 2011-05-05. Retrieved 2011-05-05.
  11. ↑ "Purchase Agreement between Atari, Inc. and Rebellion Developments, Stardock & Tommo" (PDF). BMC Group. 2013-07-22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.