Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep

Last updated
Dungeon Master II:
The Legend of Skullkeep
Dungeon Master II The Legend of Skullkeep Cover.png
Developer(s) FTL Games
Publisher(s) Interplay Productions
Director(s) Doug Bell
Composer(s) Allister Brimble
Rick Jackson
Brian Luzietti
Platform(s) PC-9801, FM-Towns, Sega CD, Amiga, DOS, Mac OS
ReleaseDecember 23, 1993 (PC-98)
January 1994 (FM Towns)
1994 (Sega CD)
August 16, 1995 (DOS) [1]
1995 (Amiga, MacOS)
Genre(s) Role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player

Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep, also released as Dungeon Master II: Skullkeep, is the sequel to the dungeon crawler role-playing video game Dungeon Master . [2] It was released in 1993 in Japan and in 1995 in other countries. [2] It is available for DOS, [3] Amiga, Macintosh, [4] Sega CD, PC-9801, PC-9821, and FM Towns. A Sega Mega Drive version was planned but never released. [5]

Contents

Development

FTL's Wayne Holder said in 1994 that FTL considered a free-movement engine like Doom or Ultima Underworld for Dungeon Master II ("it's not that hard to do"), but "we prefer puzzle-oriented game design", while free-movement was "tedious to play" and complicated puzzle design. [6]

Platform comparison

In-game screenshot showing MS-DOS version graphics Dungeon Master II - The Legend of Skullkeep in-game screenshot (MS-DOS).png
In-game screenshot showing MS-DOS version graphics

Graphics: There are many graphical differences between the DOS and Amiga versions. For example, the title and endgame animations are very different. Items graphics also change: the Amiga version, while marked as an AGA game, is actually running in 32 color ECS mode (evident by the fact that it runs on Amiga 600 computers with 2MB RAM) colors, whereas the DOS version has 256 color VGA graphics. While the PC-9821 has 256 color graphics, the PC-9801 version uses dithered graphics to fit within the PC-9801's palette.

Screen layouts: The Macintosh version includes two screen layouts: a normal and a compact layout.

Music: The game music is different in each version of the game: the PC version uses MIDI music (which therefore sounds different on different sound cards), the Amiga version uses MODules, and the Sega CD version uses CD Audio tracks.

Reception

Dungeon Master II received mediocre reviews and sold poorly. [13] Reviewing the Sega CD version, GamePro commented that the standard Genesis controller does not work well with its point-and-click interface, and that a Sega Mouse is needed to fully enjoy the game. They also criticized the need to maintain light sources and food supplies. However, the bulk of their review was devoted to praise for the enemy AI, which they contended is so intelligent and naturalistic that it's "almost like playing against another person." [14] Reviewing the later PC version, a Next Generation critic said that while the original Dungeon Master was an outstanding game, Dungeon Master II retained aspects of the original that had long since become outdated. Noting the "refreshingly different magic system" as one of the few bright points, he gave it two out of five stars. [7] [13]

The One gave the Amiga version an overall score of 93%, praising the game's atmosphere and 3D sound effects. The magazine criticized FTL's attempt to add smoother movement, stating that "it simply isn't as good as any of the Doom clones that there are around at the moment". Noting that Dungeon Master II was a much deeper game than the Doom clones, however, The One concluded that Dungeon Master II was "an excellent game well worthy of its high scores". [11]

Reviews

Related Research Articles

<i>Hexen: Beyond Heretic</i> 1995 video game

Hexen: Beyond Heretic is a fantasy first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software and published by id Software distributed through GT Interactive on October 30, 1995. It is the sequel to 1994's Heretic, and the second game in Raven Software's "Serpent Riders" trilogy, which culminated with Hexen II. The title comes from the German noun Hexen, which means "witches", and/or the verb hexen, which means "to cast a spell". Game producer John Romero stated that a third, unreleased game in this series was to be called Hecatomb.

<i>Descent</i> (video game) 1995 first-person shooter game

Descent is a first-person shooter (FPS) game developed by Parallax Software and released by Interplay Productions in 1995 for MS-DOS, and later for Macintosh, PlayStation, and RISC OS. It popularized a subgenre of FPS games employing six degrees of freedom and was the first FPS to feature entirely true-3D graphics. The player is cast as a mercenary hired to eliminate the threat of a mysterious extraterrestrial computer virus infecting off-world mining robots. In a series of mines throughout the Solar System, the protagonist pilots a spaceship and must locate and destroy the mine's power reactor and escape before being caught in the mine's self-destruction, defeating opposing robots along the way. Players can play online and compete in either deathmatches or cooperate to take on the robots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FTL Games</span>

FTL Games was the video game development division of Software Heaven Inc. FTL created several popular video games in the 1980s. Despite the company's small size, FTL products were consistently number-one sellers and received the highest critical acclaim and industry awards.

<i>Eye of the Beholder</i> (video game) 1991 video game

Eye of the Beholder is a role-playing video game for personal computers and video game consoles developed by Westwood Associates. It was published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. in 1991, for the MS-DOS operating system and later ported to the Amiga, the Sega CD and the SNES. The Sega CD version features a soundtrack composed by Yuzo Koshiro and Motohiro Kawashima. A port to the Atari Lynx handheld was developed by NuFX in 1993, but was not released. In 2002, an adaptation of the same name was developed by Pronto Games for the Game Boy Advance.

<i>Theme Park</i> (video game) 1994 video game

Theme Park is a construction and management simulation video game developed by Bullfrog Productions and published by Electronic Arts in 1994. The player designs and operates an amusement park, with the goal of making money and creating theme parks worldwide. The game is the first instalment in Bullfrog's Theme series and their Designer Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FM Towns</span> Japanese personal computer

The FM Towns is a Japanese personal computer built by Fujitsu from February 1989 to the summer of 1997. It started as a proprietary PC variant intended for multimedia applications and PC games, but later became more compatible with IBM PC compatibles. In 1993, the FM Towns Marty was released, a game console compatible with existing FM Towns games.

<i>Dungeon Master</i> (video game) 1987 video game

Dungeon Master is a role-playing video game featuring a pseudo-3D first-person perspective. It was developed and published by FTL Games for the Atari ST in 1987, almost identical Amiga and PC (DOS) ports following in 1988 and 1992.

<i>Batman Returns</i> (video games) 1992 video game

Batman Returns is the name of several video games for various platforms based on the 1992 film of the same name.

<i>Flashback</i> (1992 video game) 1992 video game

Flashback, released as Flashback: The Quest for Identity in the United States, is a 1992 science fiction cinematic platform game developed by Delphine Software of France and published by U.S. Gold in the United States and Europe, and Sunsoft in Japan.

<i>Alone in the Dark 2</i> (video game) 1993 video game

Alone in the Dark 2 is a 1993 survival horror video game developed and published by Infogrames. It is the second installment in the Alone in the Dark series. It was ported to the PC-98 and FM Towns in 1994 and to the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer in 1995 under the same name, and to the Sega Saturn and PlayStation in 1996 as Alone in the Dark: Jack Is Back in Europe, and renamed as Alone in the Dark: One-Eyed Jack's Revenge in North America.

<i>The Faery Tale Adventure</i> 1987 video game

The Faery Tale Adventure is a 1987 action role-playing video game designed by David Joiner and published by MicroIllusions for the Amiga, and later ported to the Commodore 64, MS-DOS, and Sega Genesis. The MS-DOS version is titled The Faery Tale Adventure: Book I. Microillusions also released a "Book 1" version for the Amiga which was going to be the start of a series of games, according to Talin, but bankruptcy prevented it. The initial version was produced for the Amiga 1000 and featured the largest game world to that date. A sequel, Faery Tale Adventure II: Halls of the Dead, was released in 1997.

<i>Bram Stokers Dracula</i> (video game) 1993 video game

Bram Stoker's Dracula is a 1993 video game released for the Mega Drive/Genesis, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super NES, Game Boy, Master System, Sega CD, Game Gear, MS-DOS, and Amiga. It is based on the 1992 film Bram Stoker's Dracula which in turn is based on the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. Most versions are platform games. The Sega CD and Amiga releases are beat 'em ups, and the MS-DOS version is a first-person shooter. The Amiga version was released in 1994 for North America and Europe. A CD-ROM version for MS-DOS compatible operating systems was released in 1995.

<i>Wing Commander</i> (video game) 1990 video game

Wing Commander is the first game in Chris Roberts' space flight simulation Wing Commander franchise by Origin Systems. The game was first released for MS-DOS on September 26, 1990, and was later ported to the Amiga, CD32 (256-color), Sega CD and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and re-released for the PC as Wing Commander I in 1994. An enhanced remake Super Wing Commander was made for the 3DO in 1994, and later ported to the Macintosh.

<i>Brutal: Paws of Fury</i> 1994 video game

Brutal: Paws of Fury is a 2D fighting game published by GameTek in 1994. The game features a cast of various anthropomorphic animals as selectable fighters. It also features the ability to learn new attacks and save them via passwords. Originally a Sega CD exclusive, it was later ported to other game consoles.

<i>Frankenstein: Through the Eyes of the Monster</i> 1995 video game

Frankenstein: Through the Eyes of the Monster is a point-and-click adventure video game that stars Tim Curry as Dr. Frankenstein, and has the player controlling a newly created Frankenstein monster. Other cast members include Robert Rothrock as the voice of the monster, Rebecca Wink as villager Sara, and Amanda Fuller as Gabrielle, the monster's daughter. It used full motion video clips and 3D CGI graphics similar to Myst. The game was developed by Amazing Media and published by Interplay Entertainment Corp for the PC in 1995 and for the Sega Saturn in 1997. The game was given a "Teen" rating by the Entertainment Software Rating Board, but was originally rated as K-A. A port for the Atari Jaguar was in development but never released.

<i>Worms</i> (1995 video game) 1995 video game

Worms is a 2D artillery tactical video game developed by Team17 and released in 1995. It is the first game in the Worms series of video games. It is a turn based game where a player controls a team of worms against other teams of worms that are controlled by a computer or human opponent. The aim is to use various weapons to kill the worms on the other teams and have the last surviving worm(s).

<i>Ishido: The Way of Stones</i> 1990 video game

Ishido: The Way of Stones is a puzzle video game released in 1990 by Accolade and developed by Publishing International. It was designed by Michael Feinberg and programmed by Ian Gilman and Michael Sandige. The game's producer was Brad Fregger, and Brodie Lockard contributed with graphics.

<i>Baldies</i> 1995 video game

Baldies is a 1995 real-time strategy video game developed by Creative Edge Software and originally published by Atari Corporation for the Atari Jaguar CD. It was later ported to the PC, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, and Macintosh. In the game, the player manages a community of Baldies in order to build structures, increase their population, and create weapons to fight against enemies known as Hairies. There are four classes of Baldies and each structure has specific properties to assist the player. Its gameplay combines strategy with simulation and god game elements. Up to four players can participate in a multiplayer mode via local area network (LAN) on PC.

<i>Litil Divil</i> 1993 video game

Litil Divil is a video game released by Gremlin Graphics Software in 1993. The game stars Mutt, a dog-like devil in the Underworld whose goal is to obtain the "Mystical Pizza of Plenty" from the Labyrinth of Chaos. Litil Divil's release was delayed several times, and the game was initially advertised in magazines under the name Little Divil.

<i>Microcosm</i> (video game) 1993 video game

Microcosm is a 3D rail shooter video game developed and published by Psygnosis in 1993. It was originally developed for the FM Towns, and ported for the Sega CD, Amiga CD32, 3DO, and MS-DOS. Microcosm featured realistic FMV animation, with the graphics being rendered on Silicon Graphics workstations. The game is either in first-person or third-person view depending on the gaming system.

References

  1. ↑ "Interplay Releases Dungeon Master II". 1997-10-09. Archived from the original on 1997-10-09. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  2. 1 2 McFerran, Damien (2006). "The Making of Dungeon Master" (PDF). Issue 34. Retro Gamer Magazine. pp. 30–31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-01. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
  3. ↑ "Dungeon Master II". interplay.com. 2001-04-14. Archived from the original on 2001-04-13.
  4. ↑ "Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep". macplay.com. 1997. Archived from the original on 2000-09-30.
  5. ↑ "CVG Reviews Supershorts: Mega Drive - Dungeon Master 2". Computer and Video Games . No. 160. EMAP. March 1995. p. 101.
  6. ↑ Meston, Zach; Arnold, J. Douglas (1994). Dungeon Master II Skullkeep: The Official Strategy Guide. Sandwich Islands Publishing. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
  7. 1 2 "Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep". Next Generation (12). Imagine Media: 188. December 1995.
  8. ↑ Ward, Trent C. (November 1995). "Dungeon Master II". PC Gamer US . Archived from the original on November 17, 1999.
  9. ↑ Burgess, McCandless (September 1995). "CD Review - Dungeon Master II". PC Zone . No. 30. Future plc. p. 76.
  10. ↑ Olafson, Peter (October 1995). "Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep". PC Games. Archived from the original on October 18, 1996. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  11. 1 2 "Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep Review". The One. No. 85. emap Images. November 1995. pp. 22–27.
  12. ↑ Snyder, Frank; Chapman, Ted; Kaiafas, Tasos (October 1995). "Entropy Beckons". Computer Game Review . Archived from the original on December 21, 1996.
  13. 1 2 Maher, Jimmy (2015-12-11). "Dungeon Master, Part 1: The Making of". The Digital Antiquarian. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  14. ↑ "ProReview: Dungeon Master II: Skullkeep". GamePro . No. 62. IDG. September 1994. p. 125.
  15. ↑ "Australian Realms Magazine - Complete Collection". June 1988.
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.