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Defenderof the CrownCinemaware Corporation, 1986Amiga, Atari ST, Apple IIgs, C64, etc**Defender of theCrown has morethan a dozenports and remakes,incluidingrecent ones foriPhone, Androidand even webbrowsers.From the stairs tothe shadows, thesword fights area nice tribute toErrol Flynn, andwere an amazinggraphical feat in1986.The originalAmiga versionwas rushed out,and later portsincluded featuresthat were cut duelack of time, suchas more elaboratearmy battles.Defender of the Crown in its original incarnationon the Commodore Amiga was a “SystemSeller”, a game built around showcasingthe hardware it was on, more like a technical demothan an actual game.However due to the game’s success and inherentlyappealing and fun core concepts it ended upbeing ported to every platform under the Sun, alwaysamongst the best looking games on these machines.Overall, the game is an excellent pickup and play“Koei Kingdom Simulator” styled Strategy/RPG thatcan appeal to many different audiences. Based on theNorman invasion of England during the Crusades,the player is tasked with picking one of a handful ofSaxon lords to defend the land. Each of them havedifferent abilities in Swordfighting, Jousting, andLeadership. The former two affect the difficulty ofsome of the game’s action sequences while the latteraffects the meat of the game, which is effectively abeefed up version of Risk.Set with amazing music and graphics, you spendthe month long game turns defending territoriesfrom the five other lords, attacking in turn, raidingenemy castles for money or to rescue a maiden in theswordfighting minigame, and engaging in a joustingminigame for fame (increase your Leadership), orterritory. There is also a simple action sequence forusing a catapult when you siege enemy castles but itisn’t connected to the three abilities.It all plays relatively fast and is a good primer foraction players who might want to dip into the Strategyor RPG pools. In general an entire game can becompleted in about an hour or less, with the differentSaxon lords and randomized starting positions givingsome replay and difficulty settings.The entire game is done in the concept of an“Interactive Movie” with various text and graphicsscreens coming up to give context and feel to your adventure,something most Cinemaware titles would doto great effect.While only just barely an RPG, it provides a goodand quick pickup game when you want to conquer anation with fantastic audiovisuals.And you get help from Robin Hood! Whowouldn’t want that? RM30