Retro Magazine 1

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| ❙❋❯❙✄❍❇◆❋❙* | issue one | lord of the rings | Game Two improved on its predecessor with better graphics and clearer descriptions One of the rarest 2600 prototypes is now available for download The third game in the trilogy was only ever released in the US, making it something of a novelty for UK fans Lord of the Rings Vol 1 and was released by Interplay in 1990. It was similar to the early Zelda and Final Fantasy games in many respects. The action was viewed from overhead and the gameplay revolved around slaying enemies (wolves and wargs at first, spiders and sorcerers later on) and solving tricky puzzles. If you were stumped, you could always gain clues by engaging the local inhabitants in conversation. You started out controlling just a single character (Frodo) but as you progressed you were able to enlist the services of various dwarves, elves and humans. With a party of up to ten in tow, you could stage some spectacular battles later on. Lord of the Rings Vol 1 was an entertaining game which has aged far better than the earlier text adventure. However, like the Melbourne House games, the plot was not too linear, meaning that the player was not forced to complete tasks in a strict order (some tasks could be avoided completely). Interplay followed up the game with an enhanced CD version (which featured scenes from Ralph Bakshi’s animated movie), a SNES version and a very similar PC-only sequel titled Lord of the Rings Vol 2: The Two Towers. The follow-up shifted the emphasis from combat to puzzle solving and was better for it. This SNES version was interesting because while it shared the same name as the PC/Amiga version, it was a completely different game. It supported up to five players for a start, and there were loads of silly errands to run and mind-boggling mazes to explore. You could interact with non-playable characters, and level-up the members of the fellowship, but this was very much a light RPG. The game ended abruptly too, and the proposed SNES sequel never appeared. The same fate befell the final part of the PC trilogy. Work was well underway on Vol 3 when it was unceremoniously pulled. The third game was to be more of a strategy game than an RPG, and it was very nearly released as part of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons’ Forgotten Realms series before it was canned altogether. **22**
war games. Melbourne House marched out War in Middle Earth in 1988, shortly before the release of The Crack of Doom. This turn-based strategy game was developed by Mike Singleton, author of Shadowfax and The Lords of Midnight (which was heavily inspired by The Lord of the Rings itself). Using an icon-driven interface, you had to guide Frodo and the fellowship from The Shire to Mount Doom. Along the way you would become embroiled in battles with Sauron’s armies. The removed perspective distanced the player from the characters, who were, after all, just pixels on a huge playing field, yet the game certainly emphasised the epic nature of the novel. It was ahead of its time too, predating the similar Dune games by at least two years. The game was originally released on 8-bit machines (including the MSX) but later appeared on the PC, Amiga and Atari ST. These later versions benefited from enhanced visuals, including graphic sequences which showed the characters preparing for battle. Beam Software, the Australian owners of Melbourne House, released Riders of Rohan on PC in 1990. This strategy game was similar to War in Middle Earth and began with the battle for Helm’s Deep. There were a number of units you could utilise, including Frodo and Aragorn, but the battle engine was on the simplistic side. Besides making tactical decisions, there were also several action scenes in which you battled against orcs, either firing arrows as Legolas or swinging your axe as Gimli. The Interplay games used a series of stills to drive the story Dead and buried? There is hope that Vol 3 may surface some time in the future, especially as a Lord of the Rings game written for the Atari 2600 has recently surfaced. This unreleased prototype, subtitled Journey To Rivendell, was originally scheduled for release in 1984 by Parker Brothers but never materialised, even though box artwork and screen shots appeared in one of their release catalogues at the time. Excited fans who phoned Parker Brothers were told that the game had sold out to cover up the fact that it had never been released. The prototype available on the Web is clearly unfinished, although some gameplay elements have been implemented. For instance, when the black riders attack, you can wear the ring to become invisible and dodge their attack. All this is a long way off the licences available now, but then again, both The Two Towers and The Return of the King games from EA are little more than polished versions of Golden Axe. Perhaps we haven’t travelled that far after all! ✺✯* These turn-based strategy sims were a welcome departure from the adventure games **23**
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Page 3 and 4: 18 Return of the Rings A fascinatin
Page 5 and 6: Buried Treasure If you’re too thi
Page 7 and 8: Sinclair Researched. We simply coul
Page 9 and 10: the design phase, this was reasonab
Page 11 and 12: couple of tape recorders together a
Page 13 and 14: which failed to supply machines. Th
Page 15 and 16: With The Return of the King >retur
Page 17: The rather cheeky Middle-earth Tril
Page 21 and 22: Hall of the Miner King. Miner Willy
Page 23 and 24: Jet Set Willy was not so much a seq
Page 25 and 26: The Gaping Pit? apparently after an
Page 27 and 28: selling price would do the rest. To
Page 29 and 30: One Man and His Droid II. >Formats
Page 31 and 32: 28 VIDEO POKER THE LAST V8 BIG MAC
Page 33 and 34: 12 ACTION BIKER KANE CHILLER KIKSTA
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Page 37 and 38: Ken was one of the only characters
Page 39 and 40: The new Hyper Street Fighter II gam
Page 41 and 42: >Licence to Kill. Horror is hot onc
Page 43 and 44: One, two, Freddy's coming for you!
Page 45: Something evil. Palace Pictures sho
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Page 66: april 2004 issue 2 hits the shelves

Retro Magazine 1

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