In fact, there's two Ultima games released for the Game Boy that look more like Zelda than Ultima, but I'll give them a chance based solely on the series. There's not a lot of mention of this game when reminiscing about classic console RPGs with friends and forums, so I have to wonder how the Ultima series continued to be released on consoles through Ultima VII. There's evidently a 64-page hint book floating around as well, which I'll take the time to peruse after completing the game. I've tried to keep this research spoiler free, so I don't have much more to report. There's also mention that it is not possible to brute force through the game, and the final boss is more of a puzzle to pass. Mostly, I'm going into this blind, and from what I hear I'm going to struggle with unhelpful NPC hints. I'm fairly certain I didn't get very far, and would jump on my brothers save file to check it out. Moon gates were the bane of my young addled brain. The most memorable part of it is my struggle with understanding the moon phases. In fact, my memory of it is all rather hazy. I remember having rented this game as a kid. The party that never was (also this music is pretty catchy) I feel like I'm in for a bit of a challenge with the reduction in exposition. All the manuals were reduced to one, and no map was included. The graphics are more colorful than the original versions of the game, and the music changed to fit the NES hardware. To fit everything to a 2-button controller interface, the game used nested menus to fit all the options (much like Dragon Warrior). From the use of an over-world map separate screens for battles, towns, and dungeons and the four character party to magic points used for spells, and the proliferation of the medieval-fantasy setting, the game echoes throughout time.Īn NES port was an obvious choice as the leading console of the time following the success of games like Dragon Warrior (1986 JP) and its sequel (1987 JP), which take most of their inspiration from here, and seeing Dragon Warrior II become the first blockbuster game in Japan (seriously, people camped out days in advance to get the game), cashing in on this market is a no-brainer.Ĭhanges were necessary though as the NES had no keyboard. All games that followed it show strong evidence of the impact it had. This game may have had the greatest influence of all on the console RPG genre, so it's great to see it ported to the NES. Dungeons are drawn with textured walls, and sprites are animated. Using what the party can realistically see, the player now has a limited view of their surroundings based on the terrain. The setting takes on more focus with a fully medieval-fantasy setting, gone is the futuristic themed parts. Battles now take place on a separate screen, and with multiple party members, it takes a more tactical approach to defeat the enemy. It was a great advancement for the series with many new additions, and much polish. The original game, Ultima III: Exodus, was released in 1983 for many PC platforms including the Apple II (I have fond memories of trying to play it with my dad).
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