Defender of the Crown

The Good
Alrighty, I, along with every pre-teen and teen gamer, KNOW we were first attracted to this game because of the phenomenal Cover Art! Who didn't stare for hours and hours at that Damsel in Distress slung unconscious over the horse?!? :)=)

As for the game itself, it was a FUN combination of real time strategy, some Arcade action, some luck, and a steep learning curve. Raiding enemy castles was FUN as heck! The sword fighting a-la 3 Musketeers style, how you have to do a final death-stab into the enemy, and figure out the puzzle of what to do with the final 3rd enemy guard in the castle.

And yes, you get to rescue the Damsel in Distress. It's a mission, kinda long but still fun. The makers of this game are on record saying they were aiming for a much more mature audience... by adding the little sex scene after you rescue the very thankful Damsel in Distress. It's tastefully done, but the intended target audience is obvious - more mature gamers. The Amiga graphics were mind-blowing. The Commodore-64 graphics pushed the limits of the C-64.

I also like how you get to take over parts of the map. And the various choices available to aid you in your conquest. Castle raiding, Jousting, Sieging, blatant attacking, different military units including calvary, and more. There are different levels of play, depending on which character you pick.

There are also a few puzzles - not too strenuous on the mind though (compared to the games Bard's Tale I, and Bard's Tale II ! LOL!)

The re-play value is very high. Expect to get months of re-play value. I played it a solid 4 months. Then off and on every 3 months or so.

Modern games are much better now, with far better graphics, and gameplay equal to this game. Alas, few modern mainstream games have continued to pursue and program tastefully adult elements like this game has. But if you want a trip in time back to when modern graphics were just starting to show up, this is the game to check out.

The Bad
The learning curve is VERY steep when first starting this game. One has to have a never give up attitude. You will get mashed like crazy by the many NPC kings. After one figures out this game, then it becomes even more fun, and much easier to play. It took me a few weeks of brainstorming to figure out what worked and didn't work. Lots of trial and error, and some minor puzzle solving. The puzzles are a love hate thing. Love them because they make the game harder and more interesting. Hate them because they make the game more harder heheheh.

After 2 or so months of playing this game, it becomes very easy to finish, and win almost every time. You will then play it maybe once every 3 months or so. But it will not stay permanently forgotten, buried in the bottom of your closet.

The Bottom Line
A mix of Arcade Action, Map conquering Risk-style game play, with some tastefully adult themes programmed into it. The learning curve is very steep when first starting out. After roughly 1 month of gameplay the game becomes much easier to figure out and play. Still loads of fun all the way, with nice re-play value as you try the harder levels by choosing the harder characters.

Too bad the current, modern, definition of adult games is a game with excessive violence, and maybe some swear words. It would be interesting to see some new modern games pursue the course this game went on - having tastefully done adult sex scenes. Sans the excessive violence, and no swear words.

The Good
Like (for example) Hero's Quest: So You Want To Be A Hero and Moonstone, Defender of the Crown is a triumph of atmosphere over modern considerations such as 3d graphics and cd-quality sound. The wars and intrigues of old Saxon/Norman England come to life in truly remarkable fashion, especially considering that underneath it all is a fairly straightforward strategy game. Castles can be raided, jousts held, maidens rescued, and lands seized - what more could a proud young noble want?

The Bad
The PC version reflects the period when the Amiga (and Atari ST) were far superior in terms of graphics and sound. The luscious backdrops and portraits of the original don't quite have the same appeal when translated to EGA.

For the gameplay, DOTC has the annoying quality of severely punishing mistakes -put one foot wrong at any point and you'll likely lose the game within two turns. Getting in front and staying there is paramount; it's extremely difficult to come from behind and win. Further, the combat is nastily arbitrary; the "tactics" options when raiding a castle have little or no effect, and you'll frequently find a battle unwinnable regardless of the size of your forces.

The Bottom Line
If you want an object lesson in why old games are still good, play DOTC. It shows that atmosphere and playability are NOT functions of how fast your computer is or what graphics chip sits inside. To be still enjoyable after all this time is a remarkable feat - how many steroid-frame-rate games of today will be around in fifteen years?

The Good
Well the artwork gives a lot of romanticism to the game (despite how the box art might make the game appear). I think the game would have particular meaning to British gamers or those with British roots. Seeing the familiar British counties with the same names, but in a much different time, populated by major settlers, the Saxons and Normans. I see the game as semi-historical and semi-educational. Though I think all the characters are fictional, many of them created by British author Walter Scott (people can debate the existence of Robin Hood). Though the game does have a sort of "magical" feel to it, there isn't any magic or divine intervention in the game, which I think further helps the game feel historical and educational.

Some complain that the game is too short and it certainly is quite short, but it does take a lot of effort to not get conquered by the enemy and I'd also say that the game is perfectly replayable. It's of course quite non-linear and random, something that I don't necessarily like, but I think it certainly helps this game.

The Bad
Underneath the romance, the game is pretty barbaric, even more so in the Amiga version. The game puts you on the side of the Saxons and presents them as the heroes with the Normans as the villains, but the Saxon and Norman lords behave in much the same way, conquering, raiding and besieging. In the Amiga version, which after playing the PC version, appears to have been released semi-complete, you can only complete your turn and continue the game by conquering land, raiding a castle or paying for a tournament (which isn't an option if you've just returned from one). So you're often forced to be a murdering or thieving bastard and attack or steal from people who did nothing to you first! (This issue was removed in the PC version, which lets you "pass" to complete your turn, also unlike with Amiga, buying army takes up one turn.) Another thing that I think improved the PC version was your ability to pass through the lands of fellow Saxons. Even in the PC, Saxons can attack Saxons, but in the Amiga, the other Saxon lords are scarcely your allies. Moving your campaign army onto their land is taken as declaring war.

So there is a "female element" to the game. There are four Saxon ladies who can be kidnapped by Normans and you have the choice of rescuing them. If you are successful, she will reward you with "love" (sex). I will admit that the female inclusion was slightly dignified. I wouldn't say that the love scene between the Saxon lord and lady was sexploititive, the ladies do have full names (not like "Anne, Miss July") and their images appear alongside yours at the start of your turn, suggesting a partnership (I've yet to discover if you can rescue multiple damsels and have them presented alongside you as further "conquests").

I'm very disappointed with the promotional material for this game as I think those who made the game should be. The sexploititive cover art and description make it seem like this is some sort of adult-oriented, highly sexual adventure, when really it's not. I don't think it's much more adult than your standard war game of the mid '80s and I think a child could appreciate the fairy tale element i.e the fictional, Walter Scott characters and Robin Hood, and with practice, perhaps understand and appreciate the gameplay system.

The Bottom Line
So the game is an interactive Robin Hood or Ivanhoe movie i.e semi-historical, romanticized violence. Personally I still like the game, though I think the Amiga version is inferior to the PC.

The Good
I... guess? the fact that they put a couple extra minigames (the morningstar fight and the castle defense with crossbow). Not the minigames themselves, but the fact that they thought to include them.

And the fact that it was published by Ultra Games, who also published the NES version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which is actually one of my favorite games on the console, so as far as I'm concerned, that's a positive for me...

And... that's about it.

The Bad
Everything else.

To begin with, the original Defender of the Crown, from 1986, was largely a "playable" tech demo for the Amiga computer's graphical capabilities -way, way beyond those of any other computer, console, or even arcade system of its day-, but not much else; the gameplay itself, what little of it there was, was extremely difficult to the point of being almost completely impossible -a common tactic to hide that a game is really very short and/or on around the same level of complexity as the original Pong; see also Dragon's Lair or Shadow of the Beast-. Unfortunately, this NES version is no different.

The controls, like in all the Amiga versions of all the Cinemaware games I've played, are slow, clumsy, and unresponsive. Trying to aim your lance in the joust or walk forward in the swordfights is like playing arm wrestling with the control pad. These are not controls fit for action minigames, which is a problem, because your success in this game depends on your success at the minigames.

Which ties into problem number two; the money balance and AI. You are supposed to conquer territories to collect gold and use that gold to hire an army. But the enemies start right next to the most valuable lands (between six and eight gold every month), allowing them to get bigger armies than yours, more quickly than you can. Once they do, they go into a frenzy and start crushing everyone who gets in their way. Your only hope of success is to get to the southern lands before they do -leaving your castle completely unprotected while you're at it, because in the first few fights you won't get anywhere with less than twenty guys- and hope they don't inconvenience you too much before you can raise enough money; hardly a sensible idea for a "strategy" game. Also doing well at the minigames so you won't have to worry about conquering lands or collecting taxes (just joust/steal the other guy), but that's its own hurdle, as detailed above.

Finally, the graphics and audio are, to say the least, atrocious. The NES was capable of excellent graphics and audio, but it was simply not up to the task of looking like even a Commodore 64 port of an Amiga game, which is the reason this version should have never been even attempted in the first place. And that's about as much as I can say about it.

The Bottom Line
Beam Software, the actual developers of this port, essentially made the same mistake Elite Systems made when they ported Dragon's Lair to the NES. Since they could never recreate the original graphics, they thought they could compensate by recreating the original gameplay, either not knowing, not realizing, or not caring that the original gameplay was barely there and what was there was unreachable. So what they have left us with is a game named after the original that possesses all the flaws of the original and none of its virtues. If you really like turn-based strategy games with action minigames and you must have one for NES, I recommend North and South instead.

The Good
As the story goes this Amiga classic stunned people not only for its gameplay but its amazing graphics, it is the game that introduced us to Cinemaware (I'm not sure why this is credited to Mindscape when Cinemaware has its name plastered all over the box). Most people experienced it on the IBM in the CGA version, a rare EGA conversion exists but I have not played it. While the conversion lacks the sounds and sites of the original Amiga, the game did not lose one bit of the fun factor. If anything its gameplay is better than the Amiga!

The basic story is the Saxon and Norman lords are trying to unite England under their rule. Battles take place over provinces which provide different amounts of gold per turn. Gold can be used to buy infantry, knights, catapults or castles. Each turn you can move your army around the map and invade enemy provinces. You can also raid castles for gold or hold jousting tournaments, which are arcade sequences in the main straregy game. You played the Saxon side as one of three lords, you could pick your character from 4 lords with different strengths and weaknesses but I always picked Geoffry Longsword. I havn't played the game in 10 years and I still remember that name!

Its hard for me to describe what made this game such a joy. It had simple gameplay, a great game atmosphere and just seemed to be out at the right time for me. I was learning medival European history in school when I was playing this game. It was just tons of fun to be raiding castles, rescuing fair ladies and visiting Robin Hood for help in your quest for the crown.

The Bad
Well the CGA graphics are orange based which is rather bland. They are pretty acceptable but I wish I could have played the EGA version. Also because the jousting is in tweaked CGA the graphics might crash when you play. In the day my EGA card could be set to CGA mode to avoid this.

Its not multiplayer! The game would have been amazing if you could battle another person.

Learning how to use the catapult was challenging as without good catapult skills you could never take a castle.

The Bottom Line
Really one hell of a fun game. One of the best to come out of the 80s, strategy players and fans of the historical era should play this at least once!

The Good
The play control was excellent, the sound was as good as the Commodore give, and the graphics were stellar. The strategy was one of the best I have ever encountered, and the gamer interface set the industry standard.

The Bad
This is a tough one. Most likely the only thing that I didn't like about the game was the fact that you couldn't actually play as Robin Hood, even though getting help from him was pretty cool it would have been nice to be able to choose him as a playable character.

The Bottom Line
Considering the platform, the time, and the limited capabilities of the Commodore 64, this game should go down as one of the greatest of all time.

The Good
This is indeed a favorite of mine. I remember playing the Amiga version on a neighbour's computer, then getting the PC game and (a month ago) getting the EGA version (which I frankly like a lot less). This game has simply amazing graphics, beautiful and memorable music and incredibly addictive levels of gameplay. With many subgames and versions for just about every platform in existance, how can one go wrong?

The Bad
Nothing! It's amazing!

The Bottom Line
One of the best games you'll ever play (if you like old games, that is).

The Good
The English romance i.e Jim Sachs' artwork. I think the game has meaning particularly to the British or those with British roots, seeing the familiarly shaped continent and familiar counties. It's a short game, you only have to conquer England (depending on the game, you have to defeat the Norman lords or both Saxon and Norman lords), but the randomness makes the game quite replayable.

The gameplay is an improvement over the Amiga, first release. In this version you're not forced to be a murdering or thieving bastard to end your turn and continue the game. You can end your turn with a "pass" or by buying army. Also, your fellow Saxons actually are your fellows. They'll let you camp your army on their land.....sometimes anyway. They may also conquer your lands and besiege your castles.

The Bad
There's nothing much in the game itself I don't like. It's the promotional material I have a real problem with. The box art and blurb make it seem like it's some sort of sexy, adults only adventure, when really, even the love scenes in the game itself are fairly tasteful.

The Bottom Line
It's like an interactive Robin Hood or Ivanhoe adventure. Semi-historical, romanticized violence. Personally I still enjoy it and I think the DOS version is better despite inferior graphics and sound.

The Good
Defender of the Crown has, for years, defined for me what a game should be: simple, challenging, beautiful, and most of all - memorable. I have first seen this game at the age of 5 or 6 on a neighbour's Amiga 1000; seeing as what I had 'till then was a Spectrum ZX80 and an IBM PC-clone (with CGA graphics), this was leaps and bounds beyond everything I've ever seen, and the experience has left its mark in me. Even today I can't help but gawk at the graphics, a piece of genuine art by James D. Sachs, and get bleary-eyed at the sound of the game theme, written by the brilliant musician .

Defender of the Crown brings a genre-defying mix of strategy and action; dubbed an "interactive movie," though this may now sound corny it was definitely a novel concept when the game came out; Cinemaware's impressive knack for pulling the impossible has coined a legendary remark from one of the spectators where the game was on display, who has said: "So where is the laserdisc?" The game really is that good.

Starting with an overview of the map of England, you must proceed to build your army and use it to take over as much territory as possible. Five computer opponents (two Saxons, three Normans) will not miss an opportunity to hinder your advancement; they will attack and take over your territories, steal your taxes (check out the screenshots), call you out to a jousting match to demonstrate their superiourity. You will definitely want to strike back! Aided by Robin of Locksley (who will aid you up to three times), you can launch raides to steal gold from other Lords, attack their territories and lay siege to their own castles. There is always the possibility that a distressed Saxon Lord will send you to raid an enemy castle to rescue his beautiful daughter (and you will be rewarded with one of the most memorable scenes in computer gaming history).

Defender of the Crown looks and plays much like a movie, and the atmosphere of this game is simply astounding, as is its technical marvel. It is a piece of gaming history that for me will always define gameplay for the rest of my life.

The Bad
An old game though Defender of the Crown is, it is easy to forgive its various shortcomings (most of which were addressed on the PC version, but are overstated in the other versions).

To begin with, the jousting scene is ruthlessly difficult. I can manage one out of maybe ten jousts on a lucky day; on the PC it's more like one of three (and on the PC, it's not only a matter of luck). The battle options are few and far between, and I sorely lack the warfaring characters of the PC's battle interface. The greek fire and disease options are missing from the Amiga version, which is unfortunate; also, there are two major problems in the battles: the larger army wins 99% of the time with ridiculously low casualties (even if the winner's is only 2 soldiers more than the loser's), and as for the other 1%, you can attack a 10 soldier garrison with 200 soldiers and lose. Last but not least, the swordplay scenes are generally ridiculously easy - just pick Geoffery Longsword, point your mouse to the right side of the screen and click away.

Defender of the Crown on the Amiga is also notorious for its loading times; I've never had a hard drive or an extra floppy drive for any Amiga I've used (none of mine [2x A1000 and 1x A500+] have any and neither does my neighbour's) and the constant disk switching and loading do get annoying after a little while. Also the game runs differently on the various machines; the music timing is vastly different between my A1000s (Kickstart 1.3), the A500+ with its default 2.04 ROM and the A500+ softkicked to 1.3. Still, seeing as I have the exact machine this game was meant to be run on (A1000 with 512k memory) I guess it's alright.

The Bottom Line
A game like no other, an amazing ride for those who have been in the right place at the right time. I only wish people nowadays would be able to have this almost religious experience, but unfortunately Cinemaware's "new and improved" Defender of the Crown just didn't deliver. I still play this game in its various incarnations over 15 years after it first came out, and I don't think I'll ever stop.

The Good
The atmosphere of the game is so firmly set that the PC version, even though it lacks the bright colors and sound of the Amiga version, is a joy to play and watch. Even in CGA, the subtle shadows in dimly-lit scenes are visible.

The strategy of the game is simple, which is both a good and a bad thing; for those who don't like to think too heavily playing strategy games, it's fun.

The Bad
Since the strategy is so simple, gameplay will occaisionally swing to the side of "hit or miss" -- that is, half of the games played will be long and evenly-matched, and other games will end violently in less than 15 turns.

Also, the PC CGA version's sound/music leave much to be desired (the Tandy version's sound/music is much better, but you need a Tandy to hear it).

The Bottom Line
If anything is representative of "the classic computer gaming renaissance," it's Defender of the Crown. The definitive Cinemaware game deserves to be played by everyone at least once.