What's on?

I'm not updating the blog that much only because I'm working on a couple of researches I will publish in next days. Sometimes I need more time just because contacting people to gather more informations is a process that requires a lot of patience.  

However just to give you a clue, here you go. 

Archeoshot #010: Rogue (Mastertronic, Commodore 64, 1988)

Rogue for Commodore 64 is probably one of the most disappointing CRPG titles you can get for this platform. The game has been released only in the 1988 (8 years after the original PC version) by Mastertronic as budget game and believe me, is cheap in all its parts. 

The cover artwork is completely off the spirit of the game. A badly designed barbarian stands with his blood covered two handed sword while behind him a girl in bikini and manacles seems desperate for help. The Rogue logo is rough and inappropriate and everything looks like a cheap vintage Comic book from the sixties. The cave entrance depicted on the right side behind the barbarian is probably the only element in the artwork which might give an idea of what Rogue is. All the rest is just an appalling and stereotypical graphical interpretation. If you didn't know the game you would probably expect an arcade fantasy game like Barbarian I or II where Sword and Sorcery and Conanesque elements were much more appropriate and appreciated.

The screenshots on the back are only referred to the PC version and even It was common use for almost all the software houses to specify the origin of the screenshots on inlays, this is not our case. Also because the screenshots are so tiny and the game is only character and symbol based, you can barely understand how the user interface looks like.

If you think that dungeon crawling games for C64 like Sword of Fargoal in 2011 are still appealing, it's difficult to understand why no other software house took the opportunity to make a decent conversion of Rogue with a proper boxed set, instructions and an inspiring artwork. Probably back in 1988 nobody believed that a game like Rogue wasn't interesting for the C64 market and for this reason it only deserved a poor and sloppy punishment like this. Despite my rant, the game itself is not bad at all and even if the gameplay is a bit too mechanical and sluggish, is still playable and enjoyable for few hours of play. 

Archeoshot #009: Adventureland (Adventure International, Commodore 64, 1984)

This is a personal fail. I assumed the game was complete with the all its parts when I bought it. I usually check everything before; this time I didn't and the Gods punished me. Lesson learnt.  

Here's the complete one from retrogames.co.uk

Infocom, Advertising: The real trick is getting out (Undated).

In this advertising Infocom managed to represent - what we could call - an hyperbook: a book with deeper narrative and interactive dimensions. In fact, back in the day, the claim "More than a Book" was an usual Unique Selling Point for Game Books, Computer Adventures and CRPGs. Statements like the Infocom's one, definitely started to build the idea, even from an academic point of view, that computer adventure games - and not only - were effectively complex texts and not only adults toys.

Archeoshot #008: Velnor's Lair (Commodore 64, 1985)

Published by Atlantis Software for Commodore 64 in the 1985, Velnor's Lair is a conversion from Spectrum of a decently quoted text adventure. The original game was published in the 1983 by Quicksilva for ZX Spectrum with a quite different artwork (displayed below) but for some unknown reasons Atlantis Software - just two years after - decided to change the original artwork for something different.

Velnor's Lair, Spectrum ZX, Original Artwork, 1983

The game itself is basically a text adventure with some RPG elements. More deeply, according to the inlay, the game claims to have been based on Dungeons & Dragons; surprisingly, TSR didn't sue Atlantis for the mention of the well known and hyper-protected D&D brand. I couldn't find any copyright specification on the inlay and so I have to  guess that they intentionally tried to push the game using the name of one of the most popular RPGs around at that time. "If it is D&D, it will sell!", they probably said.

"In this Dungeons & Dragons style adventure, you maybe be a warrior, Wizard or Priest. [...]"

Source: Velnor's Lair, Inlay, Tape version, Atlantis 1985

Aesthetically, I found the artwork quite simple but interesting, especially for the old school fantasy illustration where an hypertrophic fighter is trying to slay the evil wizard while he is in a sort of transmuted ethereal form. Differently, the choice of the seventies-style font, the gold finish(1) and the purple colour are a bit unusual for a fantasy game but in some ways they make this version quite unique in its genre. The only disappointing visual element is represented by the use of an uninspiring sans serif font for the instructions. 

The game itself is based on a typical high fantasy plot, synthetically described here on Crash Magazine:

The Black Wizard Velnor has gone into hiding in the goblin labyrinth beneath Mount Elk. After centuries of searching he has finally discovered the ancient tomb of Grako and is about to realise his ambition, to become a true demon on earth. There is only one hope for mankind, and that’s you, of course. You must penetrate Velnor’s defences, avoiding the traps and surprises before his metamorphosis is complete — but Velnor is a master of illusion.

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(1) The use of the metallic gold has been probably used throughout all the Atlantis Gold series.