Ultima: Runes of Virtue Game by FCI Origin/Pony Canyon Reviewed by pikamom pikamom@supernet.com pikamom1@gamesharker.com (shark mx, e-mail for gameboy) Save: battery Released: 1991 Works with: any gameboy **************************************************************************** Opening Snide Remarks: I was going to work on my webpage today, but can't get in to my filemanager at Yahoo! geocities. So I hopped on over to DMG ice and checked out the wish list to see if I had any games Philip doesn't have reviews for yet. So here it is. And old and rare RPG! When you first turn on the game, you see a path winding up to a Lord British Castle. The castle is all white, bathed in moonlight, against a pitch black sky. Great bolts of lightning flash all around. Then you see the games creators Gary Scott Smith and Dr. Cat. This is followed by one player and two player high scores, and names/icons of your friends and foes. **************************************************************************** Gameplay Descripion: (from the instruction manual): Welcome to Britannia. Through the mystic moongate you have been transported to the land of Britannia, where a world of magic and adventure awaits you. Ruling over the lands he united, Lord British guides his people as they seek to master the eight virtues of the Avatar. It is your quest to recover the runes, symbols of these great virtues, stolen by the Black Knight. (If you can get ahold of a copy of this game, try to secure the instruction manual as well. It's one of the nicest for gameboy I've ever seen. I think I ordered my manual from the Nintendo Power website for a minimal fee.) Liked: This is a classic role-playing epic. You'll spend alot of time searching for clues and interacting with characters. But you have to be careful because not everyone is your friend. Who can you trust when some of the people tell outright lies? The story is deep and involved, with tons of things to do. It's also non-linear! You have to manage your weapons, items and magic. Also in the beginning you have to decide certain things, like which character you will play as and the difficulty level of your game. Hated: The graphics and music are sub-par. But the story and gameplay is good enough that this can be overlooked. **************************************************************************** Graphics Description: Hmm...the first time I played Ultima, I was dismayed at the graphics. They are primitive and leave everything up to your imagination. It's so bad that the characters look like stick figures! The water is moving, but it's drawn in waves like in a kindergarteners crayonings. It's done from a top-down perspective. Everything is really tiny. But games that have a great story like this one are well-suited to graphics like this, since you can kind of escape and see it all in your head. (if you have imagination!) Liked: nothing. It has to be one of the worst games in this department. Hated: It's sad, because it does detract from the game at the start, until you realize you've got a rare gem. **************************************************************************** Sound/Music Description: The music is British in it's quality, with drums playing underneath. But it's not exceptional. I don't bother putting my headphones on. Liked: Uh...there's a couple of different strains. Hated: Between the graphics and music, this game is sadly lacking. **************************************************************************** Play Control/Game Design: Now we get to the meat of the game. This is pure RPG. On your inventory screen you will see the following things: Items, armor, your picture, how many runes you've collected, what you have in your hands (set to A and B buttons), gold, strength, intelligence, dexterity, score and magic. On the right half of the gamescreen you can see at all times how much strength (up to 5 hearts) and magic (up to 5 stars) you have, your gold, and what you are carrying in each hand. Intelligent characters can use magic more often, and you can increase this, along with your strength, and speed, by finding runes. There is a special item called an ankh. This will teleport you back to the castle, but you will lose all your keys, hammers, and boots. You will encounter the following things on your travels: swamp, lava, spider webs, mushrooms, floor plates, levers, secret doors, teleport arrows and discs. Will you play as Mariah the Mage, lolo the Bard, Dupre the Fighter, or Shamino the Ranger? Each one has his/her own strength and weakness. What will you buy with your gold? There is alot of depth to this game, much more than can be described in a short review. It's a nice change from the onslought of monster training games we've had recently. I would have given this game a very high score, but I know the graphics and music will hurt it. Liked: The puzzles are challenging and you have a large world in which to search for all the runes. Friends and foes are very interesting indeed. You'll meet Lord British, Sherry the Mouse, Chuckles the Jester, Dr. Cat, Zoltan and his dog Kador, among many others. There's a two-headed horse, one head tells the truth while the other head lies! One of the more interesting weapons is a bag of tacks. You can hurt your emenies by dropping tacks for them to step on! Oh, and check out these magic items...go through solid walls with your magic boots, or put on a troll ring so monsters won't recognize you! Hated: I didn't hate anything about the amount of stuff you can do in this game. It's just too bad about the graphics and music. **************************************************************************** Improve: They made a sequel, but it was just more of the same. This could be remade for gameboy color, give it a total graphic and music overhaul, and it would be an instant hit. Because this is gooOOood RPG stuff! RIYL: Final Fantasy Legends. **************************************************************************** Final Words: Don't let the low score scare you away from this game. If you love RPG's, you owe it to yourself to check this one out. **************************************************************************** Score Gameplay: ***** Graphics: * Sound/Music: ** Play Control/Game Design: ***** Personal Opinion: ***** Total: 18 stars X 4 Final Score: 72 % **************************************************************************** Currently Known Codes: Hold down the button you assigned your weapon to attack repeatedly. Try to get monsters to shoot each other. Destroy a monster instantly by using an arrow to teleport on top of it!