• Tag Archives DOS

  • Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1 (DOS)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1 is a computer fantasy role playing game based on the first volume of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring. This game was originally released by Interplay in 1990 though there was a later CD edition released as well. It was available on DOS based PCs, the Amiga, FM Towns, and PC-98 (the latter two being platforms available in Japan).

    I have mixed feelings about RPGs based on books. If I’ve never read the book, then I guess it doesn’t really matter. However, in the case of Lord of the Rings, I had read the books before the game existed. This affects your game experience because not only are you already familiar with the world, but with the specific story. However, the good news is that the game does add other significant side quests that aren’t in the books so you won’t be familiar with everything even if you have read the books.

    This game is played from a top down perspective and combat is turn based. This is very open ended game and you can roam wherever you want and complete various quests. Of course the main quest has to also be followed at some point in order to complete the game. This is my personal favorite style of RPG. It is reminiscent of the Gold Box AD&D games as well as other popular computer RPGs of the time.

    This game generally got positive reviews at the time it was released. The open ended nature and additional quests means that there is a little something for everyone here. The main storyline is largely intact from the book if that’s what you are looking for but there are also different quests and various ways to get there. Whether you’ve read the books or not, this should be an enjoyable game if you like RPGs of this style.

    The special edition CD-ROM version that came a long a couple of years later enhances the game somewhat. The most important thing it adds is an automapping feature. While I really like a lot of old school RPGs, I always found the ones that make you do your own mapping a bit more tedious than I would like so this is a welcome enhancement. It also adds a soundtrack and cutscenes from the 1978 Lord of the Rings cartoon. I don’t care much about the cutscenes but the soundtrack is nice.

    If you do want to give this game a try, you’ll have to find an original copy or one of the re-releases that came along a few years later. There was the above mentioned special edition that was also packaged with The Two Towers as well as a Interplay 10 year anniversary collection that included this game. Both of these were released in 1993 and I don’t think there have been any subsequent releases.

    Screen shots above are from the DOS version of the game. The ad at the top features the box art which was done by the Brothers Hildebrandt.


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  • Computer And Video Games (September 1995)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Computer And Video Games – Issue Number 166 – September 1995

    Computer and Video Games was published in the U.K. and was perhaps the longest running video game magazine. By 1995 it had already been around well over a decade and was only about two-thirds of the way through its publishing life. The September 1995 issue includes:

    Regulars

    • Editorial – Saturn vs. PlayStation, the rising price of games, and more.
    • Connected – Nintendo releases Yoshi’s Island for the Super NES, Sony prepares for PlayStation launch in the U.K., Electronic Arts and Origin developing interactive movie called The Darkening, Mindscape starts work on the first sports sim project for the Ultra 64, Virtuality’s Zone Hunter to be ported to Atari’s Jaguar, Atari releases JagLink which allows you to link up two Jaguars for head to head gaming, and more!
    • In the Bag – Letters from readers about multiplayer games, value of the Sega Saturn, Japanese games, and more.
    • Help – Questions answered about the Atari Jaguar, Discworld, Doom versions, the Neptune, and more.
    • Cheatmode – Various cheats for Mortal Kombat 3, Ace Combat, Toh Shin Den, Rise of the Triad, Mario’s Picross, Hoverstrike, Clockwork Knight, Daytona USA, Panzer Dragoon, Virtua Fighter, and more.
    • Challenge – Competitions featuring Need for Speed and International Superstar Soccer.
    • Charts – The top games in various categories. Taking the top spot overall this month is Star Trek TNG: A Final Unity for PC CD-ROM.
    • Next Month – Next month’s issue will include coverage of Destruction Derby, the PlayStation launch (in the U.K.), Killer Instinct, Comix Zone, and more.

    Reviews

    • Ace Combat (PlayStation) – A Persian Gulf themed combat flight sim for the PlayStation.
    • Shin Shinobi Den (Saturn) – A Japanese import that would eventually be released as Shinobi Legions in North America and Shinobi X in Europe.
    • Ultimate Doom (PC CD-ROM) – The original Doom with some extra levels and better networking support. Would have been a better deal if Doom II were included as well.
    • Zhadnost (3DO) – A weird looking game show / puzzle game.
    • Action Soccer (PC CD-ROM) – A decent soccer game for the 3DO.
    • Terminal Velocity (PC) – An early 3D shoot-em-up. It gets a good review here but I barely remember it.
    • Wipeout (PlayStation) – A futuristic racing game for the PlayStation. I wanted to like this more than F-Zero but honestly I thought F-Zero was more fun.
    • Primal Rage (Mega Drive/SNES) – A beat-em-up featuring dinosaurs.
    • Donkey Kong Land (Game Boy) – A platform game from Rare featuring the well known villain.
    • Gloom (Amiga) – A Doom clone for the Amiga. Too little too late really.
    • A surprise – A preview of Batman Forever for the Super NES and Mega Drive…not sure why it is a “surprise”.

    Previews

    • Fade to Black (PC CD-ROM) – A sequel to Flashback.
    • Syndicate Wars (PlayStation) – A cyberpunk themed action RPG.
    • Theme Park (Saturn) – The classic theme park simulator for Sega’s latest console.
    • Magic Carpet 2 (PC CD-ROM) – Fly on a magic carpet while combatting enemies.
    • Actua Golf (PlayStation) – A golf game for the PS1.
    • Loaded (PlayStation) – An over the top 3D shoot-em-up for the PlayStation.
    • Jaguar Round-up – A look at upcoming Atari Jaguar games including Defender 2000, Breakout 2000, Battlemorph, Black Ice/White Noise, and Varuna’s Forces.
    • Daedalus Encounter (3DO) – An FMV sci-fi adventure game starring Tia Carrere.
    • Rayman (PlayStation) – What would be one of the best 2D platform games for the PlayStation.
    • Need For Speed (PC CD-ROM) – Classic racing game that first showed up on the 3DO.
    • Captain Quazar (3DO) – A humorous action game somewhat like Earthworm Jim.
    • Phantom (Mega Drive) – A platform game for the Mega Drive / Genesis based on a cartoon of the same name.
    • Doom (SNES) – Most ports of Doom were so much worse than the original PC version. This one is no exception.

    …and more!


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  • PC World (October 1986)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: PC World – October 1986

    PC World was perhaps the most popular PC specific magazine from the 1980s through at least the early 2000s. 1980s issues especially had huge page counts with this one coming in at over 450 pages. The October 1986 issue includes:

    Getting Started

    • Up From the Drafting Board – CAD on the PC. Choosing the right software and hardware. Available CAD software at the time included AutoCAD, VersaCAD, ProDesign II, Personal Designer, EasyCAD, ProDesign II, RoboCAD-PC, and others.

    Community

    • World Class PC – Readers pick their favorite hardware and software in over 39 categories. Some winners include: IBM PC AT (best desktop computer), Compaq Portable 286 Model 2 (best transportable computer), Data GeneralOne (best lap-size computer), Hayes Smartmodem 1200 (best modem), SixPakPlus (best memory expansion board), 20MB ST 225 (best hard drive), WordPerfect (best word processor), 1-2-3 (best spreadsheet), Norton Utilities (best utility), Crosstalk XVI (best communications software), Turbo Pascal (best programming language), Microsoft Flight Simulator (best game), and many others.
    • PCs Into Plowshares – Using personal computers to improve farm efficiency.
    • Timothy Leary’s Looking Glass – A look at Mind Mirror, a “mental adventure” game designed by Timothy Leary and published by Electronic Arts.

    Review

    • Andrew Tobias: Right on the Money – A look at the latest version of Managing Your Money, a series of related programs for managing your finances.
    • A Plan for DBASE III – A look at the latest version of dBASE III Plus. The menu driven assistant, greater programming power, and new networking features are a few of the major improvements.
    • Mapping Strategies – A look at mapping software for the PC including Atlas AMP, Map-Master, and Randmap.
    • CD-ROM: The Little Leviathan – CD-ROM didn’t really take off until the early to mid 1990s. However, it had been around a while by that point. This article looks at some of the first CD-ROM releases for the Philips CM 100 CD ROM player. Titles include databases such as Electronic Encyclopedia, Compact Disclosure, Medline, Life Sciences, and ASFA. Costs were extremely high though with prices for these titles ranging from $1500 to $4500.

    State of the Art

    • The PC Prescription – New PC medical programs help doctors administer medicine with greater accuracy.
    • TARGA’s Vision Vision – A look at AT&T’s TARGA 16 image capture and display board which allows the capture of still images from video.

    Hands On

    • Outlining With Style – A look at Microsoft Word 3.0’s outlining capabilities using style sheets.
    • BASICally Better Menus – Creating custom menus with BASIC and batch commands.

    Departments

    • David Bunnell – PC vs. Macintosh.
    • Letters – Letters from readers about desktop publishing on the PC, Volkswriter 3, computer dealers, and more.
    • REMark – The difference between tools and solutions.
    • PC World View – Mitch Kapor leaves Lotus, government PC purchases, Z-Glove input device, and more.
    • From the Hardware Shelf – A look at the PC+ from Thompson, Harriman & Edwards, the Kimtron KT-7/PC, and more.
    • From the Software Shelf – A look at the Traveling SideKick organizer, SmartNotes, The Printing Press, and more.
    • Password: Communicate – A look at the services offered by CMQ, a Canadian online investment service.
    • The Help Screen – Questions answered about BASIC on XT clones, using DOS commands from BASIC, using BASIC BSAVE for saving image arrays to disk, and more.
    • Kevin Strehlo – The exaggerated problem of spreadsheet disasters.

    …and more!


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