Game Info
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Developer: Master Designer Software
Publisher: Cinemaware
Year of Release: 1986
Coding: R. J. Mical
Graphics: Jim D. Sachs, Steve Quinn, Richard LaBarre, Sol Masid, John Cutter, Rob Landeros, Doug Smith, Bob Swige
Music: Jim Cuomo, Bill Williams
Game Review & Impressions
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Released in 1986, Defender of the Crown is one of the games responsible for kickstarting the real surge in popularity of Commodore's computer line. With exquisite pixel artwork created by Jim Sachs, this was the killer app the Amiga needed to drive sales.
Unlike Cinemaware's later titles, DOTC is principally a strategy game, blended with cinematic themes, plus a sprinkling of inspiration from the world of tabletop gaming. Set in a medieval England, the objective is to claim sufficient land and riches to amass an army capable of defeating lords and nobles competing to be the next king. Along the way, you'll encounter and receive aid from Robin of Loxley (Robin Hood), rescue damsals in distress, and lay siege to castles in one of the most visually striking games to ever be released on the machine.
Starting in year 1149, the player can choose to perform certain actions during each game term. These include purchasing troops with available gold, raiding opponents castles for coin, capturing territory, or holding a tournament. The latter is of particular importance, for the competition allows those skilled in the art of jousting to win significant parcels of land from their opponents, turning the tides of the power struggle.
In all honesty, the strategy aspects of the game are pretty basic, and the combat is really just a numbers game. Victory is really about being able to steamroller your opponent with more troops, rather than any semblance of actual tactics, and the mini games for jousting and raids are also pretty easy to win once you get the hang of them. Later revisions would reintroduce features cut from the original Amiga release, but as it stands, the game is fairly limited in scope.
However, what makes Defender of the Crown quite so remarkable is the presentation and polish. The graphics were -- still are -- truly remarkable; Jim Sachs and the team created graphics with a level of detail that simply hadn't been seen before, perhaps unknowlingly creating something of a watershed moment for the gaming industry as a whole.
On the subject of artwork, this is one such game where 4:3 aspect correction is required. Jim Sachs puroposely created much of his artwork to take account of the vertical stretch applued by monitors and display devices of the time, so that the graphics would be "pulled" into the correct shape by the distortion (this is most noticeable in the character portraits). Although some elements don't benefit from the correction, I've applied 4:3 conversion to the video output to try and present Sach's original artisitc vision.
Information & Trivia
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Video Notes
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- Uses 4:3 aspect ratio
Related Longplays & Videos
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Chapters
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0:00:00 Intro
0:01:50 Starting out
0:10:00 Raiding a castle for gold
0:17:25 Rescuing a fair maiden
0:19:40 Jousting our way to victory & building an army
1:05:20 Sieging a castle
1:19:27 Ending
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