[theme music]
[fizz, sip]
Aahhh!
[typing]
Well, we've got a nifty little C64 classic right here,
Master of Magic.
Created by Richard Darling of Darling Brothers fame,
and released by Mastertronic in 1985
under their M.A.D. Games label.
This is one of the earlier games in the
Mastertronic Added Dimension series.
which were supposed to be of a little bit higher quality than their other games,
which were normally £1.99.
This one went for £2.99.
This is the cassette version from the UK.
You'll see different cover art styles in different regions.
After loading, you're greeted with an awesome intro screen,
and of course, the exceptional and legendary theme song.
[Master of Magic theme song]
This is a huge reason why I wanted the game in the first place.
I had never even played it. I just knew that Ron Freakin' Hubbard
made the theme song to this game, and it is amazing!
Once the game loads, it gives you a quick overview of the controls,
the perspective that you'll have in the game,
as well as some more instructions,
or you can just press Fire to start the game.
Pressing Fire drops you right into the action,
or rather, inaction,
if you don't know what's going on.
Master of Magic is a role-playing adventure game
of sorts.
The plot consists of you exploring underground caverns
where you discover a dark, mysterious pool.
Which draws you closer into the edge.
A hand slides out and drags you under.
It's the hand of Thelric, Master of Magic.
Apparently, time and space has been blended into a powerful spell.
And you can't get the balls out of there until you get the lost Amulet of Immortality.
Really, the whole look of the game kind of reminds me of
Adventure for the 2600 on crack.
Or even a bit of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons on the Intellivision.
It's top down,
you have a range of vision,
which expands around you as you move along,
and you can pick up and use objects,
as well as put them in your inventory.
And of course, there's plenty of creature killing.
The game is completely controllable with the joystick,
so all you really need is the one button.
Depending on where you are,
or what's going on, it will do different things.
So if you're standing on top of a scroll,
it will give you the option to read the scroll.
Or if you're in front of an enemy,
you have the option to attack the enemy or use a spell.
Any enemies or objects will also show up along the bottom of the screen.
So that way you can kind of tell what's going on
and you don't have to just rely on the top-left corner map.
It really is a stripped-to-the-basics role-playing adventure.
It's very arcade-y.
In fact, you can get through the entire game in about 20 minutes,
if you really know what you're doing.
And that's where all the gameplay is
is finding everything out by trial and error.
It's really one of those games where you let your imagination take over.
Obviously, the graphics are pretty plain.
It's pretty much just representative artwork.
Although, the nearby creatures and objects at the bottom of the screen
really do help the atmosphere as well as the gameplay.
There is no time limit, to my knowledge.
The only real limitations that you have
are body and mind,
which translate into health and magic.
Or perhaps mana. Something like that.
Now while you can restore your health along the way,
there is no way to restore your magic, as far as I know.
And there's three different types:
there's drinking potions,
wearing rings,
and of course, casting spells.
It's the balancing of these three types, along with the enemies,
and when and where you're going to need to use this stuff,
that the entire meat of the game lies.
Now, sure, you could just kind of prance around everywhere,
just killing everything in sight,
looting everything in your path,
but it really helps to make a mental or physical map.
And then remember where the enemies are
and which ones you can and can't kill.
You're going to have to get certain items in order to kill certain creatures.
And of course, those certain creatures will eventually lead you to the amulet.
It's actually a lot simpler than it sounds, though.
Like I said, this game is very much like an arcade role-playing game.
Once you've figured out what to do and where to go,
you can breeze through it pretty easily.
There is no real replay value, either,
unless you're just wanting to beat your top time for some reason.
And honestly, one the biggest reasons I come back to it is just to hear the music again.
It's freakin' awesome, and it never gets old,
even though it loops forever through the game.
So, Master of Magic. It's super simple,
but there's actually a lot of depth,
at least the first time around that you play.
But it's biggest weakness:
no real replay value whatsoever.
I still highly recommend it, though,
if anything for the music
and for the fun that you'll have exploring for the first time.
[Master of Magic theme plays to the end]