Knight Lore


by Chris Stamper, Tim Stamper
Ultimate Play The Game
1984
Your Spectrum Issue 12, Mar 1985   page(s) 33

Roger: Beginning life as some sort of gothic Noddy, the quest through Melkhior's castle is frequently interrupted by one's temporary transformation into a werewulf. which is what, ultimately... (groan)... this superior escapade is all about. In a mere on-screen 40 days and 40 nights, your canine metamorphosis will become tragically permanent and the game will be up in all possible senses. Better get moving, eh?

Splendid isometrically-projected 3D cartoon participants and hazardous, but cleverly defined, rooms demonstrate how this program leaves most of the rest in a technical Dark Age. Despite my getting somewhat chunderesque about these programming chaps who even blow their noses in machine code remaining unimaginatively fascinated by Sword'n'Sorccry plots, this remains one slice of mysticism that isn't stale.

I'll personally front up with a bottle of fizzy 'falling-over' pop for the first infinite lives POKE - so that I can actually survive for more than my current appalling 8% of the total cataclysmic content. 5/5 HIT

Dave: Ultimate shows no sign of stagnating and producing duff games - in fact, the games get better and better. Knightlore is original, playable and has superb graphics. Show it to your Atari/Commodore-owning friends and turn 'em green! 5/5 HIT

Ross: What can you say about Ultimate when it comes up with software as good as this! The graphics are second to none and the other characters in the game seem to have a life of their own. 4/5 HIT


Dave: 5/5
Ross: 4/5
Roger: 5/5

Transcript by Chris Bourne

Your Computer Issue 1, Jan 1985   page(s) 55

Spectrum
Ultimate Play the Game
Arcade Adventure
£9.95

Quite simply the most enjoyable game I have played since International Soccer on the Commodore 64.

Imagine Atic Atac in three dimensions and you will have some idea of what Ultimate's latest blockbuster looks like - but what makes Knight's Lore so different is the feel of the game. You have 40 days to complete your quest.

Under attack from manic ghosts, plodding guards and killer balls you have to pick up treasures, get over apparently insuperable barriers - usually by dropping treasures as stepping stones or moving around handily placed tables make the best use of mysteriously moving blocks and map out the maze. People have been talking about arcade adventures for years but this is the first that requires good arcade skills and presents a series of problems to be solved within a satisfying whole.

On screen your explorer - or werewolf as he turns into by night - seems to have a life of his own. At first it can be very frustrating as the computer starts you off in different parts of the maze none of which seem to link to the others. But once you make the connections and realise it is all set out on a 16 x 16 grid it begins to look solvable.

Yet again the feeble excuses software houses have been making for the weak games produced have been shown up by Ultimate.


Overall: 5/5

Transcript by Chris Bourne

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