(Insert stupid Blog name here) - Homebreviews - part 18

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Dark Mage

4/5

 

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Dark Mage is a text adventure, in the classic style of Zork. I spent many hours in the early 80's at my friend's house, with the two of us logged into the University of Washington's VAX, playing Zork through a modem hooked up to his TRS-80. I don't recall how long we played it, but it seemed to go on for months. I remember mapping out the world as we explored it, trying to find our way through the game, little knowing that this particular version of Zork wasn't actually solvable. It wasn't until we got the retail version from Infocom, that we actually found doorways that worked in two directions, rooms that stayed connected to each other, and a way through this wonderful world.

 

Dark Mage really took me by surprise. It does a pretty amazing job of fitting a text adventure into a 2600 cartridge, and it instantly transported me back in time. I spent a really enjoyable evening, sitting in front of my 2600 with a pencil and a piece of paper, mapping out the world, and trying to work my way through it.

 

While not a large world, Dark Mage still does exactly what a good text adventure should do: it pulls you into it. You imagine seeing rolling hills, strange creatures, barren wastelands, and castles on the horizon. And, in the grand tradition of text adventures, I had to go online to dig up a couple of clues (my hint: some objects have more than one use).

 

I thoroughly enjoyed playing Dark Mage. Although it's only text with no sound effects at all, none were needed. I put some early 80's music on the stereo, and was transported back in time 25 years. There's also no manual included with it (figuring out the joystick controls doesn't really require one), although it would have been cool to include someplace to write down notes (like the original Myst had).

 

People who never played text adventures may not get the appeal of Dark Mage, but hopefully they'll give it a chance. For the rest of us, it's a well-done homage to that genre, and for the price, well-worth the nostalgia trip. I really wanted to keep playing it, discovering the next clue, unlocking the next piece of the puzzle - but in an evening's time, I had solved it, and it's short enough that by the time I was through it, I knew it by heart. That would be my only complaint - is that I wanted more. Hopefully someone will take advantage of larger cartridge capacities and utilize the AtariVox's save feature, and create another, larger text adventure.

 

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Up next... move over, Merlin's Walls!

 

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?a...;showentry=4036