''Archon Ultra'' is an action-strategy video game developed by

Free Fall Associates Free Fall Associates was a video game developer of the 1980s and early 1990s founded in 1981 in Palo Alto, California by game designer Jon Freeman, game programmer Anne Westfall, and game designer Paul Reiche III. Westfall and Freeman are marri ...

and published by

Strategic Simulations Strategic Simulations, Inc. (SSI) was a video game developer and publisher of over 100 games from its founding in 1979 to its dissolution in 1994 (though the brand was in use until around 2002). The company focused on computer wargames then lat ...

in 1994 for

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...

. It is a

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...

of the 1983 game '' Archon: The Light and the Dark'' which was one of the first releases from

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...

Gameplay

of '' Archon: The Light and the Dark'', ''Archon Ultra'' adds updated graphics and sound. New gameplay features include secondary weapons that give all units two unique abilities, and the battle sequences are shown from a diagonal overhead point of view to simulate a third dimension in the battles. The game also has a

multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...

mode via

modem The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...

Reception

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

'' approved of how ''Ultra''s new features made the game "worthwhile to players of the original" without "destroy ngthe balance of the original", and noted the computer opponent's skill in the middlegame and endgame. The magazine concluded that the developers "brought the graphics and sound of ''Archon'' up to current standards, and have made minor changes to game play without sacrificing the elements that made the original a classic." ''

PC Gamer (US) ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games mag ...

'' reviewed the game with a 76% Final Verdict, saying that the combination of strategy and arcade sequences give ''Archon Ultra'' great replay value. ''Archon Ultra'' was reviewed in 1994 in ''

Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

'', receiving only 1 out of 5 stars. James V. Trunzo reviewed ''Archon Ultra'' in '' White Wolf'' #45 (July, 1994), giving it a final evaluation of "Excellent" and stated that "If you love the strategy and tactics of chess and the excitement of using dragons, trolls, basilisk and banshees, you must rush out and buy ''Archon Ultra''. It's an addictive product that challenges on many levels." TJ Talasmaa was disappointed in a 79% review in ''

Pelit ''Pelit'' ("Games") is a Finnish video games magazine published in Helsinki, Finland. History ''Pelit'' dates back to 1987, as an annual extra games-only issue of ''MikroBitti'' and '' C-lehti''. Another annual issue was published in 1988, and i ...

'' (Issue 1/1994), writing that Free Fall Associates had forgotten "If it's not broken, don't fix it". Compared to the battle mode of the first game, Talasmaa wrote, the pieces moved sluggishly; the new battlefield made some pieces disproportionately powerful, with the introduction of damaging terrain letting "fliers calmly wait over a lava puddle, until a footman dies of boredom or runs into a stray shot;" the third dimension made landing hits inordinately difficult, taking away the tight "shoot-dodge-shoot" combat of the original; and the battlefield, which now zooms in and out similar to ''

Star Control II ''Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters'' is a 1992 adventure shoot 'em up video game developed by Toys for Bob ( Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III) and originally published by Accolade in 1992 for MS-DOS. The game is a direct sequel to ''Star Contr ...

'', would've direly needed borders.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Archon: The Light And The Dark 1994 video games Action games Action-strategy video games Digital tabletop games DOS games DOS-only games Free Fall Associates games Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer null modem games Strategic Simulations games Strategy video games Turn-based strategy video games Video game remakes Video games developed in the United States Video games with isometric graphics