Nightshade (1985 Video Game)
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''Nightshade'' is an
action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...
video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
developed and published by
Ultimate Play the Game Ashby Computers and Graphics Limited, trading as Ultimate Play the Game, was a British video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher, founded in 1982, by ex-arcade video game developers Tim and Chris Stamper. Ultimate released a seri ...
. It was first released for the
ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...
in 1985, and was then
ported In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desig ...
to the
Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for "Colour Personal Computer") is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spec ...
and
BBC Micro The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a family of microcomputers developed and manufactured by Acorn Computers in the early 1980s as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project. Launched in December 1981, it was showcased across severa ...
later that year. It was also ported to the
MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, the director at ASCII Corpo ...
exclusively in Japan in 1986. In the game, the player assumes the role of a knight who sets out to destroy four demons in a plague-infested village. The game features scrolling
isometric The term ''isometric'' comes from the Greek for "having equal measurement". isometric may mean: * Cubic crystal system, also called isometric crystal system * Isometre, a rhythmic technique in music. * "Isometric (Intro)", a song by Madeon from ...
gameplay, an improvement over its
flip-screen Since the origin of video games in the early 1970s, the video game industry, the players, and surrounding culture have spawned a wide range of technical and slang terms. 0–9 A ...
-driven predecessors, ''
Knight Lore ''Knight Lore'' is a 1984 action-adventure game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game, and written by company founders Chris and Tim Stamper. The game is known for its use of isometric graphics, which it further popularized in vid ...
'' and ''
Alien 8 ''Alien 8'' is an action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game. It was released for the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC and MSX in 1985. The game is a spiritual successor to the best- ...
'', all thanks to an enhanced version of the Ultimate Play the Game's
Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company founded by Lou Scheimer, Hal Sutherland and Norm Prescott in 1962, before closing by Group W Productions on February 3, 1989. Located in Reseda, California, Filmation produced animated ...
game engine, branded Filmation II. The game received positive reviews upon release; critics praised its gameplay traits, graphics and colours, but one critic was divided over its perceived similarities to its predecessors.


Gameplay

The game is presented in an
isometric The term ''isometric'' comes from the Greek for "having equal measurement". isometric may mean: * Cubic crystal system, also called isometric crystal system * Isometre, a rhythmic technique in music. * "Isometric (Intro)", a song by Madeon from ...
format. The player assumes the role of a
knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...
who enters the plague-infested village of Nightshade to vanquish four
demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...
s who reside within. Additionally, all residents from the village have been transformed into
vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...
and other supernatural creatures. Contact with these monsters infects the knight, with repeated contact turning the character from white to yellow and then to green, which will lead to the character's death. The knight may be hit up to three times by an enemy, but the fourth hit will result in a
life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...
being deducted. The objective of the game is to locate and destroy four specific demons. Each demon is vulnerable to a particular object which must be collected by the player: a
hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nail (fastener), nails into wood, to sh ...
, a
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
, a
crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...
and an
hourglass An hourglass (or sandglass, sand timer, or sand clock) is a device used to measure the passage of time. It comprises two glass bulbs connected vertically by a narrow neck that allows a regulated flow of a substance (historically sand) from the ...
. Once the four items have been collected, the player must track down a specific demon and cast the correct item at it in order to destroy it. Once all four demons have been destroyed, the game will end. In order to defend against other enemies such as vampires and monsters, the player can arm themselves with "antibodies", which can then be thrown at enemies. Antibodies can be found in houses around the village, and will slowly deplete once used by the player. Other collectible items include extra lives and boots, the latter of which enables the player character to run at a faster speed.


Background and release

Ultimate Play the Game was founded by brothers
Tim and Chris Stamper Brothers Tim and Chris Stamper are British entrepreneurs who founded the video game companies Ultimate Play the Game and Rare (company), Rare. They first worked together on arcade conversion kits, which were licensed to companies, but later b ...
, along with Tim's wife, Carol, from their headquarters in
Ashby-de-la-Zouch Ashby-de-la-Zouch (), also spelled Ashby de la Zouch, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire borders. Its population at the 2021 census was ...
in 1982. They began producing multiple video games for the
ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...
throughout the early 1980s. The company were known for their reluctance to reveal details about their operations and upcoming projects. Little was known about their development process except that they used to work in separate teams; one team would work on graphics whilst the other would concentrate on other aspects such as sound or programming. When a journalist reviewing ''Nightshade'' for '' Crash'' asked Tim and Chris Stamper what the object of the game was they responded: "Oh, we can't tell you that". The game was developed with the
isometric projection Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in technical and engineering drawings. It is an axonometric projection in which the three coordinate axes appear equally foreshortened and ...
game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games which generally includes relevant libraries and support programs such as a level editor. The "engine" terminology is akin to the term " software engine" u ...
known as Filmation II, an upgraded version of the Filmation engine. The Filmation engine was created by the Stamper brothers to portray 3D imagery. Filmation II used an image masking technique that drew and filled holes in the background, allowing the game to create composite structures out of pixelated drawings without visual overlay, despite the limitations platforms such as the ZX Spectrum offered. ''Nightshade'' was first released in the United Kingdom for the
ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. One of the most influential computers ever made and one of the all-time bestselling British computers, over five million units were sold. ...
in 1985, and was then
ported In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desig ...
to the
Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for "Colour Personal Computer") is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spec ...
and
BBC Micro The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a family of microcomputers developed and manufactured by Acorn Computers in the early 1980s as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project. Launched in December 1981, it was showcased across severa ...
later that year. It was also ported to the
MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, the director at ASCII Corpo ...
exclusively in Japan in 1986.


Reception

The game received positive reviews upon release. Chris Bourne of ''
Sinclair User The ''Sinclair User'' was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum (while also occasionally covering arcade games). Initially published by ECC Publications, and later EMAP, it was pub ...
'' praised the game's new graphics system, opining that it was "wonderfully" detailed and "juiced up" in contrast to its predecessors, ''
Knight Lore ''Knight Lore'' is a 1984 action-adventure game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game, and written by company founders Chris and Tim Stamper. The game is known for its use of isometric graphics, which it further popularized in vid ...
'' and ''
Alien 8 ''Alien 8'' is an action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed and published by Ultimate Play the Game. It was released for the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Amstrad CPC and MSX in 1985. The game is a spiritual successor to the best- ...
''. A reviewer writing for ''
Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') is a British-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot web ...
'' praised the graphics as "great" and stated that its sound effects were "up to standard" considering the "dumb" ZX Spectrum. Philippa Irving of '' Crash'' thought that the visuals and use of colours were "stunning" and up to Ultimate Play the Game's "usual standards", but she did notice a few instances of
attribute clash Attribute clash (also known as colour clash or bleeding) is a display Visual artifact, artifact caused by limits in the graphics circuitry of some colour 8-bit home computers, most notably the ZX Spectrum, where it meant that only two colours ...
. A reviewer writing for ''
Computer Gamer Argus Press was a British publishing company. It was acquired by British Electric Traction (BET) in 1966, and became the publishing arm of that company. It was the subject of one of the most hotly contested management buyouts of the 1980s when ...
'' asserted that the graphics were "as good as ever", but they admitted that the game seemed "lacking" in comparison to Ultimate Play the Game's most recent releases. Chris Jenkins of ''
Popular Computing Weekly ''Popular Computing Weekly'' was a computer magazine in the UK published from 1982 to 1990. It was sometimes referred to as ''PCW'' (although that abbreviation is more commonly associated with ''Personal Computer World'' magazine). Overv ...
'' opined that the game's interior visuals looked like "featureless squares", but admitted that the game's background drops were more detailed. The gameplay was also praised by reviewers. Bourne opined that the game was well-paced in similar vein to arcade-style games, but noted "a sense of déjà vu" with the game's concept, stating that the developer's games were starting to "wear thin". The reviewer from ''Computer and Video Games'' appreciated ''Nightshade''s "nice touches", summarising that it was an instant classic from Ultimate Play the Game. Irving criticised the lack of instructions or hints that came with the game, and stated that ''Nightshade'' did not set new standards with programming, unlike ''Knight Lore'' and ''Alien 8'', but admitted that the game was still another "technically brilliant" game. The reviewer from ''Computer Gamer'' enjoyed the wide range of gameplay elements, stating that it was enough to hold their attention for hours. A reviewer from ''Home Computing Weekly'' stated that the gameplay was not as addictive as ''Knight Lore'' or ''Alien 8'' due to the game's lack of obstacles. Jenkins praised the game's use of its new engine, Filmation II, stating that it was ahead of "everything else" on the ZX Spectrum.


References


External links

* {{Ultimate Play the Game 1985 video games Amstrad CPC games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games Commodore 64 games MSX games Rare (company) games Video games about demons Video games with isometric graphics ZX Spectrum games Video games developed in the United Kingdom Single-player video games