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The Immortal (video game)

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The Immortal
Apple IIGS cover art
Developer(s)Sandcastle
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Designer(s)Will Harvey
Ian Gooding
Michael Marcanted
Brett G. Durrett
Composer(s)Douglas Fulton (IIGS)
Rob Hubbard
Michael Bartlow
Platform(s)Apple IIGS
Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, NES, Genesis, Switch
ReleaseIIGS and NES: November 1990
Genesis: NA: July 11, 1991
JP: August 1993
Evercade: June 2, 2020
Switch: July 15, 2020
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

The Immortal is an isometric action-adventure game originally created by Will Harvey and released by Electronic Arts in 1990 for the Apple IIGS. It was soon ported to the Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Genesis. A wizard is attempting to find his mentor in a large and dangerous labyrinth. It has a high degree of graphic violence. In 2020, the NES port was re-released on the Nintendo Switch Online service, while the Genesis port was re-released on the Piko Collection Collection 1 cartridge for the Evercade.

Plot

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The wizard Mordamir calls for help from deep below the labyrinth, attempting to communicate with a man named Dunric. The player, an elderly wizard, instead discovers the message and takes on the quest to rescue Mordamir–his mentor and master. While descending the levels of the labyrinth, a race of goblins and trolls at war are encountered, and the goblins allies with the player after sparing their king. The player also encounters many other hostile creatures within the labyrinth, including invisible Shades, flying lizards, Will-o'-the-wisps, flesh-eating slimes, huge man-eating worms, a giant spider and a water Norlac. The player is assisted along the way by the warrior Ulindor, Mordamir's servant and body guard as well as a mysterious merchant selling helpful potions and magical items.

Throughout the journey, the player sleeps on straw beds placed around the labyrinth, where dreams reveal an ancient civilization of peaceful dragons that once lived in the dungeon below. Visions are also seen of the walled-off ancient city of Erinoch, with its abundant fountains of youth and eternally young inhabitants. The dragons governed the city's source of fountain water from below, but the rulers of Erinoch planned a siege against the dragons for control of the enchanted water. Mordamir presented to the city's counsel a weapon he created to kill all the dragons, but was unable to use it for a reason unknown.

As the player nears the bottom of the labyrinth, he finds the trapped and dying Dunric, who explains Mordamir was never a prisoner, but instead kidnapped his daughter to lure him into the labyrinth as a trap. In a dream vision, it is revealed the entire race of dragons were wiped out by the city's army in a fierce battle, except for one that escaped the dungeon labyrinth and returned to the destroy the city and all its inhabitants. Mordamir, 1,000 years later, is the only survivor of his civilization, as is the one last dragon. In the end, the player is confronted by both the dragon and Mordamir in a final conflict.

Gameplay

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The game takes place in a labyrinth with 8 levels (7 levels on the Nintendo version). The player must solve puzzles, avoid deathtraps, use magic spells, and acquire various items. Certain items will bring instant death to the player if used unwisely. Some magical items and objects can be purchased from a merchant character in certain levels, using gold pieces acquired.

A variety of non-player characters wander or protect a specific portion of the map. Fireball spells can be freely used to dispatch these enemies on the isometric field, but not in combat mode, which is initiated upon touching them. The player can dodge, and swing and stab with a sword. Certain levels allow the player to possess a flying magic carpet, cast a levitation spell, and paddle a floating barrel.[1]

Development

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Will Harvey had started development on an Apple II game to be called Campaign, intended to become an online multiplayer RPG. As its story developed, it became a single-player game only.[2] The music for the Apple IIGS version was composed by Douglas Fulton. On some conversions, Rob Hubbard and Michael Bartlow are credited.

Reception

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Computer Gaming World praised The Immortal's graphics, but stated that the game was really an arcade game as it was too linear to succeed as an RPG. It criticized the use of save points and the controls, and concluded that the game "misses the target".[5] In 1992, Dragon gave the game 4 out of 5 stars.[6] Computer and Video Games magazine was positive about the graphics and control scheme and gave an overall score of 93 out of 100.[7]

Amiga Power was mixed, awarding the game 76% and criticising its completely linear nature and lack of replay value, while identifying the graphics as a strength.[8]

Jim Trunzo reviewed The Immortal in White Wolf #26 (April/May, 1991), rating it a 4 out of 5 and stated that "For fantasy gamers who enjoy using their natural dexterity as well as their minds to win a game, The Immortal may well be the game they've been waiting for. With its splendid graphics, constant action and fantasy flavor, The Immortal is a computer game that will satisfy players for a very long time, if not forever!"[9]

It has been reviewed in The One for ST Games,[10] The One for Amiga Games,[11] VideoGame,[12] Computer and Video Games,[13] CU Amiga,[14] ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment),[15] Datormagazin,[16] Your Amiga,[17] The One,[18] Mean Machines,[19] Zero,[20] Joystick,[21] Zero,[22] The One Amiga,[23] ST Format,[24] Amiga Computing,[25] Raze,[26] Australian Commodore and Amiga Review,[27] Amiga Format,[28] Zzap!,[29] Amiga Action[30] ASM (Aktueller Software Markt),[31] ST Format,[32] Enchanted Realms,[33] Amiga Joker,[34] and Amiga Power.[35]

References

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  1. ^ "The Immortal". Nintendo Power. Vol. 20. January 1991. pp. 37, 39. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  2. ^ "The Making Of: Immortal". NowGamer.com. January 19, 2009. Archived from the original on July 30, 2016.
  3. ^ Bro' Buzz (December 1990). "Nintendo ProView: The Immortal" (PDF). GamePro. p. 118.
  4. ^ "The Immortal Review". Megatech (1): 28–30. December 1991.
  5. ^ Laurence, Will (May 1991). "Do You Want to Live Forever?". Computer Gaming World. No. 82. pp. 60–61. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
  6. ^ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia & Lesser, Kirk (February 1992). "The Role of Computers". Dragon. No. 178. pp. 57–64.
  7. ^ Leadbetter, Richard (November 1990) The Immortal review – page scan at World of Spectrum[permanent dead link], Computer and Video Games, issue 108, accessed December 14, 2012
  8. ^ Winstanley, Mark (November 1993) The Immortal review – page scan at Amiga Magazine Rack, Amiga Power, issue 31, accessed December 14, 2012
  9. ^ Trunzo, Jim (April–May 1991). "The Silicon Dungeon". White Wolf Magazine. No. 26. p. 57-58.
  10. ^ "The One for ST Games". The One for ST Games. No. 37. October 1991.
  11. ^ "The One Magazine". The One Magazine. No. 37. October 1991.
  12. ^ "VideoGame". VideoGame (in Portuguese). Vol. 1, no. 2. 1991.
  13. ^ "CVG Magazine Issue 108". Computer and Video Games. No. 108. November 1990.
  14. ^ "CU Amiga Magazine". CU Amiga. No. 9. November 1990.
  15. ^ "The Immortal review". ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment). No. 39. December 1990 – via Amiga Magazine Rack.
  16. ^ "The Immortal review". Datormagazin. No. 17. November 1990 – via Amiga Magazine Rack.
  17. ^ "Immortal review". Your Amiga. December 1990 – via Amiga Magazine Rack.
  18. ^ "The One Magazine". The One. No. 25. October 1990 – via Internet Archive.
  19. ^ "The Immortal – Sega Megadrive". Mean Machines. November 1991. Archived from the original on October 27, 2007. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  20. ^ "Zero Magazine Issue 26". Zero. No. 26. December 1991.
  21. ^ "Joystick". Joystick (in French). December 1991.
  22. ^ "The Immortal review from Zero 12 (Oct 1990)". Zero. No. 12. October 1990 – via Amiga Magazine Rack.
  23. ^ "The One Magazine Issue 58". The One Amiga. No. 58. July 1993.
  24. ^ "ST Format – Issue 16". ST Format. No. 16.
  25. ^ "The Immortal review". Amiga Computing. No. 64. September 1993 – via Amiga Magazine Rack.
  26. ^ "RAZE – Issue 03 (1991-01) (Newsfield Publishing) (GB)". January 1991.
  27. ^ "The Immortal review from ACAR Vol 8 No 1 (Jan 1991) – Amiga Magazine Rack".
  28. ^ "The Immortal review from Amiga Format 49 (Aug 1993) – Amiga Magazine Rack".
  29. ^ "Zzap! 64 Issue 068 (HQ)".
  30. ^ "The Immortal review". Amiga Action. No. 15. December 1990 – via Amiga Magazine Rack.
  31. ^ "DIE Kult-Seite über die alten Spiele". ASM (Aktueller Software Markt). November 1990.
  32. ^ "ST Format (Issue 32) – March – 1992: Atari magazine scans, pdf". www.atarimania.com.
  33. ^ "Enchanted Realms" (PDF). mocagh.org. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  34. ^ "Amiga Joker Issue 1557". Amiga Joker. December 1990 – via Amiga Magazine Rack.
  35. ^ "Amiga Power Issue 01 1991". archive.org. [dead link]
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