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[Contents] [Part 5] [Part 7]

CLASSIC SPECTRUM CHARACTERS: THE MAGIC KNIGHT STORY

Magic Knight

Time for another look at a classic Spectrum Character. This month it is the turn of the star of four classic arcade adventures, Magic Knight. He appeared in four games between 1985 and 1987. The first, Finders Keepers, was an original, if somewhat confusing platform type game. The last three (Spellbound, Knight Tyme and Stormbringer) however set new standards in arcade adventures, calling on a process called "Windimation" which utilized windows and character interaction. All games were released in 48k format, with the last three also appearing in 128k format, although I have only seen Stormbringer in 128k. The main difference is the addition of some extra screens and objects, adding to the gameplay, as well as some great 128k music.

You can find a small guide to Finders Keepers in this months playing tips section.

You can also take a look at the original inlay designs to two of the Magic Knight games , Finders Keepers and Stormbringer, which are included in this months snapshots pack!


FINDERS KEEPERS

Screenshot

Mastertronic 1985

The King of Isbisima is, to say the least, a little upset. Tomorrow is his daughters birthday and he has no idea what to get her.

As Magic Knight, you have been ordered to find the Princess Germintrude a very special present. This may be your chance to prove that you are worthy of joining the famed Polygon Table, the highest honour any knight could wish for! The King transports you to the Castle of Spriteland which is teeming with many weird and wonderful creatures. Also there are two mazes which contain many of the Queens relatives!

Apart from the grisly ghouls and energy sapping creatures there are ghostly traders who are often quite willing to exchange the treasures that you find in the castle for money which they stole in their former lives.

Some objects will react with each other to form either more or less valuable objects to sell or collect.

You now have two choices:

  1. You may try and collect as many treasures as possible and escape from the castle of Spriteland.
  2. Collect the treasure in order to please the king and the Princess Germintrude and join the Polygon Table.
Will the temptation of keeping all the treasures be too much for you or are you loyal to the King and the Polygon Table of Isbisima.

CONTROLS

A = UP          Z = DOWN
N = LEFT        M = RIGHT
G = GET         D = DROP/LIST
T = TRADE       E = EXAMINE


SPELLBOUND

Screenshot

Mastertronic 1985

MAD GAMES PRESENT "SPELLBOUND" The first in a new generation of arcade adventure style games using a unique window menu system. All command choices can be made by moving a pointing finger to the required choice on a menu, then selecting it by pressing space or fire. In this way quite complex commands can be built up easily using only three keys. When this program loads it is set up for keyboard use. To use a joystick change this using A and Z to move the finger and press space when it points to the joystick that you wish to use. The fire button can then be used to select your menu choice.

KEYS
A - Finger Up/Jump
Z - Finger Down
N - Player Left
M - Player Right
Space - Command menu/Choose option
Fire - Same as space when a joystick is used
Break - Return to main menu

You are Magic Knight, the hero of Finders Keepers. Your tutor Gimbal the Wizard has been trying out some very old spells to make his rice pudding taste nicer, unfortunately the scribes who translated the spells from very ancient English to slightly ancient English made some mistakes with the wording and Gimbal is in trouble.

The spell sent Gimbal to the mythical Castle of Karn and dragged seven other people with him. As Gimbal becomes trapped he projects a last faint message back to you across the time stream. I've taught you enough to rescue us all. Magic Knight, you are our only hope!!

Clue: Red herrings may be useful.


KNIGHT TYME

Screenshot

Mastertronic 1986

After releasing Gimbal the Wizard from a self inflicted White Out Spell in Spellbound, Magic Knight has been catapulted through time to the future. This is the story, so here it is in his own words:

'I landed heavily on the transporter pad of the USS Pisces and while I was bending out some of the dents in my armour I was approached by a strange metal creature. It spoke 'Hi, Magic Knight, I am Klink. I have been expecting you. Take this'. He then gave me a cubic object which I later learned was a Datacube. As I held it I became aware of a strange power inside me. Klink spoke again 'The Datacube will give you the relevant date for 25th Century life and reduce your culture shock to nil. It will fade away as you absorb its knowledge'.

As the Datacube transferred its data to my brain cells I started to formulate my survival plan. I will have to locate the Tyme Guardians, if they still exist and obtain a Tyme machine from them. But my first priority has to be to make contact with the starship's Transputer since it programmed Klink to give me the Datacube.'

FEATURES
The game uses an enhanced version of Windimation which players of Spellbound will be familiar with. This system allows the player to access windows in which the command choices are given.

CONTROLS

UP    -  A      DOWN  -  Z
LEFT  -  N      RIGHT -  M
FIRE  -  SPACE
Plus define your own keys or use Joysticks

HINTS
Derby IV, the Transputer, can help you to start with. The advert to Spellbound may actually prove to be useful. A Clown will help to avoid dying of exhaustion. Sarab will tell you how to move the starship once you are wearing a valid ID Card. Use Gadget X for the save and load game facilities.


STORMBRINGER

Screenshot

Mastertronic 1987

Welcome to Stormbringer, the concluding episode in the acclaimed Magic Knight saga.

The story so far....In previous episodes (Spellbound and Knight Tyme) Magic Knight rescues his friend and tutor Gimbal the Wizard from a self inflicted White Out spell, and then finds himself catapulted into the 25th century, aboard the USS pieces. Having acquired a secondhand time machine from the Tyme Guardians, Magic Knight finally reaches his own time and planet - but with a slight problem... Whilst traveling back, a serious malfunction occurred with the secondhand time machine, and now, horror of horrors, there are two Magic Knights!

The other Magic Knight is a real nasty piece of work. He calls himself the "Off White Knight", but locally he is known as the "Stormbringer" because of his powerful and dangerous storm cloud, which he is planning to use to destroy magic knight.

In your role as Magic Knight, you realize that you cannot kill Stormbringer, because if you do you will destroy yourself in the process, the only way for you to become your old self again is to merge with him.

Good luck Magic Knight!

FEATURES
This game uses and enhanced version of windimation which players of Spellbound and Knight Tyme will be familiar with. This system allows the player to access windows in which the command choices are given.

CONTROLS

A - Up/Jump     Z - Down
N - Left        M - Right
Space - Fire
Use the Up (A) and Down (Z) keys in the menu to operate the finger or define your own keys.


MAGAZINE RUN-DOWN

To rate each classic Spectrum Character, we will look at the average of all the scores their games received in the popular Spectrum Magazines.:
Name                    Date            YS      CR

FINDERS KEEPERS FEB 85 8 85 SPELLBOUND JAN 86 8 95 KNIGHT TYME JUN 86 9 94 STROMBRINGER JUL 87 9 86 AVERAGE SCORES FEB 85-JUL 87 85 90 TOTAL SCORE 88%
So Magic Knight beats the score set by Dizzy in Issue 1 (81%)

Look out for another classic Spectrum Character soon!


[Contents] [Part 5] [Part 7]