We’ve reached the end of our second spell (no pun intended) with Epyx’s wonderful Temple of Apshai Trilogy; this time we take on the final part, Curse of Ra, on the Atari ST.
Westwood’s 1986 port of Temple of Apshai Trilogy for Atari ST is one of the more convenient and enjoyable ways to play the game. The mouse controls and menus work well, the ability to get the room descriptions with the tap of a key is wonderful — it would have been nice to have the treasure descriptions, too, but I guess there was only so much text they could squeeze in!
The Temple of Apshai and its later Temple of Apshai Trilogy “remaster” are best known as 8-bit titles, but the latter actually got a port to Atari ST in 1986 — by Westwood, no less.
The ST version is, as it turns out, pretty good. It not only incorporates all the classic gameplay into a friendly GEM interface, it also includes all the room descriptions from the Book of Apshai into the game itself, making for a much more convenient way to play.
Today we take a look at one of the most influential, important games of all time: without Ultima III: Exodus, we might not have ever gotten the RPG genre in quite the form we know it today.
Of course, I’m sure there are plenty of other games out there that would have taken its place — and the Wizardry series was just as important in the grand scheme of things — but Ultima III: Exodus’ importance to the RPG genre in general cannot be understated. So it seems like a fine time to take on the Atari ST version, non?
It’s time for a biggie! A truly genre-defining game, at that — although its real influence perhaps wouldn’t become truly known on the mainstream side of gaming until quite some time after its original release.
I’m talking about the legendary Rogue, of course, which has an interesting story behind its original creation — and whose Atari ST version is one of the best ways to play out there. This edition, published by Epyx and put together by one of the game’s original creators, is an accessible and friendly way to enjoy some dungeon crawling — and a great way to kick off a roguelike addiction if you don’t already have one!
Check it out in the video below, and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more.
If you ever wanted to know who or what to blame for the endless rereleases of Skyrim on every platform under the sun… well, today I’ve got the game where it arguably all started.
Legend of Valour is a supremely ambitious first-person texture-mapped role-playing game that Todd Howard has specifically cited as being a key influence on the development of the Elder Scrolls series. Up until quite recently, I had thought it was an MS-DOS PC exclusive — but it turns out there’s an Atari ST version, too.
Well, there’s no way we’re not checking that out, is there? Let’s do just that in the video below. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!
When I was a kid, I was kind of scared of trying out RPGs because they looked too complicated. Returning to them today, however, makes me feel like I would probably have been fine!
Here’s Questron from Strategic Simulations Inc, who at the time were better known for their wargaming software. This was their first RPG release and proved to be a big success for them. The company would later go on to be extremely well-known for their excellent array of licensed Dungeons & Dragons computer RPGs, so this was the just the beginning of something wonderful for them!
Rana Rama is one of those games that most ST owners probably played at some point, since it was distributed as part of the “Super Pack” bundle of software with new STs in 1988. And from there, the rampant piracy of the period meant that the disks of the Super Pack tended to find their way into other people’s hands, too!
It’s an interesting game, though, and had quite an influence on a number of subsequent developers. Notably, it’s use of “fog of war” to gradually reveal rooms as you enter them inspired Simon Phipps to adopt a similar approach when developing his exploration-centric platformer Switchbladefor Core Design.
There’s also some very interesting mechanics going on under the hood. Watch me try and figure things out in the video below — and don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube for more!
Our adventures in the Temple of Apshai Trilogy are finally coming to an end as we delve into the third part: Curse of Ra.
This particular module is designed for adventurers who have spent a bit of time gaining experience and gathering equipment in The Temple of Apshai and The Upper Reaches of Apshai, and as such is pretty tough.
It does, however, present some of the most interesting, well-crafted dungeon designs in the whole series, though, so it’s worth exploring if you think your character is up to the challenge!
Today we delve once again into the Temple of Apshai Trilogy as we attempt to unravel the mystery of what on Earth is going on in the innkeeper’s back garden.
Yes, it’s time for The Upper Reaches of Apshai, the second part of the trilogy and a title that was originally released as an expansion pack for the first version of Temple of Apshai. Sporting a rather more light-hearted feel — mostly thanks to the excellent, witty writing in the companion Book of Apshai, intended to be carried alongside you as you play — The Upper Reaches of Apshai makes use of familiar mechanics to tell a distinctly unfamiliar emergent narrative.
There’s still a hell of a lot to like about this game, it seems — and it says something that I’ve been continuing my adventures off-camera ever since I started playing!
I love role-playing games… now. Back in the ’80s, I didn’t really understand what they were, how to play them or how to enjoy them.
That’s why I’ve been particularly interested to revisit Epyx’s Temple of Apshai series knowing what I know now! Now that I well and truly “get” the genre, it’s been fascinating to discover one of the earliest examples of a graphical computer-based RPG and finally make some progress in it.
Today we’re playing the later Temple of Apshai Trilogy release for Atari 8-bit with enhanced graphics, sound and speed of play — but it’s otherwise identical to the original classic from the late ’70s, and just as fascinating an experience as I’d hoped!
Atari A to Z 