Ultima II - Retrospective Review

Adamantyr takes a look at Ultima II - a classic RPG from 1982:

Review – Ultima II: Revenge of the Enchantress

I've decided to start reviewing some classic CRPG's I've played here on the blog recently. Why? Well, there are things I've always wanted to say about some games, and it also gives some insight into where I’m going with my own CRPG design.

Our first game, Ultima II: Revenge of the Enchantress!

This game has a particularly personal meaning for me, because it was the first Ultima game I ever saw. I don't know where exactly; my guess is that I saw it running in demo mode at a computer store, because the gorgeous tile graphics definitely are eye-catching! I was always frustrated and angry that the Ultima series weren't available for my own computer, the TI-99/4a. Reading about Ultima games over the years, it felt like an entire world of adventure was passing me by…

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Thanks Couch!

That was a nice interesting read.

I never played that one. Ultima 3 was the first one I had and of course I loved it.

Interesting read. Looking back, the author gets a lot of things correct about U2's gameplay. But he misses the mark on perspective, place, and time.

If I was to sum up the game in a few words, it would be: unfinished, juvenile, simple, unrecognized potential.

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The above quote is quite correct by today's standards. But imagine sizing up a 4,000 year old cave painting with such contemporary brashness.

Waaaaaaay back in 1982, before the internet and when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, the best 'graphics' were being pushed out on consoles like Intellivision, Colecovision, and the Atari 5200. And the games were primarily action games or poor remakes of Arcade games (poor even by then-standards… I'll never forget my disappointment with Donkey Kong on Intellivision or even Colecovision for missing the 4th stage entirely).

By comparison, computers of the time (Apple, IBM, TRS-80, and the just-released in the U.S. C64) had games with mostly inferior graphics (though markedly better gameplay) to the consoles of the day. The C64 is THE exception, but it was a very new product in 1982 with very little software offerings at that point - I know this because I worked at a Software Etc. (well, actually, B. Dalton Book Store at the time) and the C64 shelf was pretty slim that first year.

But then came this sprawling game, Ultima 2, with decent enough graphics even on the IBM PC version, and with gameplay that didn't get boring after five minutes like most console games of the time. At the time, it WAS huge. And very few (count them on one hand) were making games like this - much like the first cave painters were in the minority for their time.

When it was all said and done, it didn't matter how disjointed the game actually was. Or how there was a lot of filler. Or how weird it was to meld fantasy and sci-fi together. Or the stupid insider jokes in the game. Or that the dungeons didn't really matter. It was a first of its kind and it was a blast to explore, conquer, and exploit.

I also don't agree with the blogger's assessment that the game was shoddy but got a wink and a nod pass by everyone. it's another commentary that misses that place and time aspect of history. The game was among the first of its kind and very intriguing to many people. That Garriot went on to form Origin and produce a good number of games that myself and millions of others enjoyed is not the work or passion of someone just trying to wing it.

Anyway, not a terrible blog as I enjoy reading about games of that era, but it does lack that place and time perspective of things, in my humble opinion of course.

I think you were way to easy on the blogger Mad. Everything was new and exciting back then. I guess some people don't know or forget....

I remember every game and every system and upgrade back then. I also remember in college after a night of drinking and maybe a left hand smoke or two. We took apart my buddies Atari St, lets just say that computer never turned on again.

Agree with you guys ... I honestly don't the get the attempts by kids to assess how something might have been that happened way before they were born without really taking the time to understand it based on those who were there.

I loved my Apple ][+, it played more than enough games for me and I thought they looked great and played well.

I personally like it more when my kids and their friends or even some younger colleagues at work as what it was like to see Star Wars in a theater when it was new, or other stuff from way back then . They take time to try to contextualize.

Toff said:

I never played that one. Ultima 3 was the first one I had and of course I loved it.

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Same here, although I played the NES version. I had a fantastic time with it, and it remains the only Ultima game I've actually finished.

JDR13 said:

Same here, although I played the NES version. I had a fantastic time with it, and it remains the only Ultima game I've actually finished.

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What are you talking about Willis...

You never finished 4 or 5 can see six but 7 and 7 part 2 what about 9? I hated 8.

CelticFrost said:

What are you talking about Willis…

You never finished 4 or 5 can see six but 7 and 7 part 2 what about 9? I hated 8.

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I enjoyed U7 (except for the terrible combat mechanics) and U9 as well. I just never finished them for one reason or another.

I'd probably be a bigger Ultima fan if I had gotten into PC games a little sooner. I didn't switch to the PC as my primary gaming platform until around 1995. Prior to that, the only computer I owned was a TRS-80.

I did play quite a few games on my cousin's Commodore 64, but he never had any of the Ultimas.

JDR13 said:

I enjoyed U7 (except for the terrible combat mechanics) and U9 as well. I just never finished them for one reason or another.

I'd probably be a bigger Ultima fan if I had gotten into PC games a little sooner. I didn't switch to the PC as my primary gaming platform until around 1995. Prior to that, the only computer I owned was a TRS-80.

I did play quite a few games on my cousin's Commodore 64, but he never had any of the Ultimas.

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Fair enough answer.

Back when U3 was a huge major hit a lot of us wondered where we could get our hands on U1 and U2. We had never heard of it.

I believe it was before U4 came out that U1 and U2 were re-released with updated graphics. What I saw reminded me of a bad U3 clone, which was understandable. U2 to me was a lot like U1 but just much, much bigger in scale, which made me appreciate U3 and U4 so much more.

U1 and U2 were written in BASIC for example and there was a dispute with Sierra which is why Garriot started his own company and self published.

Lucky Day said:

Back when U3 was a huge major hit a lot of us wondered where we could get our hands on U1 and U2. We had never heard of it.
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I was in grade 9 in 1984 and meet an older student in a grade 11 computer class(I got my parents to get the school to let take the coarse.). He had all three of them, though I never finished two, I did 3 twice back then.