The Sorcerer game was released two years before I was born, but I still remember it. The game was the second in a series, preceded by 'Enchanter' and followed by 'Spellbreaker'.
Even now, I find the game to be great. It is a text-based adventure game which accepts a subset of English commands such as "open, look, talk to" and so on and the location descriptions are all well written. What really set this game and the other two in the series apart, however, were the storylines.
After defeating Krill in the first game, you have been rewarded by becoming a member of the circle of enchanters. The leader of the circle 'Belboz' who is both your mentor and friendly neighbourhood necromancer has begun to act out of sorts lately. When he goes missing, the job of finding him falls to you, the newest, youngest and most inexperienced member of the circle whilst those more fitted to the task are away preparing for a picnic.
Along your adventure through Frobozz and the 'Great Underground Empire' you encounter a number of puzzles, until you reach a final showdown and as with the other two games, magic is your primary tool for the trials. Finding scrolls and potions then
using them in the correct ways is the main puzzle type throughout the game, much like the modern version of 'talk to Mr X, get item Y, Return to Mr X'. This gives rise to some ingenious puzzles and often rather hilarious consequences if used wrong.
The Sorcerer game is a much darker one than the previous Enchanter game, largely due to the fact that the authors for the two games changed, Enchanter being written by Marc Blank and David Lebling whilst Sorcerer was written by Steve Meretzky. This can be seen in the many places and items that are not essential for the completion of the game. Thankfully, the challenges you face are all part of a consistent storyline and are not just thrown in to lengthen game-time.
Whilst the game is sometime a little buggy and command specific (Try to 'unlock' Belboz's diary instead of using 'open') the games of modern day could learn from the game. It is just the right mixture of cliched storyline and original ideas that make this game one of my favourite retro games and the puzzles are fun with a number giving witty solutions without being too difficult.
Some have, however, pointed out that the game is merely a dungeon crawl with little-no plot other than the introduction and conclusion of the storyline, But when seen in the overall structure of the series, this is actually a bonus point.
All in all, a stonking 8.5/10 from me.
