I love defender of the crown! One of the best games that I've played ever. This time I had the opportunity to play it in EGA. I first played it when I was a little kid on my IBM XT when it came out on CGA. It was a real treat! I guess the only thing different between the two versions is that one is in EGA which supports 16 colours than CGA which supports only 4 colours. Otherwise, the gameplay is all the same.
I love defender of the crown! One of the best games that I've played ever. This time I had the opportunity to play it in EGA. I first played it when I was a little kid on my IBM XT when it came out on CGA. It was a real treat! I guess the only thing different between the two versions is that one is in EGA which supports 16 colours than CGA which supports only 4 colours. Otherwise, the gameplay is all the same. The characters and the AI are the same as before. No other changes.
What makes this game great is that it combined some arcade action with strategy. It wasn't a pure turn based game, but had some thematic elements and some action
to liven it up. The jousting, raiding and siege seeing enables the player to incorporate action. Every step counts from choosing your initial player to what you do every turn.
There is also surprise as unexpected events happen to your lands. There is betrayal as you find your once friendly Saxon neighbours turning on you. Everyone is vying for the crown of England and it's just left up to you to defend the crown.
I guess the only thing this game doesn't have is multiplayer ability. However, that would be hard to accomplish being a turn based game. A few adjustments would have to be made to make it real time. Games that tried to make it multiplayer did come out after defender of the crown. I'm referring to the Lords of Realms series. However, I was not as nearly as impressed at the gameplay.
I think it would be really hard to come up with something better than the original defender of the crown. This game has it all and has been my benchmark from which I judged future strategy games. Even now, it has kept me captivated almost 20 years later despite the technology we have now. Definitely a 10 out of 10 game in a class all its own. Awesome in creativity, easy gameplay, appropriate music and sounds, 30 minute learning curve, arcade action, spontaneity, and graphics at the time. I don't think I could ever grow tired of playing this game. Four different characters to choose from, three different starting points to make it a different game each time. So, to sum it all up, I think the EGA just helps in making things look a little better and clearer. Terrific game!
