Pool of Radiance (Amiga Version)

[adErsante]

at this time of year (when I'm crazy about Dungeon & dragons); I can't afford amiga which i know got more colors than IBM... :-(

[MrSmilingUndead]

So many wasted hours... Good times! :-D

[RokyBanana]

@MrSmilingUndead Not wasted, well spent :)

[MrSmilingUndead]

@RokyBanana

Ha ha, well said! :-)

[Doommaster1994]

OK, there's a site called Macintosh Garden where you can download a load of Mac games. I saw a pic of the Mac version (I think it's that anyway). It looks like a cross between the C64 and DOS version.

[sokolkeep]

@Doommaster1994 The 3 images on the Macintosh Garden, I believe, are a mashup of 3 different versions. The image of the ogre looks like the C-64, while the blue cover image is from the Nintendo box, & the black+white from the Mac, in all probability. I could be wrong, but that's my best guess.

[Doommaster1994]

Yeah, maybe, I'm not sure. Now that I think of it, I think you're right, the Mac version is the monochrome one. I found a pic of the Apple II version and it has color but way worse graphics than the C64 version.

[sokolkeep]

@Doommaster1994 Way back when, I had an Apple IIe. My first time playing an SSI game was Curse of the Azure Bonds. The graphics were very much like the Pool of Radiance Apple II version, except that in battle instead of a plain white background, it was white with black scan lines from left to right. It was really bad for the eyes.

[sokolkeep]

@Doommaster1994 There may have been 2 versions for the Mac, depending on whether you had a high density disk or not. Reading from the back of "The Dark Queen of Krynn" (Mac version), it says System Requirements: Any Macintosh with hard disk drive and color or black-and-white monitor. Color version requires High Density disk drive.

[HardWarUK]

Given the difference the C64 with less power, less ram and 8 bit cpu was practically as good as the Amiga version. The Amiga version could have been so much better, but they never bothered with so many 8 bit to 16 bit ports, like they do today with console to PC ports.

[REIworker]

My 1986 Apple 2C version is way better.

[TheTuita]

Hehehe did anyone play these games without 'modifying' the player attributes all the way up to straight 18s??? XD

[Doommaster1994]

I always liked the NES version the best. I had the PC version of this game and I could never beat the first part of the game. I'm not saying the computer versions are bad, I'm just saying I never knew how to get through them.

[TKozlows]

it is superior to the early PC but I still prefer the PC one... must be nastolgia. Of course playing this on a modern computer just doesn't feel right. Everything moves a hundred times faster.

[coax74]

I loved playing the Gold Box games. Had them for the C64, Amiga, and the early PC. Great games for the time. I still like the combat system to this day!

[Doommaster1994]

Well I just got a british Commodore 64. Time to see if I can get it working.

[marcusmalone]

I would've thought the visuals could've improved more than this from c64 to Amiga. I wonder if there were other in game improvements.

[sokolkeep]

The visuals are by far the best out of all the other versions. + The sound is greatly improved. There is music at the start of combat with the Amiga, and the in battle spell effects are much cooler. The sound quality of this video isn't so good so you have to turn up your volume to the max. Or you could just get yourself a copy of Amiga Forever and WINUAE and download the game and try it out for yourself. ;o)

[Doommaster1994]

Actually, that's not 100% true. The PC-98 version (A Japanese computer) had the best graphics. There's some pictures of it on Mobygames if you want to see it. Still, a great game nevertheless. I grew up playing the NES version.

[sokolkeep]

@Doommaster1994 The PC-98 version has an odd and unnatural look to it. The Amiga colors are much more appealing IMO.

[Doommaster1994]

Looking back, Amiga version looks pretty good. Only version I completed was the NES version, I did complete the DOS version but I cheated to get through it because the battles were too tough for my party. I'm buying the Macintosh version, so I'll see what thatone looks like.

[sokolkeep]

@Doommaster1994 If you do get the Macintosh version, record a video of it if possible.It may be black+white only, with monster sprites that look like they are drawn in pencil/ink. Or at least I've only seen black+white images. There are some images of the Macintosh version at thehouseofgames d o t net

[Doommaster1994]

Actually, that's the Apple II version which is by Apple, but not the same as the Mac version. I will record a video of it (I promise) but the only way I can do it is through my webcam. I have a few old Mac computers that will only run it. I tried using an emulator, and I couldn't even get one game to run on them.

[sokolkeep]

@Doommaster1994 I've played the Apple II version. Those black+white images listed at thehouseofgames were not from the Apple II. The pictures must have been labeled incorrectly.

[WildkittycatAnE]

{star}

[Doommaster1994]

The NES version is the best in my opinion.

[ioport]

Hah. NES version sucks balls.

[Doommaster1994]

I want the Mac version.

[HerbJon]

you should get yourself an AMIGA man!! :)

[Vebidia]

Very cute Sokol, keep up the good work

[boilerplate]

I grew up with the C64 version and I thought *That* looked good. Nice to see the Amiga version, never saw it before.

The monster vignettes (Up close shots) are looking nice and have more frames of animation in this version. Very cool.