The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (video game)
{{Short description|1984 video game}}
{{about|the 1984 video game|the Nintendo DS game|Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = The Warlock of Firetop Mountain
|image = Warlock of firetop mountain spectrum cover.jpg
|caption = Cover art by Peter Andrew Jones
|developer = Crystal Computing
Neil Mottershead
Simon Brattel
|publisher = Puffin Books
|designer = Neil Mottershead
Simon Brattel
|series = Fighting Fantasy
|released = {{vgrelease|EU|1984[http://www.gamefaqs.com/sinclair/948489-the-warlock-of-firetop-mountain/data The Warlock of Firetop Mountain] at GameFAQs}}
|genre = Action
|modes = Single-player
|platforms = ZX Spectrum
}}
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is an action game published by Crystal Computing in 1984 for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It is loosely based on the adventure gamebook{{Broken anchor|date=2024-07-28|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Gamebook#Adventure gamebooks|reason= The anchor (Adventure gamebooks) has been deleted.}} of the same name (the first in the Fighting Fantasy series) written by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, and published by Puffin Books in 1982.
The game was sold both as a regular cassette-only release and as a "software pack" edition that included a copy of the original Fighting Fantasy title at a higher price point.
Gameplay
As a third-person arcade adventure game, the player takes the role of an adventurer on a quest to find the treasure of a powerful warlock, hidden deep within Firetop Mountain. The treasure is stored in a chest with fifteen locks, with the keys guarded by various monsters (e.g. orcs, slime moulds and spiders) in the dungeons of Firetop Mountain. The adventurer (equipped with a bow and a sword) must attempt to retrieve the keys, with an added feature (over the game's predecessor, Halls of the Things) being the ability to open and close doors to block the path of pursuing monsters. Gameplay varies with each new game as the maze is randomly generated.
Development
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain was announced in issue two of Micro Adventurer magazine, which published a feature on the expansion of Penguin Books children's imprint Puffin into the science fiction software market with the video game The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, hoping to emulate the success of the book title.Penguin Launches into SF Software, Micro Adventurer, issue 2, p.7, Sunshine Books, December 1983 The game was announced as the first in the "Puffin Personal Computer Collection"Puffin advertisement for the four launch titles of the new range. Printed in Sinclair User issue 22 (p.16) and CRASH issue 1 (p.7) line together with three other unrelated titles (based on science fiction titles by author Peter K. McBride).
Image:Warlock of firetop mountain spectrum gameplay.png
Puffin contracted Crystal Computing, who had developed the fantasy game Halls of the Things, to create the game.The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, in-game instructions According to game designer Simon Brattel, they ended up doing it by accident: they met Steve Jackson, one of the authors of the book, and after their discussion, he became supportive of the project.As Clear as Crystal, Popular Computing Weekly, 26 January-1 February 1984 (p.26), Sunshine Publications Ltd.
According to hidden text within the game's code the developers only had three weeks to complete the project.[http://equ.in/ox/spectrum/eggs/design_design.php Spectrum Easter Eggs], equ.in. Text referred to reads: "We apologise for the game being boring but we were literally only given 3 weeks to write it". {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090915195720/http://equ.in/ox/spectrum/eggs/design_design.php |date=September 15, 2009}} The Peter Andrew Jones artwork for the original title was used for the video game cover.The Warlock of Firetop Mountain by Steve Jackon and Ian Livingstone, Puffin Books, 1982
Puffin Books briefly continued the trend of adapting the Fighting Fantasy titles into video games, with early titles The Citadel of Chaos{{Cite web|url=http://www.uvlist.net/game-156749-The+Citadel+of+Chaos|title=The Citadel of Chaos (1984) by Puffin Books ZX Spectrum game}} and The Forest of Doom{{Cite web|url=http://www.thehouseofgames.net/index.php?t=10&id=271|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060517045806/http://www.thehouseofgames.net/index.php?t=10&id=271|url-status=usurped|archive-date=May 17, 2006|title = The House of Games.net - Forest of Doom - abandonware / Free games / Manuals}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0001842|title = World of Spectrum - the Forest of Doom}} being released for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 respectively.
Reception
ZX Computing described the game as simply a "variation" of Halls of the Things, but praised the inclusion of the book as it encouraged children to read.Booked!, ZX Computing, issue 4, p.119, Argus Specialist Publications Ltd, April/May 1984 Micro Adventurer also commented on the similarities, stating that "it is so similar that it would be pointless buying both games".The Warlock of Firetop Mountain review, Micro Adventurer, issue 4, p.24, Sunshine Books, February 1984
CRASH magazine criticized the control scheme (the number of control keys and the developer's decision to use the horizontally adjacent N and M keys to move the player's character up and down) but also claimed the game less difficult and confusing, and with better graphics.The Warlock of Firetop Mountain review, CRASH, issue 1, p.13, Newsfield Publications Ltd, February 1984 Computer and Video Games expressed disappointment that the game had little resemblance to the original Fighting Fantasy title.A Thing is a Thing is a Thing, Computer and Video Games, issue 29, p.151, EMAP, March 1983
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{WoS_game|id=0005635}}
- {{moby game|id=/warlock-of-firetop-mountain}}
{{Fighting Fantasy}}
{{Crystal Computing series}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warlock of Firetop Mountain}}
Category:Crystal Computing games
Category:Europe-exclusive video games
Category:Single-player video games
Category:Video games about witchcraft
Category:Video games based on novels