Attic of the Underdogs

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Review by Underdogs:

Archon Ultra is a significantly enhanced version of the original classic Archon by Electronic Arts. In it, two-players battle each other in a game that resembles chess in visual appearance, but with many RPG-style features and requirement of reflexes thrown in.

The gameplay itself, like Archon, is similar to chess in many ways. A board with alternating black and white squares is set up in which each side (light and dark) takes turns moving a single character. Each character has a certain amount of squares to which it can transport, and some characters can fly over others instead of being forced to walk around them. Unlike chess, the characters found in the light and dark sides are completely separate from each other. The players on the light side represent "good" creatures (eg Phoenix, Djinni, "good and noble" Wizard) while the dark side is composed of evil beings (eg Dragon, Shapeshifter, Goblin, and of course the "evil and deceitful" Sorceress). When a character from one side lands on a square occupied by a character from the opposing side, they both will enter a large arena and fight. An interesting variation (which was present in the original Archon) is that some of the colors on the game board will change color slowly, alternating between white and black as the game progresses. If a battle is fought on a black piece, a dark and fire-pervaded landscape will serve as the arena, and the evil character will be automatically granted extra hit points. If a conflict ensues on a white piece, a peaceful and serene forest will be the battleground, where the good character will enjoy the same advantage.

In addition to more gameplay options than the original and excellent VGA graphics, Archon Ultra also offers modem pla, which is very smooth even at 2400 baud. It is a shame that SSI did not convert Archon II to PC version and include it with Archon Ultra, but that's a minor point considering all the significant enhancements in this version. While Archon Ultra is more of an evolution rather than a revolution that its predecessor was, it manages to retain all of the elements that made Archon a masterpiece, and improve on them. Two thumbs up!

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