''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance'' is a video game released in January 1988 for various home computer systems and consoles. The game is based on the first ''

Dragonlance ''Dragonlance'' is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived ''Dragonlance'' while driving in t ...

'' campaign module for the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

, ''

Dragons of Despair ''Dragons of Despair'' is the first in a series of 16 ''Dragonlance'' adventures published by TSR, Inc. (TSR) between 1984 and 1988. It is the start of the first major story arc in the ''Dragonlance'' series of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') ...

'', and the first Dragonlance novel ''

Dragons of Autumn Twilight ''Dragons of Autumn Twilight'' is a 1984 fantasy novel by American writers Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, based on a series of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') game modules. It was the first ''Dragonlance'' novel, and first in the Chronicle ...

''. ''Heroes of the Lance'' focuses on the journey of eight heroes through the ruined city of Xak Tsaroth, where they must face the ancient dragon Khisanth and retrieve the relic, the Disks of Mishakal.

Gameplay

''Heroes of the Lance'' is a side-scrolling action game. Even if it is a faithful representation of a portion of the novel ''

'', it was a departure from the

module ''

'' the book itself is based on. The eight heroes from the ''

'' series are assembled for the quest, but only one is visible on the screen at a time; when the on-screen hero dies, the next in line appears. ''Heroes of the Lance'' uses ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game statistics, with character statistics taken exactly from the rule books. Three characters have special abilities (healing magic, wizard magic, and trap removal), but the other five merely act as "lives" for the player as in traditional action-platforming games.

Plot

Characters

The eight heroes that make up the party are: *

Goldmoon Goldmoon (also known as ''Goldmoon of the Que Shu tribe'' or just ''Goldmoon of the Que Shu'') is a fictional character from the ''Dragonlance'' fantasy series of List of Dragonlance novels, novels and Role-playing game, role playing games, origin ...

, a princess who brandishes the Blue Crystal Staff, an artifact whose powers she seeks to fully understand. *

Sturm Brightblade Sturm Brightblade is a fictional character from the ''Dragonlance'' series of role playing games and novels, based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons franchise. The character was created by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and is published by Wizar ...

, a powerful and solemn knight. *

Caramon Majere Caramon Majere (326 AC - 38 SC) is a fictional character from the Dragonlance books. He is depicted as a fighter and is one of the main characters in Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's first Dragonlance trilogy, the ''Dragonlance Chronicles''. C ...

, A warrior who makes up for his lack of intelligence with pure strength and fighting prowess. *

Raistlin Majere Raistlin Majere is a fictional character from the ''Dragonlance'' series of books created by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Raistlin played an extensive role in the two main series of books, particularly in '' Dragonlance Legends'' in which he ...

, Caramon's twin brother; a sly and brilliant, but frail,

mage Mage most commonly refers to: * Mage (paranormal) or magician, a practitioner of magic derived from supernatural or occult sources * Mage (fantasy) or magician, a type of character in mythology, folklore, and fiction *Mage, a character class in s ...

. *

Tanis Half-Elven Tanis Half-Elven is a fictional half-elven character in the Dragonlance series of books, which were published by TSR, and are now published by Wizards of the Coast. He is first introduced in the book '' Dragons of Autumn Twilight'' by Margaret ...

, the 'natural leader' of the heroes, and good with a bow. *

Tasslehoff Burrfoot Tasslehoff Burrfoot (often called Tas) is a fictional character of the Kender (fantasy), kender race from the Dragonlance series of novels, written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. He was born in Kendermore (Krynn), Kendermore. His parents are ...

, a kender

pickpocket Pickpocketing is a form of larceny that involves the stealing of money or other valuables from the person or a victim's pocket without them noticing the theft at the time. It may involve considerable dexterity and a knack for misdirection. A th ...

. He fights with a sling weapon known as a '. * Riverwind, Goldmoon's betrothed. He is a noble and wise warrior. *

Flint Fireforge Flint Fireforge is a fictional dwarf character appearing in the Dragonlance series of books. The dwarf Flint Fireforge is one of the six Heroes of the Lance. He is the second of thirteen children. He was born and lived in (for a time) the village ...

, a grizzled dwarven warrior.

Development

''Heroes of the Lance'' was based on the original Dragonlance novels written by

Margaret Weis Margaret Edith Weis (; born March 16, 1948) is an American fantasy and science fiction author, of dozens of novels and short stories. At TSR, Inc., she teamed with Tracy Hickman to create the ''Dragonlance'' role-playing game (RPG) world. She is ...

and

Tracy Hickman Tracy Raye Hickman (born November 26, 1955) is an American fantasy author. He wrote the ''Dragonlance'' novels with Margaret Weis. He also wrote role playing game material while working for TSR, Inc., TSR and has cowritten novels with his wife, ...

. ''Heroes of the Lance'' was not part of the

Gold Box Gold box may refer to: * Decorative boxes made in gold *'' Gold Box'', a series of video games of 1988 to 1992 * Gold box (phreaking), a phreaking box to create a bridge between two telephone lines {{disam ...

series; the nickname for these other ''D&D'' titles were "Silver Box" games. The NES version was developed by Natsume.

Reception

''Heroes of the Lance'' was very successful for SSI, with 88,808 copies sold for computers in North America. After reviewing a pre-production copy of the DOS version of ''Heroes of the Lance'', the magazine '' G.M.'' praised its graphics and "excellent" audio and said that "it would undoubtedly go straight to the top of the computer games charts and stay there for several months. Its THAT good." ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

'' gave the DOS version of the game a similarly positive review. ''

Electronic Gaming Monthly ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' (often abbreviated to ''EGM'') is a monthly American video game magazine. It offers video game news, coverage of industry events, interviews with gaming figures, editorial content and product reviews. History The m ...

'' columnist

Seanbaby Sean Patrick Reiley (born June 15, 1976), better known as Seanbaby, is an American writer and video-game designer best known for his comedy website and frequent contributions to video game media outlets ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' and 1UP.com, ...

listed the NES version as the 2nd worst NES game, and as the 11th worst video game.
(expanded from an article written for

#150) Levi Buchanan, in a classic ''Dungeons & Dragons'' videogame retrospective for

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

, wrote that "If you don't plan well, you can lose a lot of heroes in a very short period of time. This offered a slight strategy angle, but ''D&D'' fans largely preferred the ''

Pool of Radiance ''Pool of Radiance'' is a role-playing video game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI) in 1988. It was the first adaptation of TSR's ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (''AD&D'') fantasy role-playing game for home computer ...

'' straight RPG approach." (''Pool of Radiance'' sales were triple that of ''Heroes of the Lance''.) According to

GameSpy GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1996 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for the game, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameS ...

, "While the game was actually a fairly decent side-scroller for its time, the frustrating level of difficulty, along with the fact that you couldn't save the game, meant that most gamers gave this game a miss."

Legacy

The storyline for this game continued in two subsequent video games, '' Dragons of Flame'' and ''

Shadow Sorcerer ''Shadow Sorcerer'' is a role-playing video game published in 1991 by Strategic Simulations. The game is the sequel to ''Heroes of the Lance'' and '' Dragons of Flame''. It is based on the third and fourth Dragonlance campaign modules, '' Dragons ...

''.

References

Sources

* *
alternate html version of the review
* *

External links

* * *

* ttps://archive.org/details/info-magazine-26/Info_Issue_26_1989_May_Jun/page/n53/mode/2up Reviewin

Info Info is shorthand for "information". It may also refer to: Computing * .info, a generic top-level domain * info:, a URI scheme for information assets with identifiers in public namespaces * info (Unix), a command used to view documentation produc ...

Review
in

Page 6 ''Page 6'' (subtitled ''Atari Users Magazine'' and later known as ''Page 6 Atari User'', then ''New Atari User'') was an independent British publication aimed at users of Atari home computers. It was published between 1982 and 1998. The magazi ...

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