''Super Don Quix-ote'' (スーパードンキホーテ) is an arcade

laserdisc video game An interactive film is a video game or other interactive media that has characteristics of a cinematic film. In the video game industry, the term refers to a movie game, a video game that presents its gameplay in a cinematic, scripted manner, ...

released by

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

. In it, the player controls the knight

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

as he attempts to rescue a princess from an evil witch. ''Super Don Quix-ote'' is loosely based on the novel ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...

'', while the laserdisc format is similar to other laserdisc games such as ''

Dragon's Lair ''Dragon's Lair'' is a video game franchise created by Rick Dyer and Don Bluth. The series is famous for its Western animation-style graphics and complex decades-long history of being ported to many platforms and being remade into television a ...

'' and ''

Space Ace ''Space Ace'' is a LaserDisc video game produced by Bluth Group, Cinematronics and Advanced Microcomputer Systems (later renamed RDI Video Systems). It was unveiled in October 1983, just four months after the ''Dragon's Lair'' game, followed b ...

''. The major difference that set ''Super Don Quix-ote'' apart is an overlaid icon indicating the time and direction of each correct

quick time event In video games, a quick time event (QTE) is a method of context-sensitive gameplay in which the player performs actions on the control device shortly after the appearance of an on-screen instruction/prompt. It allows for limited control of the ...

input, whereas all other laserdisc games at the time gave no indication of correct moves, except an occasional "flash" incorporated into the animation itself.

Plot

The game is loosely inspired by its namesake, ''

'', and features a heroic young knight named Don on a quest to save his love, the fair princess Isabella, who has been kidnapped by a wicked witch for

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...

to a demon. Don is accompanied on his travels by a donkey (based on

Rocinante Rocinante () is Don Quixote's horse in the two-part 1605/1615 novel ''Don Quixote'' by Miguel de Cervantes. In many ways, Rocinante is not only Don Quixote's horse, but also his double; like Don Quixote, he is awkward, past his prime, and ...

, the original Don Quixote's horse), and a fat little man named Sancho (based on Don Quixote's trusty sidekick

Sancho Panza Sancho Panza () is a fictional character in the novel ''Don Quixote'' written by Spanish author Don Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote and provides comments throughout the novel, known as ''sanchismos'', ...

). The closest parallel to the original tale is a scene in which Don fights a giant at a windmill. However, the rest of the game pits him against a mummy, a dragon, skeletons, demons, giant snakes, flying electric jellyfish, an animated totem pole, the witch's daughter, and other scenarios with no relation to the original story. The game ends when Don kills the witch and rescues Isabella, and they escape the witch's castle as it is destroyed.

Universal System 1

''Super Don Quix-ote'' was the first and only game released for the Universal System 1, a standardized laserdisc video game system. Several other games were planned for this cabinet, but were never released: ''Adventure in Middle Earth'', ''Adventure Mr. Do!'', ''Time Slip'', ''Circus Circus'', ''Space Dracula'', and ''Wilderness Kingdom''. Another laserdisc game from Universal following a similar flashing quick-time event format was ''Captain Zapp'', which had a motorbike

vehicular combat Vehicular combat games (also known as just vehicular combat or car combat) are a sub-genre of vehicle simulation video games where the primary objectives of gameplay include vehicles armed with weapons attempting to destroy vehicles controlled b ...

theme. It was the only laserdisc game to be demonstrated at

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

's Associated Leisure Preview '86 (Arcadia '86) show in October 1985.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Super Don Quix-ote'' on their December 15, 1984 issue as being the most-successful upright arcade unit of the month. ''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...

'' magazine gave it a generally positive review in December 1984, stating the "movements of all the characters are very smooth and beautifully depicted" with praise for the arrows and signs; though the reviewer didn't think the game "is as much fun" as ''Dragon's Lair'', the review said ''Don Quix-ote'' is "a lot less frustrating and should be a real catch in the arcades." Mike Roberts gave it a highly positive review in the April 1985 issue of ''Computer Gamer'' magazine, calling it the "latest masterpiece" laserdisc game and stating that it improves on ''Dragon's Lair'' and ''Space Ace'' in terms of the graphics and playability, with the flashing hints making the gameplay clearer and less confusing than earlier laserdisc games.

References

External links

*
''Super Don Quix-ote''
at Gaming-History {{Don Quixote 1984 video games Arcade video games Arcade-only video games Fantasy video games Full motion video based games LaserDisc video games Single-player video games Video game clones Video games developed in Japan Video games about witchcraft Works based on Don Quixote