''Legend of the Sword'' is a 1988 fantasy interactive fiction video game developed by Silicon Soft and published by Rainbird Software for the Atari ST. Ports for the Amiga and

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...

were released later. A

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...

version was expected to release shortly after the Atari ST version but was never released. A sequel, '' The Final Battle'', was released in 1990.

Plot

The lands of Anar have been invaded by the forces of an evil wizard, Suzar. In times past, a magical sword and shield guarded the inhabitants. The player character and his

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...

set out to search for the items in order to stop the wizard.

Gameplay

The interface is divided into four areas, the top left is used for images which change depending the situation, the top right is the scrolling map area, the middle shows the movement commands and hitpoints which are depicted as a burning candle. The bottom third of the screen is used for text display.

Development

''Legend of the Sword'' was in development for over two years. The development started when Karl Buckingham decided to write a novel about a dream he had. When talking to Colin Mongardi, he decided to write it as a video game instead. He hadn't played an adventure game before and after playing ''

The Pawn ''The Pawn'' is an interactive fiction game for the Sinclair QL written by Rob Steggles of Magnetic Scrolls and published by Sinclair Research in 1985. In 1986, graphics were added and the game was released for additional home computers by Rai ...

'', decided his game wasn't going to have any vague puzzles. Silicon Soft was based in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

, England and was set up under the Enterprise Allowance Scheme. The game was designed by a three-person team of Buckingham, Mongardi, and Eugene Messina for the

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Si ...

. When finished, they contacted publisher

Mastertronic Mastertronic was originally a publisher and distributor of low-cost computer game software founded in 1983. Their first games were distributed in mid-1984. At its peak the label was one of the largest software publishers in the UK, achieved by ...

but didn't like their offhand approach to the game. Next was Rainbird which required a

16-bit 16-bit microcomputers are microcomputers that use 16-bit microprocessors. A 16-bit register can store 216 different values. The range of integer values that can be stored in 16 bits depends on the integer representation used. With the two mo ...

version because they thought an Amstrad version wouldn't sell, also an additional six months of development time was requested by the publisher in collaboration with their development team. The game was then remade for the Atari ST and written in the C programming language.

Reception

'' Computer and Video Games'' said the parser is not up to Infocom standard but concluded that the game "should establish Silicon Soft as among the best of adventure producers ..ref name="CVG"/> ''

The Games Machine ''The Games Machine'' is a video game magazine that was published from 1987 until 1990 in the United Kingdom by Newsfield, which also published ''CRASH'', '' Zzap!64'', '' Amtix!'' and other magazines. History The magazine ran head to head wi ...

'' said " e screen layout and control of the game are what make Legend of the Sword work so well." '' Amiga User International'' praised the parser as "a delight" and also commended the game's "sheer playability" and user friendliness. ''Your Amiga'' called it "a competent and good-looking adventure" but said it's "treading some well-hallowed but tired ground".

Reviews

*'' Jeux & Stratégie'' #53 *''

Amiga Computing ''Amiga Computing'' was a monthly computer magazine of a serious nature, published by Europress and IDG in both the UK and USA. A total of 117 issues came out. The games section was called Gamer, although later '' Amiga Action'' was incorporated ...

'', ''

Amiga Format ''Amiga Format'' was a British computer magazine for Amiga computers, published by Future plc. The magazine lasted 136 issues from 1989 to 2000. The magazine was formed when, in the wake of selling '' ACE'' to EMAP, Future split the dual-format ...

'', and ''

CU Amiga ''Commodore User'', known to the readers as the abbreviated ''CU'', was one of the oldest British Commodore magazines. With a publishing history spanning over 15 years, it mixed content with technical and video game features. Incorporating ''Vi ...

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ACE An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

'' #11 *''

Tilt Tilt may refer to: Music * Tilt (American band), a punk rock group, formed in 1992 * Tilt (British band), an electronic music group, formed in 1993 * Tilt (Polish band), a rock band, formed in 1979 Albums * ''Tilt'' (Cozy Powell album), 1981 * ...

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References

External links

*
''Legend of the Sword''
at the Hall of Light

at Atari Mania *{{Internet Archive game, legswor, Legend of the Sword 1980s interactive fiction 1988 video games Amiga games Atari ST games Cancelled Amstrad CPC games Cancelled classic Mac OS games DOS games Fantasy video games Single-player video games Telecomsoft games Video games developed in the United Kingdom