Page 35 - Old School Gamer Magazine Issue #40 FREE Edition

are well done. You can even hear Scarlet flapping her wings while she flies on the playing field before shooting the fireball. I should note that this game has a better AI than 2600 Warlords, so it is fun to play even if you have no human to play against. It, of course, shines when played against human opponents. Medieval Mayhem is an excellent port of arcade Warlords on the 2600 that is as much fun to play as the original.
ATARI 5200/8-BIT
Castle Crisis is the title of the homebrew port of Warlords for
both the Atari 5200 and Atari 8-Bit computers. This port was developed by Bryan Edewaard and released in 2004. Castle Crisis is intended to be an accurate port of Warlords and it achieves this well. This game looks as close to the arcade version as
possible on the 5200/8-Bit systems. The dragon, castle icons, and even the fireballs look just as they are supposed to. The castle walls are detailed and replicate their arcade counterparts pretty well. Their walls are rendered in a different color for each player, making this the only home version that represents each castle with its own color. Gameplay mechanics reflect those of the arcade and there are additional gameplay options available to add variety to an already great game. Sound effects are excellent and
the game controls well with the original 5200 controller or even 5200 paddle controllers if you have them! You can use 2600 paddle
controllers with the 8-bit version
of the game as well. You will
have fun with this version even
if you play it alone as the AI does provide a good challenge for the player. As with any other version of Warlords, though, Castle Crisis is far better enjoyed when competing against human opponents. This
is simply one of the best arcade ports available for the 5200 and the 8-Bit computers. If you are a fan of Warlords, you need to get this game.
BALLY ASTROCADE
War is a homebrew version of Warlords that was released by Riff Raff Games in 2007 for the Bally Astrocade. The game was programmed by Michael Garber and it saw a limited release as
a complete-in-box game. has excellent graphics that emulate the arcades quite well. The icons
in the castles are very similar to those of the arcade, though the castle walls are rendered in the same color for all the castles. It
is the color of the icons and the shields that are different to identify each player. The dragon appears
at the beginning of each wave as
in the arcade and is animated but
it remains in the middle of the screen and vanishes after shooting the fireball. The games do allow
for multiple fireballs on the screen and the player can catch the ball to shoot it with greater power. As in the arcade, holding onto the fireball for too long will cause damage to the player’s own castle. The game controls well with the Autocade’s
analog controllers and the action
is just as frenetic as in the original title. The fireballs may not move
as fast as they do on the arcade version but that doesn’t really take away from the experience. There is a bug on this game where the AI will grab and hold a fireball to see their own castle wall get damaged. Starting the calculator before the start of War will fix that glitch. Sound effects in this game are minimal but they work just fine. War is an excellent port of Warlords for the Astrocade that has a unique look on the system given all the colors that are displayed onscreen... something that is not typical of Astrocade games.
CONCLUSION
Warlords is an excellent four-player game no matter what version you play. Be it the original arcade, the 2600 version, or any of the various homebrew ports, this game is just
a fun variation of the Pong formula that is addicting, competitive, and just plain fun. This game is also an interesting story in parallel development given that the arcade and 2600 ports were created at the same time from the same basic idea. Warlords is timeless and certainly something to be enjoyed with friends and family. Now, excuse me as I grab my shield to defend my king!
MAY 2024 • WWW.OLDSCHOOLGAMER.COM
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