The archetypal Battle Kingdom - battles for princesses and against dragons - released on the Commodore 64

March 22, 2021, 15:52 Evgenia Germanova ред.

Retro publisher Psytronik Software and the prolific wizards of the Icon 64 team that two years ago was still called Hyperion, with its unchanged cast of designer-artist Trevor Story - about whose games they already create as many [documentaries](https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=T3wGNKxk26E), coder Achim Volkers and musician Saul Cross recently released a new arcade adventure Battle Kingdom for Commodore 64 with princesses, dragons and, of course, treasure! Everything is strictly according to the canon.

However, treasure isn't the main thing here, because our hero, Ser Bob, first of all was called upon to help the hapless citizens of the formerly peaceful kingdom, whose cities were flooded with the forces of darkness: sinister ghosts, undead, wild monsters and angry dragons. This task was not an easy one - to slay another dragon, our archer will have to collect all parts of the magic Master Sword, craftily hidden along the monster-infested and trapped buildings.

Moving around the map (which all fit on one screen), it's worth paying attention to those doors, from which the "inviting" yellow light beams. After defeating all creatures in the next room, the valiant knight receives a reward: some treasure, a bundle of +10 arrows or another fragment of the Master Sword. By the way, our Robert already has an unlimited number of arrows - all thanks to the Magic Quiver - but there's only 20 of them, and it takes time to magically replenish them. Which, by the way, might not be enough - if you snoop around the city map for too long, the dragon will worry and fry the sluggish knight and take his life. There are originally only three, but you can always get an extra one for every 2000 points (treasure). You also get an extra life for defeating the dragon. And a bit of revelry next to the princess. But nothing obscene.

Dealing with the first dragon (and freeing the first royal) is not too difficult. After that, however, the brave hero must thin out 7 more cities, rescue 7 more princesses, and defeat 7 more dragons (stronger, faster and, so to speak, "broad in the shoulders," while also summoning other minions of darkness), gathering, oddly enough, 7 more Master Swords. Why so many? It's unclear. Apparently, "that's the way it is."

You can buy the digital version of Battle Kingdom on the game's page for $5. It comes with .d64-, .tap- and .prg-images, which the authors recommend to run on the Commodore 64 lamp as well as on the "reborn" TheC64 Mini/Maxi. Or via an emulator, say VICE. Beautiful physical copies are available for pre-order for April on the Psytronik website in several variants, from a £2 poster or £9 cassette to a £15 premium disc version and a £25 disc Collector's Edition. There's even an option to order an empty collector's box for £15 (for aesthetes).