Sword & Sorcery II was written by Barry L. Adams and published as a “type in” program in the August 1980 issue of 80 Microcomputing magazine. This is an odd game and plays more like a “pick your own adventure path” than a CRPG however your combat ability does increase when you defeat an opponent.
Most of the game is text based and it does sport some minor graphics. When combat with the dragon ensues the game switches from text to an arcade mode.
The premise is standard fantasy fare. An elf princess has been abducted by an evil necromancer and placed in a dungeon in the Old Forest. Your quest is to rescue the princess and along the way you’ll face multiple dangers.
When the game begins there is a random chance that you are presented with the option to have a dryad accompany you. I recommend you ALWAYS choose to have her join your quest because she helps you choose the most beneficial path to take. If you choose the wrong path then the following ensues:
There are no combat options. If you choose the wrong random path you are automatically eaten by a giant spider and the game then ends. I cannot tell you how many times I had to start the game over from the beginning. I died again and again and again. If it wasn’t from the arachnid then it was from the dragon which I’ll expound upon later. I also died multiple times from one-on-one combat with a troll warrior.
Once you’re given the possible option of a dryad companion you’ll then be asked if you’d like to consult the Oracle. You are told there are three paths through the forest however only one path is true. If you answer YES that you want to consult the Oracle; he will then shockingly ask you how many virgins you’d like to sacrifice. You have to walk a tightrope here – if your respond back with a number that is too small the Oracle will become offended and refuse to help you. If you respond with a number that is too high you’ll please the Oracle but offend the Dryad who will cast a curse upon you and then leave. I found that 2 to 3 virgins seemed to please both parties though I found the sacrifice of virgins lamentable.
Once the Oracle sets you on the right path; I believe it slightly increases your luck for the random results. The dryad will also help you when you come to multiple forks in the forest. You may ask her advice and most times she will give it. Sometimes she is also perplexed by what choice to make.
There are multiple random encounters or obstacles between you and your ultimate goal of rescuing the princess. You can find a Magic Sword which increases your combat skill, encounter a snake, a pack of rats, satyrs, and even a hot dog seller. You can also fall into a pit and if you are unable to climb out on your own you’ll have to call for help. Whether you successfully climb out of the pit or not is completely random. When you have to resort to calling for help; who helps you is completely random as well. Sometimes you luck out and are saved by a little old lady and other times you are enslaved by goblins and forced into combat against a troll warrior to escape.
The combat with the troll warrior is long and quite humorous. If you win, and again your success or failure is completely random, then you can move on and continue your quest. The writing and descriptions for all of these locations and encounters are very well done and quite funny.
The encounter with the dragon is what had me pulling my hair out in frustration.
If you encounter the dragon the game switches to an arcade mode and your character is then placed at a random distance away from the dragon. You use the . key and the ; key to move away from the dragon or towards the dragon while it constantly breathes fire at you. You have to avoid it’s dragon breath and get close enough to stab it. If you’re hit by the dragon breath you die instantly and have to start the game all over again. I learned to despise this loathsome beast and I awarded it with the evil moniker of MOTHER-IN-LAW.
When you do finally reach the dungeon you have to try and sneak past the sleeping guard and if you’re discovered you then have to hope that you randomly win the combat to get inside.
Once you do finally get past the guard and rescue the princess you are finally awarded with the screen depicted above. It took a lot of patience and perseverance to continue to restart this game in the hope of making it to the end. It just barely qualifies as a CRPG. Once you defeat the dragon in combat your combat skills go up significantly so that when you do encounter a troll in the Old Forest, which is often, you have a much greater chance of winning the combat.
This is one of the things I love the most about what I am doing here. Unearthing and encountering these very early and older CRPGs is a real treat. It is a lot of heartache getting some of them to work but you just never know what it is you’re going to get. While Sword & Sorcery II might not be for everybody, you have to remember that many early home computer purchasers were role-playing game enthusiasts. They were like desert nomads in search of water. So every very early fantasy offering that came out like a drop of water for a parched throat.
Next up on the docket is Dungeon of Danger.
Until next time…