There are only three dungeons to be found in the game of Questron: the Mountain Catacombs, the Dungeon of Death, and Mantor’s Mountain. There may only be three dungeons but they are sprawling, trap filled, treasure laden affairs. The Mountain Catacombs and Dungeon of Death both consist of 8 levels. Mantor’s Mountain is a massive 17 level dungeon with the 18th level playing much like the exploration of the castle in the game.
The dungeons consist of wireframe graphics which you explore from a first- person perspective. The layout of each dungeon level is not randomized but static and thus can be mapped out. The monsters that you encounter in the dungeons are completely different from those you encounter on the outdoor map. I was amazed at the sheer variety of creatures that you encounter and at how well the wire-frame graphics for each were. The dungeons are also filled with deadly traps and I found myself constantly searching for traps at every turn. You do so by pressing X (for e(X)amine) on the keyboard. The moment you forget to do so I guarantee you will blunder into a trap that can cause thousands of hit points worth of damage and even blindness.
The main goal in the Mountain Catacombs is to find the safe located on the 8th level of the dungeon. Inside the safe is an iron key and it is then that you realize you’ve found the way to bypass the iron door so that you can enter the Dungeon of Death.
The Dungeon of Death I found to be a much deadlier affair than the Mountain Catacombs. The strength and brutality of the monsters encountered in this dungeon gets ratcheted up a notch.
The main goal in the Dungeon of Death was to apparently find the safe located on the 8th level. Inside the safe I found a diamond ring and I had no clue as to it’s purpose or how to use it.
When I left the Dungeon of Death and returned to the town of Snake Landing I found that I could purchase an eagle for transport and so I did.
I also failed to mention that I found a compass locked within a chest on the 1st dungeon level of the Mountain Catacombs. When you find the compass you’re then able to tell which direction you’re traveling within the dungeons making it an important item.
Besides the ability to purchase an eagle, I also discovered I gained enough experience to be able to purchase and outfit myself with a magic shield and a battle axe. The magic shield does a much better job of protection and absorbing damage than the plate mail does and the battle axe, while dealing more damage, also increases the “range” in which you’re able to use it. These were significant upgrades for me.
I would soon discover that I now possessed all that I needed in order to defeat Mantor. Now, astride my new aerial steed, I began to fly about and explore the Lands of Evil. I discovered four more towns much like Snake Landing: Devil Lake Post, Lizard Crossing, Bay Ridge, and Island View. There were no new or significant items to obtain from any of these other towns. I also discovered, in the northeast corner of the Land of Evil Map and just off the coast, a small island. Only accessible via my eagle mount.
On this remote island I discovered the game’s third dungeon and Mantor’s secret hideout, aptly named Mantor’s Mountain. In anticipation of this endgame, I had spent some time grinding and building up my character and resources. I kept going back to the Mountain Catacombs and Dungeon of Death and I kept battling creatures, amassing gold, and then purchasing hit points in Snake Landing. I judged that over 50,000 experience points should be adequate to begin my foray into Mantor’s dungeons. I also began to stock up heavily on Fireballs and especially Stone Spells. I like the Stone Spell because as you move into the deeper dungeon levels the game has the tendency to suddenly throw several monsters at you at the same time. The ability to “freeze” all of them for at least 10 rounds while you proceed to bash their face in is invaluable.
While grinding, I also discovered a couple of chests that contained a Magic Powder and urn that increased my Stamina by 10! Once I felt I had enough hit points and enough spells I began my descent into Mantor’s Mountain. It was then I discovered the value of the Diamond Ring that I found on the last level of the Dungeon of Death. You can only gain entrance to Mantor’s Mountain if the Diamond Ring is in your possession. Think of it like a key.
I initially thought Mantor’s Mountain would contain 8 dungeon levels like the previous two dungeons in the game. I was surprised to discover how wrong that assumption was the deeper and deeper I delved. It was during the exploration of level 17 that I was approached by an air elemental that offered to lead me to a safe for the entire 20,000 gold pieces I possessed. I’ve always been somewhat of an impulse buyer so I said ‘yes’.
The air elemental did indeed lead me to a safe and when I unlocked it, the safe revealed a hidden shaft down. I climbed down this shaft to the 18th, and what would be the final, level and found myself in Mantor’s stronghold. From this moment all the way until the very finish of the game represents an extremely entertaining finish. I’ll go so far as to say that no game up to this point has gone out of its way to end with such a dramatic flourish as Questron does here. In many games we receive only one line of praise for all of our hours of hard work. I do understand that much of this was due to the hardware limitations of the time, and the authors wanting to pack as much into the game as they could, but no other game to this point has a longer ending sequence or a more dramatic finish then the show that Questron puts on.
The 18th level of Mantor’s Mountain is not like the previous 17 wireframe dungeon levels. Now you find yourself in his secret lair and this plays more like exploration of the castle in the game. When you first reach the level Mantor is aware of your arrival and initiates the death device which is meant to destroy all of Questron. While you traverse this level you can hear through music and sound affects the countdown as it speeds towards completion. Your first problem will be getting through all of the minions he has stationed throughout the complex. I still had about half of my 50,000 hit points so I still felt confident at this point. It was fortuitous that I spent so much time grinding in preparation for the end game.
There were many minions to have to wade through but eventually far to the north I encountered two locked doors. One to the left and the other to the right. I used my gold key to unlock the door on the left first and discovered Mantor within his lair. Luckily, I saved at this point because I was defeated by Mantor quite easily until I realized I needed to use the Magic Powder that I found in the dungeon. Each round Mantor casts a spell which deals 500 damage to you. However, I discovered using the Magic Powder caused Mantor to stagger. If you walk all the way up to Mantor and then use the Magic Powder it destroys him!
Once you defeat Mantor you come into possession of the Book of Magic. I then took the Book of Magic and made my way over to the other door that had been locked (to the right). I used the gold key to unlock that door as well and found what looks to be a computer in the room.
It was then that I used the Book of Magic which in turn destroyed Mantor’s deadly device.
Once the machine was destroyed I was a bit confused as to what to do next. I had expected some kind of congratulatory note at that time but received nothing. I discovered that if I went back to Mantor’s throne room and used the Book of Magic there that it teleported me back to the castle.
I then made my way to the king and there was much fanfare. All of his soldiers lined up to salute me and the musicians played a long and pleasing song to me in tribute. He then made me a baron of all the lands within 10 days travel of Geraldtown and I was crowned Baron Fitz.
I was then told that Mesron wanted to speak with me. I sighed and went in search of Mesron and soon stood before him. He congratulated me as well but then told me that the book that I used to defeat Mantor is a vile, evil thing and must be destroyed, and that it was ultimately only me that could do so. I was then whisked away, with only the book and gold key in my possession, and then a blurb to watch for Questron II appeared on the screen.
I thoroughly enjoyed this game. If you’ve never played this one and enjoy old school dungeon crawlers and role-playing games I strongly suggest you do so. I think that it gets unfairly categorized as merely an Ultima clone however I feel that it really stands tall on its own merits.
I spent about 20 hours in total with the game and enjoyed every one of them. The overall plot, originality of the creatures, the pacing, the games of chance in each town, the way that hit points are handled, the fight with the big bad and the overall end sequence all serve to make this one a very solid and strong entry in my opinion. It is the only game I’ve played from the 1984 list but it already feels like it could be the strongest entry from the list. We’ll soon see.
Next up on the docket: I am returning to the wonderful world of Eamon and the character of Fost Longstrider as he tackles his 8th adventure in the series: The Abductor’s Quarters. Until next time…