What were these old, classic games?

Or - Games I remember playing, but can't think of their names. Basically, here's the discription:


1 - This one was a (middle ages setting?) battle sim, I think (DOS based, in the mid 80's) where you could give your warriors different formations. (like a zigzag, arc, straight, random...). This one was a PC game.

2 - This one was an RPG (don't know if it was for the SNES, or Sega - I think for Sega). At the start of the game, you went to see the king (LARGE, and I mean LARGE labrynth-like castle - it had gray tiles, and the sky - blue with clouds - in the background). The princess was sitting next to the king, and after several option, a dragon would swoop down from the top the the screen and take the princess. The king accused you of doing it, and the gaurds walked you into the jail cell. This one is *NOT* Dragon Warrior. It had SNES/Sega graphics. (and was in English, not Japanese. I have Dragon Quest (Warrior) 5 & 6, and the graphics were nothing like this). The graphics were somewhat large.

3 - This game started in a fake language. I get the feeling that it might have been Elvish, but I'm not sure. You started (atleast when I played) in this town, in front of a house or something. The townspeople spoke in a foreign language. (This game was in the mid 80s, when EGA monitors were coming out) I do remember my uncle saying something about you had to find a translator? I this this one was an RPG. This was also a PC game. Could it have been Middle Earth? I don't think so.. that one had skimpy maps if I remember correctly...

So, what were these classic games?

@Cheftess - Whoh, thoes were way before I had a Computer

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I remember them all, now I want to play them, but the names elude me.

Is the second one Phantasy Star?

1) Might have been Zenturio - Defender of Rome (or is it written with an "C" in english? )

2) Sounds like Fatal Labyrinth for SEGA Genesis

3) No clue.

While we are at guessing old games, may I point your attention to another thread of that kind

http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17446

skullbones - the second one definetly sounds like phatasy star III. when the game started you were supposed to get married to the princess who had "mysteriously" appeared on a beach and suffered from amnesia. the king was your father.

the dragon (which was actually the princess' cousin in dragon form. came to take her away as he did not want her marrying his traditional enemies. the king put you in prison because he didnt want you chasing after her. of course getting out was real easy.

as you went through the game you played 3 generations of characters and eventually discovered that you were on a big starship. great game as were all the phantast star series.

The first one may be The Art of War, unless by "DOS" you mean ASCII.

Originally posted by cromagnon
The first one may be The Art of War, unless by "DOS" you mean ASCII.

Click to expand...

Not ASCII-based (not a text adventure).

This one was between 1983-1985 I think. I'm not sure what the colored graphics were like, since my uncle had a brown mono-colored monitor.


Anyway, for #2, I was looking at some screenshots of PS3, and I have to say, I do remember the town, since I remember the houses being rather huge for an RPG. I just don't remember the castle quite like that...

http://www.rpgclassics.com/shrines/genesis/ps3/maps/landen.shtml

thanks for the link cheiftess. i enjoyed reliving a couple of old games like phantasy star.

i wonder how they got those screen shots?

Originally posted by joycem10
thanks for the link cheiftess. i enjoyed reliving a couple of old games like phantasy star.

i wonder how they got those screen shots?

Click to expand...

ROMs and emulators...

BTW, the first one couldn't have been Centurio. That was in 1991 (just checked), and on the screen, you had 6-11 men at one time. It was more of a medival setting (swords, bows). I think in one scene, they were going through a really simplistic forest. Remember, this was the early to mid 80s.

BTW, while we're on the topic of old, classic games... I took a screenshot of a bird-thing (Phantasy Star 3) and made a random CGA-graphics scene (remember those?) using that bird. I was in a nostalgic, creative mood this morning.

Here's a drawing of what I remember of that one war/strat. game. It's very simplistic, and here's a few things from it:

1 - the background was black (again, this was with my uncle's monotone monitor).

2 - The selections on the bottom were the different formations. (zigzagged, arched, random)

3 - you could have a mixure of troops IIRC (like knights, archers...)

Your 'team' would start on the right side of the screen, and the AI on the left. They would then charge at each other.

Like Cromagnon said, that really looks like "The ancient art of war", I believe that was made by Broderbund software.

I can remember playing that game and hating how my barbarians weren't able to reach the enemies archers before they were shot. I really wasn't very good at the game I think.

Are you kidding?? It was a great game! Hard, but still fun. And yes, even though barbarians were supposed to be better vs archers, they would still get cut down. But once one reached the back lines...

BTW, CT, the screen you show (if it is indeed AAoW) was only the battle screen. There was also a map screen where you could move your troops (and select their marching pace), mix archers/knights/barbarian groups, rest at villages, etc.

It had some great scenarios, like the Robin Hood one, and the Genghis Khan one.

Yes, it does look like the one I was thinking of. Things look a lot differently when you're using your uncles monochrome monitor. Also, the first time I looked, I had found the Enhanced one (made in 1989).

BTW, I also hated those archers.

Anyway, that's 2 out of 3.

1 - Most likely Ancient Art of War.
2 - Most likely Phantasy Star 3
3 - Still remains as mysterious as the mysterious language in the game itself. (I can make a picture of this one. I have screenshots in my head! I could even make one of my other uncle's basement at the time I played it. flourescent lights, 5 computers, messy desk, etc.).

Here's the game screen. It was a top-down view (I'm not the best on representing it). The person was just to the right of center when you came out of the house (the black door thing). I THINK (I'm not certain), but, I think there was a signpost there. The green blobs were trees or something, and the house, I think, was brick/stone.

Hey, it's been 15-20 years!

Are you sure your uncle didn't "pirate" a game from another country? (hence, the foreign language...)

He did get games from his college... (UMCP - Where Falcon02 goes) Probably computers from classmates (and their games included). I still have a whole pile of them. Not sure where they came from.

But, it was in normal text, just jibberish. (by normal, I mean normal alphabet letters). I think the signpost may have been in English... not sure.. I think just the characters spoke a different langauge. I remember my uncle saying I needed a translator to understand them. Then again, I was assuming in the game...

You know... there was a part of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in which you needed to find a translator of sorts, and you started out by waking up and walking outside your house....

Originally posted by FortyJ
You know... there was a part of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in which you needed to find a translator of sorts, and you started out by waking up and walking outside your house....

Click to expand...

I know Babblefish is a good translator, but It cannot pick up typos and dialects.

@40J - What is the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?