Fairlight (ZX Spectrum) - Let's Play 1001 Games - Episode 476
19Exploring the yellow and cyan dungeons of yore
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I'm Gaming Jay: Youtube gamer, let's player, fan of retro games, and determined optimist... Join me in this series while I try out EACH of the video games in the book 1001 VIDEO GAMES YOU MUST PLAY BEFORE YOU DIE, before I die. The game review for each game will focus on the question of whether you MUST play this game before you die. But to be honest, the game review parts are just for fun, and are not meant to be definitive, in depth reviews; this series is more about the YouTube gamer journey itself. From Mario games to the Halo series, from arcade games to Commodore 64, PC games to the NES and Sega Genesis, Playstation to the Xbox, let's play those classic retro games that we grew up with, have fond memories of, or heard of but never got a chance to try! And with that said, the game review for today is...
Fairlight
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairlight_(video_game)
Fairlight is an isometric projection arcade adventure video game developed by Bo Jangeborg and Jack Wilkes at The Edge and released in 1985. Developed in seven months, Jangeborg created the GRAX game engine using some prior code and components from his earlier project, graphics package The Artist. Wilkes contributed art assets towards the game, including enemy sprites and the title screen. The game was well received critically and commercially, selling over 50,000 copies; a sequel Fairlight II was released in 1986.
The game revolves around the protagonist Isvar, and his quest to find the Book of Light for the court sorcerer, in order for them to escape Castle Avars.
The ZX Spectrum version was one of the first (along with Technician Ted) to have an interactive loader - instead of the usual yellow/blue loading bars, a counter at the bottom of the screen ran backwards indicating how long until the game had loaded.
The player controls an adventurer named Isvar who can explore a castle displayed in an isometric view. Each object has its own physical properties and resultant characteristics in terms of how much else can be carried alongside it. Certain objects have special uses (e.g. keys open certain doors), and there is a puzzle element to the game to discover how some of these objects relate to the world in order to help the player solve the game.
In addition to carrying objects, they could also be stacked on top of each other to enable Isvar to climb up to rooms above him or to reach objects otherwise out of reach. There are also a number of secret areas in the castle that are not visually obvious to the player and can only be discovered through exploration.
During Isvar's exploration of the castle he is accosted by its guards and monsters - trolls, monks, guards, tornadoes, man-eating plants, bubbles, etc. all of which weaken Isvar's energy. The castle also contains food and magical potions which will restore his health. In addition, certain game objects can affect the enemies (by either killing them, distracting them, or freezing them, depending on the object and the type of enemy they are used upon).
Once defeated in combat a guard disappears leaving only his helmet behind. Helmets can be picked up and carried by Isvar, and placed somewhere else out of harm's way (or into the path of a tornado, that destroys any object it touches). If Isvar leaves the room, the guard will regenerate from the helmet.