The Master of Magic C64 (HQ Remake) - Title ("Shibolet" by Synergy) (Crystallized)
27This piece was commissioned by Xerardo. Thank you!
The Master of Magic is an early RPG released in 1985. It was developed by budget-minded developer Mastertronic and published under its M.A.D. Games label.
The History of Mastertronic/M.A.D. Games:
Mastertronic was a budget brand of games that was very successful early on. Disenchanted by the sudden competition in that market, they would go on to purchase Melbourne House and attempt to enter the arcade market under a project called "Arcadia", which was based around the powerful Commodore Amiga chipset. It was a colossal failure that ended in their merger with Virgin Interactive as they took heavy losses from that venture. They became Virgin Mastertronic and would continue to release games under the Virgin Games, Melbourne House and Mastertronic labels.
Recognizing by 1987 that Sega Master System had no European distributor, and to the detriment of their game development arm, they focused their efforts on Sega distribution. Its developers were adrift and were eventually absorbed into Sega. The distribution side would continue under the Virgin Interactive label. Sega Europe was born.
Their notable contributions to gaming history are the rise of the Darling Brothers who would go on to form Codemasters (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Codemasters_video_games), Mr. Chip Software (famous for their Lotus racing games), and the fact that they got Rob Hubbard to make music for their budget games. Ultimately, they understood that distribution was the bigger side of the business and chose that over development.
The Master of Magic (not to be confused with the PC 4X game, Master of Magic):
"Thelric the Wizard has kidnapped you by beaming you into his world, and will only set you free if you recover for him the Amulet of Immortality. The game engine is menu-driven, using the joystick to select options from menus to activate each of the game's main functions. The screen display has both top down and side-view representations of what is going on around you, plus measures of your mind and body health, and an inventory.
To help, Thelric teaches you four spells - a magic missile to attack creatures, a burn spell which works over a wide radius, a spell to drain enemy energy, and a magical shield. Additional weapons (including daggers and a mace) and potions can be collected throughout your quest."
-Moby Games
This song is a cover of "Shibolet" by the band Synergy, from their 1981 album "Audion" (which is a masterpiece).
Original score by Synergy ©1981, arranged for C64 and ZX Spectrum by Rob Hubbard ©1985
This version is Copyrighted ©2023 Pieces of 8-bit
Where applicable, All Rights Reserved
You can listen to the original song here: https://youtu.be/Q-_iTC5E9nU?t=2065