Defender of the Crown was developed by Cinemaware and released onto the Amiga, and other platforms, in 1986. The game features simple strategy elements as well as arcade action sequences, all guided using the standard Amiga mouse. Let's check it out.

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Production Notes:
Captured: 9th October 2021
Narrated: 29th April 2022

This is a game I've been waiting to cover since the start of these shows, along with the likes of Battle Chess and Test Drive 2, and all the other mega hit games which flooded out of America; which have been reviewed a long time ago. This game was a question mark because of the aspect ratio, and it took until fairly recently for me to get my head around the NTSC issues which we simply did not know about back in those days.

I pulled out all the stops to present this game at it's best. I used an NTSC setup which was sent in to me and verified as authentic by an American (Shot97), which I've used over the years to test NTSC games. It seems to have a black border around everything, which I understand is correct. There is also an image of Jim Sachs as pixel art in the video (and cover art), but I dont know if that image was perfect NTSC? To soften the slow-downs when loading each new section, where the music freezes, I used an NTSC 030 setup, with a standard WHDLoad install of the game.

As you can see in the video, I was thwarted by dumb tactics. It important to raid the castles which have the most money, and to attack the strongholds as soon as possible, so that most of that factions land will then return to you, and deliver a big bonus in income. I hadn't played Defender of the Crown since the 1990s when I booted it up in 2021, so I was going into it cold. I cant remember if I ever beat the game back then, as I dont remember any special tactics to play it. Recently I looked up the solution to the Jousting section, and this is mentioned in the review. Of course back then, nobody knew how to do that section.

There are a number of images in the video, which are mainly books about Ivanhoe, so not must story to follow in this one. They aren't very big on the screen so as not to take away from the game itself. The narration was recorded without my back teeth, in case you notice it. Still no sign of any new ones. At least we have dentistry, unlike the middle ages!

Danscore:
Defender of the Crown may seem almost like an antiquity in itself. The dawn of Cinemaware, and the action RPG graphic-novel adventure genre of games, which was a huge leap up from the likes of Maniac Mansion. The graphics were 10 years ahead of their time, as SVGA didnt become a standard on the PC until around 1995. The sequences borrow from the Epyx line of sports titles, and each mini game can be mastered in the same way. Of course RJ Mical moved on to Epyx after the Amiga came out in 1985, to create the Lynx, so maybe he already had a connection with Epyx at that time? Either way, the game turned out well, with period-style music, delicate tapestry artwork, and finely trained controls; to create a standard, a pillar, a knock-out blow to the Apple II and most 8-bit platforms of that time. It still has that same charming candle-lit atmosphere, that same teleport back to those times, even though the strategy element might not be so deep. I give it 9/10.

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