CONVERSION CAPERS

HOW DOES MAGIC KNIGHT’S ADVENTURE FARE ON EACH SYSTEM?

ZX Spectrum

David Jones’ original must have the fastestmoving hero in Spectrum gaming, and the stages they explore are colourful and nicely rendered. The one negative is that the levels are silent bar for occasional sound effects, but these are quite effective. More importantly, its solid game design means that it’s still a joy to play today.

Amstrad CPC

A very close approximation of the Spectrum original, Ed Hickman’s Amstrad Spellbound has exactly the same graphics, but they’re depicted in just four colours. Its in-game music is identical to the Spectrum 128 iteration, and although it lacks any sound effects this doesn’t impact its gameplay.

Atari 8-bit

Although the Atari Spellbound retains the original’s gameplay,it suffers in other areas. Visually, it has lower res graphics than the other iterations, and it’s rendered in grey, green and mustard, which isn’t a good look. It doesn’t have any music, either, but it does have decent sound effects.

ZX Spectrum 128

Essentially David Jones’ bigger and better version of his original, the 128K Spellbound adds a threechannel in-game tune, colour (rather than white) characters and additional background graphics on some stages that were a little sparse in the 48K version. It also boasts extra rooms and puzzles.

Commodore 64

The Commodore 64 version perfectly replicates the original’s visuals, rather than using lower resolution sprites, and although its graphics aren’t as vibrant as its Spectrum counterpart’s this is no great loss. It’s the best-sounding Spellbound, although its soundtrack cuts out when a sound effect is triggered.