Archon: The Light and the Dark

The Good
One of the best things I like about this game is that I have roughly 1,000,000,000 percent more chance beating Gary Kasparov at it than at regular chess. As in chess, each side has a variety of game pieces with different movement restrictions. Unlike chess, you don't automatically take away your opponent's game pieces by moving into them. In Archon, moving your piece into your opponent's piece initiates a combat screen where only one piece can emerge victorious (though not necessarily unscathed). Spots on the game board also have different properties. For example, white pieces are stronger when fighting in white squares. It's a brilliant way to play chess!

How about it, Gary? Each time our pieces end up in the same square, we arm wrestle for it? Chicken?

Each of the game pieces not only have different movement restrictions, but also have different speed and attack abilities during combat resolution. Think of it as playing the 80s version of Street Fighter, with the main difference being that each match you win or lose has strategic consequences in a bigger campaign.

Archon is best played against a human player. You and your friend will spend hours laughing and trying to poke the stuffings out of each other's powerful game pieces with worthless pieces like the Knight or the Barbarian. Yes, it is possible to kill the Wizard with the Barbarian. Go ahead and feel proud if you manage to do it against a human player.

The Bad
The AI is incredibly stupid, and why isn't Chun-Li in this one?!

The Bottom Line
This is a great fighting game with a strategic twist. I haven't seen anything quite like it in the last 15 years or so. IMHO, Capcom should steal the format from EA and replace the game pieces with characters from the Street Fighter and X-Men series. Now that would be cool!

The Good
This game is loads of fun. A great combination of action and strategy with a pile of unique characters. If that's not enough, let's throw in some magic!

The Bad
To really enjoy this game you need to play with a second player. The AI is limited and an experienced player will beat it with absolute ease every time.

The Bottom Line
Archon is an easy-to-learn and not-too-difficult-to-master action/strategy game that's as fun now as it was 25 years ago. If I could only find someone to play against.

The game is played out on a 9x9 board similar to a chess board. One player plays Light and the other plays Dark, which have their own unique army of mythological creatures. Among others, Light has a phoenix, golems, and unicorns whereas the Dark has a dragon, trolls, and basilisks. Unlike chess, pieces are not captured. If two pieces occupy the same space, they battle. Terrain, choice and placement of units, and time all have strategic significance. As the rounds cycle, certain parts of the board cause Light and Dark units to become weaker or more powerful, so choosing when and where to do battle is important. When it comes down to it, however, the player who's more skilled in battle is likely to have the edge.

I can't recommend this game enough. Most definitely my favourite Commodore 64 game ever.

The Good
Archon is quickly described as a fantasy chess game where the pieces fight over who takes the square. There is thankfully more to it than that simple explanation: The shifting tide of the game that distributes power from light to dark adds challenges (attack, or run?), and each piece has specific strengths and weaknesses (don't use the shapeshifter if you aren't a better player than your opponent). In other words, you can define your own strategy when playing.

The Bad
I understand that Archon was designed on an Atari 800 in 1983, but that doesn't excuse the quality of the graphics. Of course, the gameplay more than makes up for the quality of the graphics, but I can't help thinking they could've improved it before it was released.

The Bottom Line
If your strategy skills lie somewhere between checkers and chess, give Archon a try. It's a bonefide classic game.

The Good
Great concept and direction. Archon delivers not only great fun, but great strategy.

The Bad
Gameplay a little rough, even for the 80's.

The Bottom Line
Take chess and add in battles between great players with different strengths. That is what you get with Archon. This game nicely blends fierce battles with strategy and keeps the player entertained. You start off much like chess with your strong players on the back of the board and the "pawns" in the front. You must go through battles for spaces with the opposing color to gain your ground on the board. This is one of the top 5 games that C64 ever came out with. A must-try.

The Good
Well, starting with the gameplay - it's just superaddictive. The sequel (Archon Ultra) capitalizes on the already addictive type of play - sort of a mixture between chess and a fantasy, D&D type of thing. While I'm not sure on what platform the game originated I have to say that the opening music is generally very good, though it sounds horrible on the PC speaker.

The Bad
The graphics are really lame... and the computer is just too dumb.

The Bottom Line
Yet another typical Paul Reiche III classic.

The Good
The game mechanics are awesome. This game has always reminded me of the Chess sequence in Star Wars.

The Bad
The PC version is such a pale shadow of the game on the Atari or the C64. Not just the colors and the sound, but the fluidity of the character movements and attacks also.

The Bottom Line
One of the classics of the home computer age, but is constantly snubbed when re-released. Sale of the Nintendo version were poor, as well as the updated version Archon Ultra (released by SSI in the early 90's.)