Dragonsphere

The Good
Simple yet has great hand-drawn graphics. Good background music, while it's been out only at the begining of 1994. You don't get bored with this game. It's not too hard and not easy at all.

The Bad
What didn't I like? Umm, nothing? When I started playing it seriously I didn't stop before I managed to finish it. The ending was a bit disappointing but still, You can't expect a real outro for no CD games, could you?

The Bottom Line
If you liked the basic idea behind King's Quest series this one is kind of better since it makes a whole new world and doesn't use the Greek mythology and other things as in King's Quest.

The Good
Its a medieval fantasy point-and-click adventure. I like the genre and I liked this. I especially liked the butterfly king on the toadstool (see screen shots). The story itself is good, and takes an unexpected and interesting turn half-way through, when you turn out to be something other than you think you are.

The Bad
It's a bit murky - both graphics and sound. In one way this adds atmosphere, but on another it suggests that the developers were short of cash. It has the feel of an older game, as if it was a long time in development. For example, although released on CD, the music has the plinky-plonky quality of older games that fit on a couple of floppies, and the voice acting is pretty poor, to the point I had to switch it off.

The Bottom Line
Not the best introduction to the genre - but worth playing all the same.

The Good
"Dragonsphere" (1994) has all the basic ear marks of a great third person perspective, point n' click, graphic adventure game, i.e. an original storyline, locations to explore, characters to talk with, items to pick up and puzzles to solve. For the early 1990's, the graphics and music are good and the game even tosses in some nice, unexpected, plot twists.

The Bad
Michael Bross worked on the music and has talent shines through. However, the other sound effects are largely forgettable. The voice talents are not bad, but they never go far beyond what one might expect from a B movie on the science fiction cable channel. While the storyline does demonstrate real creativity, it’s hard to avoid the homage’s to Tolkien and other well known sources of fantasy art and fiction. In terms of game play, the Microprose Adventure Development System provides for smooth point n’ click gaming. Time limits in adventure games generally bother me, although it is a logical extension of the storyline. This is not for novice adventure gamers as many of the puzzles are actually quite challenging and death is frequent.

The Bottom Line
"Dragonsphere" (1994) is a challenging point n' click graphic adventure game set in an original, but familiar, fantasy based world of monsters, might and magic. It may be too hard for novice adventure gamers, and it is probably not the best introduction to the genre. Yet, more experienced adventure gamers should give it a try.