Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2 - Martian Dreams

Moby ID: 1625
DOS Specs

Description official descriptions

Following the events depicted in The Savage Empire, the Avatar and his friend Dr. Spector receive a book that contains the knowledge of time traveling. They are taken to the year 1893, witnessing Percival Lowell prepare a space cannon not unlike the one described in Jules Verne's works, with the intention of sending humans to Mars. However, due to unforeseen circumstances, the cannon is fired during the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, with several famous people of the time on board. The Avatar and his companions follow, only to be transferred into the mysterious and dangerous world of the Martian civilization.

The second entry in the Worlds of Ultima series is very similar to its predecessor visually and gameplay-wise. Like the first game, it utilizes the Ultima VI engine, and is a top-down role-playing game set in a seamless graphical environment and featuring turn-based party combat. Conversations with characters, interaction with the game world, and acquiring crucial items occupy a significant portion of the gameplay. Many supporting characters are famous real-world figures from the depicted time period, such as Marie Curie, Sigmund Freud, Nikola Tesla, and others.

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (DOS version)

35 People · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 78% (based on 9 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 33 ratings with 6 reviews)

An imaginitive, fun, and highly underrated game.

The Good
The plot is terrific! You are stranded with the most famous people of the 19th century...on mars! You must solve the mysteries of the red planet to escape. The plot also involves aliens, dream worlds, robots, the canal system of mars, and more. Although it has rpg elements, it feels more like an adventure game. The funnest part of the game involves advancing the plot, not simply beefing up your characters' statistics like many rpgs.

The Bad
The only thing I could complain about would be the text interface used to communicate with the characters in the game. The player types in words or phrases and the character responds. I would have better liked a multiple choice communication system.

The Bottom Line
This game has all the good role-playing-game elements of the ultima series combined with the best elements of great adventure games.

DOS · by Ben Sokal (15) · 2000

An Epic, Out Of This World Rpg Adventure!

The Good
This game, puts you - the Avatar, and your friends in Mars, Ultima style! . You get to meet many people who made history and the game gives you the ability to engage in meaningful and informative conversations with them. Each character comes alive in Martian Dreams and your involvement in the game is profound. The innovations in technology, and the ability to use various tools and machines in the game world is tremendous.

The graphics are cool, reflecting the craters and imaginary plants and canals, ridges and cliffs, which all look convincingly original. You get to experience what Percival Lowell's idea of how the "martian canals" all look like. And when you get to melt the polar caps (using a lens from a tower) and direct the water into the canals, it's an absolute beauty to watch the water filled canals. The whole Mars comes alive!

The music is fitting for the given atmosphere, and the mood changes according to the situation. The music right from the Intro and Character generation is absolutely brilliant, though at certain places, things could have been better.

The game uses the Ultima VI engine, with slightly modified graphics engine to suit the new Mars world, and as in the Ultima of Britannia, you get to use any (or almost any) little item that you see! The extensive level of game-world-item manipulation is right there!

I and my best friend played this game those days and completed this game, using nothing but the manual and the provided map. No walkthrough whatsoever! (Those days, internet was in it's infancy and walkthrough are difficult to come across.) And the whole adventure was such an epic that we celebrated the ending of the game cheerfully with a sense of great accomplishment!

The Bad
The RPG elements could have been better utilized. (But this game is more about adventuring anyway). The dream world while using the "Dream Machine" could get a bit annoying or confusing at times.

The Bottom Line
Guys, this is Quality Adventuring! The whole game just shouts quality all the way from the intro till the very end. Follow the pace of the game and live the experience to it's fullest!

DOS · by sfdf (6) · 2004

One of my favorite games of all out of the Ultima series

The Good
The graphics were small, but very well done. The music was original. It was very evocative of the 1800's. Even a friend of mine who dislikes computer games couldn't help commenting on the music and how great it sounded. The storyline was imaginative and interesting, and the Martian civilization was original to me. I also liked the idea of the Dream Machines. The fact that you could talk to many different people from that era was wonderful--it was a bit of a dream come true. I know many people did not seem to like this game when it first came out, but I loved it. It was the first Ultima game I ever played, and it still remains my most favorite. They even had the Face on Mars there! This was a very clean-running program.

The Bad
Not much. The endless walking around could get annoying, but eventually you'd do less of it as the game progresses. The Dream Worlds tended not to be as interesting as the rest of the game itself. I thought this was a refreshing break from Britannia.

The Bottom Line
Though it isn't set in Britannia, this is a wonderful game nonetheless. Give the game a try, and you won't be disappointed.

DOS · by OceansDaughter (106) · 2002

[ View all 6 player reviews ]

Trivia

The Worlds of Ultima (or Worlds of Adventure) series was originally intended have more games than just two. Some planned settings for the games were King Arthur's Britain and ancient Greece complete with the local gods.

Analytics

MobyPro Early Access

Upgrade to MobyPro to view research rankings!

Related Games

Martian
Released 2001 on Windows
Martian
Released 1979 on Exidy Sorcerer
Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire
Released 1990 on DOS, 2012 on Macintosh, Windows...
Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds
Released 1993 on DOS, 1995 on PC-98, Windows
Martian Potato
Released 2020 on Windows
Martian Raider
Released 1982 on VIC-20
Martian Invaders
Released 1980 on Exidy Sorcerer
Martian Memorandum
Released 1991 on DOS, Linux, 2014 on Windows
Martian Wrath
Released 1983 on Apple II

Related Sites +

  • Crapshoot
    A humorous review of the game
  • Nuvie
    If you have an original copy of "Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams", you can use Nuvie to run it on modern systems.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 1625
  • [ Please login / register to view all identifiers ]

Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Old man gamer.

Windows added by Picard. Macintosh added by Sciere.

Additional contributors: Timo Takalo, Apogee IV, Patrick Bregger.

Game added June 16, 2000. Last modified March 12, 2024.