Transylvania

Moby ID: 133318
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Description

This release is a new edition of Transylvania, featuring redrawn high-resolution graphics, new locations and puzzles, and new packaging with the Polarware label.

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Credits (Commodore 64 version)

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Commodore 64 version by

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 52% (based on 4 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.4 out of 5 (based on 26 ratings with 3 reviews)

My first computer game!

The Good
Perhaps my review is swayed somewhat by nostalgia - this was the first game I ever played, on my father's Apple //c.

The puzzles in this game (there was one in almost every screen) were well thought-out and logical. The graphics were nothing to write home about, naturally, but were decent for a 1986 game.

All in all, a nice introduction to other works of interactive fiction, such as Zork, and later, the Noun's Quest adventures from Sierra - a springboard, of sorts. The command parser was simplistic, and matched those of early Sierra titles, in its limited "verb noun" syntax.

The Bad
The limits of technology at the time - due to constant disk accesses, the game floppy eventually started going bad before I could complete the game.

The other problem I recall was the same problem I had with every other game of the era - trying to convince the command parser to "do what I mean, not what I say".

The Bottom Line
If you've got a bored child, a computer from the mid 80s, and a time machine so you can actually find this title, it'll keep 'em off the streets for a while.

DOS · by Dave Schenet (134) · 2001

A fantastic adventure game for its time.

The Good
What’s really amazing about this is that I still own my old Apple //e and along with it, this game ( check for my reviews later;). What’s incredible about it is that with the limited graphics it had, it still managed to scare me at every turn. My many attempts at this game had a tendency to turn into “hope to god you don’t see the wolf “ games, because sooner or later, that wolf would come for me, and I knew from experience that I wouldn’t be able to type shoot the werewolf into the game fast enough. Occasionally however when the wolf was still full from his last ten feedings, I was actually able to explore the game and test some of its fantastically thought out puzzles.

The Bad
As part of the game’s plot was to destroy the werewolf that was wreaking havoc on the countryside, the player needed to procure certain items, a flintlock pistol and silver bullets ( which of course were placed at separate sides of town ). However the constant intrusion of the werewolf could slow down gamely to a crawl ( at many points in the game I would find myself feet from the silver bullets, only to see the fiendish form of the werewolf, staring back at me ). This proved the werewolf extremely hard to kill. Making the game virtually unplayable. His lesser brothers in evil however proved to be much more easily dispatched.

The Bottom Line
Of course it’s hard to look back at present games predecessors and rate them, at the time of its release it was up to par with other games of its kind, although I would say Transylvania will never be remembered as a ground breaker, it certainly brought me and other with countless hours of entertaining gameplay.

DOS · by Ivan Grant (3) · 2001

Spooky game that anyone should definitely play!

The Good
First of all, this review might be slightly biased, I am a huge fan of text adventures, but Transylvania isn't just a text adventure with pretty good graphics for the time, Transylvania has got a spooky story, heart-stopping suspense, and just an excellent game overall.

The Bad
Nothing actually, well, maybe I found the story to be a slight bit unoriginal, "you walk around in a land of vampires and werewolves, and try to save Transylvania", please, how many times did we hear that in video games, movies, and even books!

The Bottom Line
An excellent game with only one flaw, pretty spooky and enjoyable with nice graphics for 1986.

DOS · by Jim Fun (207) · 2002

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by The cranky hermit.

Commodore 64 added by hoeksmas.

Game added September 22, 2019. Last modified February 22, 2023.