Spellbound
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Spellbound
(1983 on
Commodore 64)
Description official description
Magic Knight's second game (after Finders Keepers) sees him travelling through time to rescue 8 people including his tutor Gimbal, who have become locked in time thanks to a faulty spell. In comparison to its predecessor the game has a larger game map, bigger and better graphics and more puzzles.
The game invented a whole new control system called Windimation, essentially pioneering the use of icons and windows in adventure games. You control a pointing finger, which can be moved onto each of the menus to reveal sub-menus, which contain the main options for object manipulation.
All objects can be examined in detail, which produces a visual display of them, and possible clues as to their usage. You must look after your character's health and energy levels - carrying too many objects will progressively weaken him. You must also look after and direct the trapped characters once you locate them.
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Screenshots
Credits (Amstrad CPC version)
4 People
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 88% (based on 12 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 11 ratings with 0 reviews)
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Trivia
Sales
According to the magazine Retro Gamer (issue #1), the game was Mastertronic's #24 best selling game (152.378 copies).
Development
David Jones was given complete editorial control over the sequel. Mastertronic told him that they would sell anything he would do. It took five months to complete the game including the development of Windimation on-screen menu system which was inspired by Apple Mac interface David had seen for five minutes.
Crime Busters Inc.
IJK Software released a game for ZX Spectrum called "Crime Busters Inc." which was a carbon copy of "Spellbound" featuring the same puzzles, the same menu system and even the same built-in hacker protection scheme. The situation came to light when IJK sent a review copy to Sinclair User magazine staff writer who immediately noticed the similiarities between two games. Mastertronic demanded the game to be withdrawn from sale and IJK complied with the order and plagiarising programmer - Harry Price had to write a letter of apology.
Awards
- Computer Gamer
- February 1986 (issue #17) - Included in the list Spectrum Collection (the best Spectrum ZX games since 1985 by editorial staff choice)
- Happy Computer
- 1986 - Runner-up as Budget Game of the Year
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A screenshot map of the game
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Martin Smith.
Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit added by Kabushi.
Additional contributors: formercontrib, Patrick Bregger, mailmanppa, Karsa Orlong, Jo ST.
Game added February 4, 2005. Last modified November 4, 2023.