Centurion: Defender of Rome

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Description

Starting as a young Roman legionnaire in 275BC, your job is to conquer the known world through force or diplomacy, fighting on land and sea.

Centurion: Defender of Rome is a turn-based strategy game. You start with one province, Rome, and one legion. To complete the game, you have to conquer all the provinces on the map.

One part of the game is micro-managing your provinces. You set up tax rates and make people happy by organizing games. In Rome, you can organize a chariot race, a gladiatorial combat or even a simulated naval battle; this starts an action mini-game where you control the chariot rider, gladiator or ship.

Another part of the game is military conquest. You can raise legions or strengthen them in any province you control (let's just hope there are enough men in the province, or your legion will be incomplete and weaker). There are three types of legions, each of them has a different strength. You can also move a legion to a neighbouring province.

When you enter a province you don't yet control, you can speak with the ruler there. With luck, you can convince him to give you the province for free; but this isn't very likely, and you'll often have to fight.

When your legion attacks a province, or defends one of your provinces from an invader, the game switches to an isometric view of the battlefield. You can give orders to your legion (assuming they are within the range of their commander's voice) and watch as they duke it out with the enemy forces. Eventually, one of the sides will be completely wiped out or panic and retreat.

Finally, you can buy warships and have naval battles with the enemy fleet. This is represented as an action mini-game, depicting a duel of the flagships; however, the outcome of the battle actually depends on the strength of your fleet.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Alternate Titles

• "センチュリオン Defender of Rome" -- Japanese spelling

Part of the Following Groups

• Cinemaware-style games
• Console Generation Exclusive: Sega Genesis
• Setting: Ancient Roman

User Reviews

Become Caesar, conquer the known world.	Amiga	David Ledgard (63)
Centurion: Pretender to the Throne?	DOS	PCGamer77 (3225)
Excellent game.	DOS	Tomer Gabel (4634)
A classic!	DOS	Raphael (1261)
Full of promise but never delivered	DOS	Tony Van (2855)
A rough gem	Genesis	Tony Maki (12)
Not very rewarding.	DOS	Mr Blea (2)
Defend the empire in this classic game of strategy and guile.	DOS	bb bb (33)
Another classic from the classic days of gaming	DOS	William Shawn McDonie (1180)

Critic Reviews

Amiga Action	Amiga	Jun, 1991	87 out of 100	87
Amiga Computing	Amiga	Aug, 1991	80 out of 100	80
ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment)	DOS	Sep, 1990	750 out of 1000	75
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt)	DOS	Sep, 1990	8.4 out of 12	70
ASM (Aktueller Software Markt)	Genesis	Sep, 1991	8.2 out of 12	68
Sega-16.com	Genesis	Feb 19, 2015	6 out of 10	60
Amiga Joker	Amiga	Jun, 1991	58 out of 100	58
The Games Machine (UK)	DOS	Aug, 1990	48 out of 100	48
Retro Archives	Genesis	Jun 16, 2020	8.5 out of 20	42
Amiga Power	Amiga	Jul, 1991		33

Forums

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Trivia

Awards

• Enchanted Realms
  • September 1991 (Issue #8) – Distinctive Adventure Award

Music

The music used in the naval battles was taken from the movie Ben Hur. It was in the scene where Ben Hur was a galley slave.

Information also contributed by William Shawn McDonie

Related Web Sites

• The Homepage of Mark the Conqueror (screenshots, information, tips, & a tutorial for Centurion: Defender of Rome)