Rating: 4.1/5
Anyone who has played the original Dungeon Master on the Atari ST or Amiga will know what this is all about - real time exploration and combat with devilish logic puzzles and spells. This game is a true classic, and is the direct inspiration for countless other first-person titles. It's also the first game I played that actually scared me. I never thought monsters with three animation frames could make me fill my pants so swiftly. The PC Engine version adds a more detailed story (the original was badly lacking in this respect), along with an animated introduction. Not that it really makes a great deal of difference once you're in the actual game - Dungeon Master has more than enough atmosphere already. In terms of gameplay, this is a pretty faithful conversion, however one area where it falls down badly is control. This is a game that was designed to be played with a mouse. Using a joypad is just far too clunky. When you're trying to run away from a frenzied group of badly animated Chaos Knights, you need a fast, responsive control method. A similar problem was experienced with the SNES version, but the extra buttons on the pad allowed a bit more freedom. This problem doesn't ruin the game completely, but if you're used to the mouse, then it will take a bit of getting used to. MAKER: SOFTWARE HEAVEN / FTL GAMES RELEASE DATE: 18 SEPTEMBER 1992
You also need an emulator to run this game. To grab one quickly, please check out our PCECD emulators section.