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Different from the home computer version

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: October 29, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This is actually the NES adaptation of the home computer game Ultima III: Exodus, but is called Ultima I for NES since it was the first Ultima adapted for Nintendo. Confusing, isn't it. I have played both the Atari 8-bit (which I owned and enjoyed for many years) and NES version of this game (which I only rented to see the difference). The graphics for the Atari 8-bit were very crude, as you expect with 1983 technology (1983 was when Ultima III was first made available for home computers). The graphics on the NES version was better (by 1989 standards, when this version came out), but by today's standard might seem cheesy. If you have ever played the home computer version of Exodus, you'll notice that there are a lot of things that differ on the NES version. On the NES you have the hassle of selecting menus to engage in various activities. Plus the thing I really dislike of the NES version is you can't see monsters roaming the land of Sosaria so you'll never know when you encounter monsters. On Exodus, you are supposed to rid the lands of Sosaria of an evil who goes by the name of Exodus. On the home computer version, you are supposed to collect the Mark of Kings, Fire, Force, and the Snake, and gather the cards of Love, Sol, Moons, and Death, while finding out where to dig for exotic weapons and armor. You must explore all the townes, castles, and dungeons to get important items and information. You'll also need to fight monsters, which will leave behind a treasure chest (which is often boobytraped with acid, bomb, or gas, which a thief in your party can disarm, depending on dexterity) which often has gold which is a big requirement if you want better weapons, armor, as well as food, torches, gems, and powder. Also when exploring the dungeons, the deeper you go, the more dangerous it becomes (particularly the most dangerous monsters, like dragons, daemons, and balrons, are found on the lowest levels). You have to watch out for winds that'll blow your torch out, gremlins that steal your food, traps that might damage your party. In my opinion, I prefer the home computer adaptation, since I loved the convenience of keyboard control, rather than menu control, not to mention, it looked less like a game machine game, and more of a computer game. Not to mention the NES version only came with a wimpy little pamphlet, while the home computer version came with the cloth map of Sosaria, a wizard's spell book, a cleric's spell book, a book of the realm of Sosaria, and a player reference card (that tells you the different keyboard commands). Exodus is basically a historical curiosity these days, but was a really great example of how RPGs were like back in the 1980s. But in these days of Nintendo 64 and Sony Playstation, Ultima: Exodus might seem like a big disappointment, especially in the realm of graphics, but if you bear in mind this is from the 1980s, and you know the technical limitations of the time, you're bound to enjoy this.

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