Ultima I

According to the 'Get Info' dialog on the application, Ultima was released by Softdisk publishing under license from Origin, the original publisher. The game was programmed by Bill Heineman, who, at a time when things were really winding down for the IIGS, kept developing commercial games. Rumour has it he was also working on Sim City and the Bard's Tale 3 for the IIGS, one or both being unable for release due to copyright problems. The game was released at one point by Vitesse, makers of quality IIGS utility software.

Ultima, well known to every computer role player out there as the game that spawned popularity of the genre, as well as spawned mass wealth for Richard Garriott, its eccentric creator. Known to like being referred to as Lord British, Garriott now lives in his very own castle.

The IIGS version looks very much the same as the original - only the graphics are now in super hi-res mode. The appearance of the mazes you explore resemble the original a little too closely. Walls, doors and ladders are all represented by white lines on a black background. A far cry from the graphical splendour of The Bard's Tale, another classic role playing game that was released five years earlier, and programmed by none other than Burger Bill himself.

Perhaps the true die hard fans of Ultima appreciated the lack of change in the IIGS version and instead enjoyed a lack of disk swapping, simply sharper graphics and a better musical score? Perhaps only they were ever meant to appreciate the IIGS version. I've never played Ultima myself, never experienced the thrill everyone else did when they played it in the very early eighties. So if the game was targeted for Ultima fans of old, well, I missed out.

Well, the game is still up for grabs for Ultima fans via Joe Kohn if you're wanting to relive the original game in a in a new way.